'Black Adam' movie review: Dwayne Johnson's action-packed DC movie is let down by a subpar script

The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) has been in doldrums for at least half a decade. One could say it never really figured out its own formula for an entire cinematic universe, instead trying to ride on the shoulders of Marvel Cinematic Universe, with indifferent success. After the debacle that was 2017's 'Justice League', DC films have moved away from a unified universe. Now, under the new regime at Warner Bros Discovery, it appears the company is once again trying its hand at some semblance of interconnected properties. 'Black Adam', which marks Dwayne Johnson's foray into superhero movies, introduces many promising elements that suggest that to be the case. 

The film, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, was marketed as the next big thing in the superhero film genre. Apart from Black Adam, the film also introduces the Justice Society of America, or at least a truncated version of JSA. The oldest superhero team in comics, JSA has had an interesting history. Teth-Adam, an ancient, superpowered entity awakes after 5000 years of sleep in the Arabian nation of Kahndaq and begins destroying everything in sight. His actions attract the attention of the Justice Society of America. Action ensues.

In the third act, however, the Man in Black and the JSA have to cease hostilities to take on a mutual foe, the demonic supervillain Sabbac.

'Black Adam', the film that is, straightaway establishes that it means business. The action begins from pretty much the first moment, and never really ceases until the post-credits scene. In fact, if you watch superhero movies purely for big-screen action there are few films that can even come close to 'Black Adam'. It is non-stop, and while a lot of it is CGI, it is also amazingly choreographed. There are also plenty of gratifyingly gritty hand-to-hand duels, particularly between Black Adam. It is clear that the script was written to accommodate as many fight scenes as possible, and that is not a bad thing — for most, anyway.

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Johnson promised that Black Adam will change the hierarchy of the universe, and to hammer home the point, fans are shown how easy the anti-hero can handle not just normal human foes, but also superheroes of the JSA. He carves through them like a hot knife through butter, no matter what they throw at him.

The JSA, despite little character depth given to the characters, shines as a Justice League equivalent. Aldis Hodge plays Hawkman, a straight-edged individual who sees the world in binaries of black and white, evil and good. Noah Centineo is Atom Smasher, who can enlarge his atoms (or something) to become as big as Lady Liberty. Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) can, as the same hints at, can generate hurricanes whenever she wishes. The MVP, here, is Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate, the senior-most member of the JSA who has magical abilities akin to Doctor Strange (incidentally, Fate predates Strange, and the latter was 'inspired' by the former).

The former James Bond, utilising his incredible screen presence, sports a casual swagger, managing to own every scene he is in seemingly without effort.

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However, it is the script that is the Achilles heel of 'Black Adam'. It tells a typical, hackneyed origin tale of a superhero (or more accurately, antihero) that is almost entirely without surprises. It looks to be a rehash of countless superhero pics from the last decade or so. It is also painfully predictable, and does not even attempt a lot to do anything terribly new. If you are looking for anything fresh in the plot, you'd be better off looking elsewhere.

Johnson, given a complex character like Black Adam, chooses a wooden style of acting. This is almost certainly a deliberate choice, as Johnson has given better performances before. But not a well-advised one, I am afraid. The deadpan face works for the humour, but not so much for moments that require him to emote. He does have a formidable screen presence, however, so there is that.

'Black Adam' is certainly worth watching once on the big screen. The action alone would be enough to satisfy most fans of comic-book movies. However, the film has a few serious flaws that stop me from recommending it to discerning film aficionados who would prefer a well-written, less formulaic screenplay.