Review: "Black Adam"

The DC Comics character Black Adam made his first appearance in the first edition of The Marvel Family Comic Book, published in December, 1945. Since then, he has made numerous animated appearances on television and in video games: The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam (1981-1982), Justice League Unlimited (2004-2006), and Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes (2012). He finally made his live-action debut in Black Adam (2022), released on October 21st, in a movie produced by and starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Here are my thoughts:

After an imprisonment in 2600 BC for trying to avenge his murdered son, Black Adam, initially known as “Teth Adam,” is suddenly awakened by an archaeologist named Adrianna Tomaz, (who has a son named Amon). Tomaz and son are wowed by Adam’s remarkable levels of strength and speed, but ultimately they learn a complicated truth about Adam and his desire to avenge his son. When they discover that there are other heroes out to get him, (Justice Society members Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone, and Atom Smasher), the film turns into an epic chase story and you don’t really know who you rooting for.

This is a very clever movie because first of all, it’s about a human anti-hero rather than a superhero. He’s very high-strung, slightly irascible, and can become violent within a nano-second. And yet we can’t help but feel for him given the death of his child. One ends up hoping that he’ll learn to do the right thing as difficult as it may be. It’s just more complex than what is normally seen in a superhero movie before.

I was also surprised by the movie’s very fun wit. It’s always a bonus for superhero movie to have clever humor written into it, and this one certainly did. Although it did have some spooky fight scenes within the last half hour, the plot never ceased to be entertaining. Up till this point I had only seen Dwayne Johnson’s roles in light-hearted comedies: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Jungle Cruise (2021) and Red Notice (2021). He played this serious role brilliantly, showing off his dry sense of humor.

The movie was co-produced Johnson, along with Jennifer Conroy, Beau Flynn, and Dany and Hiram Garcia (Johnson’s former wife and brother-in-law). The supporting cast includes Sarah Shahi as Adrianna Tomaz, Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate, Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, and Bodhi Sabongui as Amon Tomaz. The film was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who also directed Dwayne Johnson in “Jungle Cruise.” One of these film’s writers, Adam Sztykiel wrote 2018’s Rampage, which also starred Johnson. Cinematography was handled by Lawrence Sher, who received a Best Cinematography Oscar Nomination for Joker (2019). The film also featured a surprise cameo by Henry Winkler who portrays Atom Smasher’s uncle.

All in all, “Black Adam,” is a great movie! It’s definitely a different take on the typical superhero movie. The plot is somewhat complex, and some of the humor doesn’t flow quite as easily, but the “Black Adam” story makes perfect sense. And it will certainly make you appreciate Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as an actor.