BLACK ADAM

Dwayne Johnson, The Rock, as Teth-Adam

BLACK ADAM (2022). Director: Jaume Collet-Serra. 

After thousands of years an alleged hero named Teth-Adam (Dwayne Johnson) returns to the nation of Kahndaq, which has been taken over by an evil organization called Intergang. The Justice Society (not to be confused with the Justice League), run by Hawkman (Aldis Hodge of The Invisible Man) fears that this very powerful warrior may not have Kahndaq's best interests at heart, nor the world's. Hawkman especially has a problem with Adam's "take no prisoners" and literally death-dealing attitude, as real heroes simply don't kill except in self-defense. The Society and Adam engage in heated battle, until an even more powerful threat unites these enemies against a common foe. 

Black Adam vs Hawkman

Black Adam is sort of a sequel to Shazam, although Captain Marvel never appears. Black Adam was originally a villain in the old Captain Marvel comics published by Fawcett, but in recent years DC Comics, which acquired the rights to the characters, made Black Adam more complex and dimensional. First let me say that this is strictly a film for comics/super-hero fans, and for us the movie works beautifully. It has thrilling, well-crafted battle sequences, fine special effects and cinematography (Lawrence Sher), and boasts rich, beautiful visuals throughout. Lorne Balfe's music is also effective. On the technical production end, Black Adam is an absolute winner. 

Aldis Hodge as handsome Hawkman

As Adam, Dwayne Johnson is terrific, although he is much too contemporary a figure to be completely convincing as a man 5000 years out of time. (It develops that Teth-Adam is not actually the great hero from the past, but his son, who died, which is where Adam's anger comes from.) Aldis Hodge, who makes a very striking and handsome Hawkman in or out of his winged mask, grows on the viewer, because at first he seems a bit crude. Sarah Shahi and Jalon Christian are notable as a woman, Adrianna, who appeals to Adam for help, and her son Hurut, who befriends the dark hero and tries to get him to come up with a cooler super-hero name (that being "Black Adam"). Marwan Kenzai also scores as Ishmael, a traitor who turns into the demonic Sabbac. 

Hawkman

The other members of the Justice Society include Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), who can whirl at tornado speeds, and Atom-Smasher (Noah Centineo), who can grow into a giant (a power that seems to be more of a nuisance than anything else), as well as Dr. Fate, portrayed by Pierce Brosnan. Superman (Henry Cavell) shows up in a post-credit sequence. The movie isn't perfect, some of the humor is misplaced and inappropriate, but in general it's exciting and moves like a whirling dervish. The device of quickly freezing the action for a second, then going into slow-mo for a few seconds afterward, before reverting back to real-time action, is a little annoying, but nothing that ruined the movie for me. It's sad, but I think a lot of the surprisingly negative reaction to this picture comes from conservative viewers who are annoyed that the two lead characters are black and most of the others are middle-eastern. Viola Davis has a cameo as the ultra-tough Amanda Waller, and Henry Winkler appears briefly as Atom-Smasher's Uncle Al. Jaume Collet-Serra also directed the excellent horror film Orphan. 

Verdict: Real fun, action-packed movie-movie with striking and colorful visuals. Classy and stylish. ***1/4.