Black Adam Thrills Audiences While Promising An Exciting New Era For The DCEU

      A promising new era has arrived for the DCEU, which until this point, has found itself struggling to create its own universe on film ever since commencing with Zack Snyder's Man Of Steel. What was originally envisioned as being a comic book film universe that would place it on the same level as Marvel, the DCEU has experienced mixed results thus far with the general consensus being that the universe lacks a decisive path that's needed in order for the universe to thrive. Thankfully Warner Brother's Black Adam provides that path along with delivering solid popcorn entertainment.

      Set 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the ancient gods and imprisoned, Black Adam (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) finds himself being freed from his earthly tomb, and ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world while doing battle with the Justice Society. Black Adam's story is one that's been a passion project for Johnson as he's spent 15 years trying to bring the story to the big screen. One can clearly see the love that the wrestler turned actor has for the character with the story being structured in a way that's easy to follow for non-comic book fans. Although it's heavily action-oriented, Black Adam delivers a tremendously fun action-spectacle with eye-catching visuals, and an intriguing new face that promises to change the DCEU for the better.

      As with any DCEU film, the performances from the cast always shine through with Adam's ensemble presenting stellar work. Despite the cast impressing as a whole, Black Adam is Dwayne Johnson's vehicle with him arguably being its best element and is totally charismatic as the classic anti-hero. Surrounding him is an impressive cast who churn out some highly effective performances. Pierce Brosnan demonstrates pure class as experienced senior member of the Justice Society team, Kent Nelson/Dr. Fate. Aldi's Hodge also gives a solid performance as Carter Hall/Hawkman, who constantly clashes with Black Adam over his carelessness towards killing people. The rest of Adam's cast deliver strong performances with Noah Centineo as young member of the Justice Society, Albert/Atom Smasher, Sarah Shahi as resistance fighter and ally for Adam and the Justice Society, Adrianna Tomaz, and Marwan Kanzari as the last descendant of King Ahk-tom and the militant leader of the organization Intergang that's invading Kahndag, Ishmael Gregor/sabbac. Other noteworthy performances include Quintessa Swindell as young member of the Justice Society, Maxine Hubkel, Mohammed Amer as Adriana's brother Karim, and Bodhi Sabongui in a key role as Adrianna's teenage son Amon, who befriends Adam and becomes his moral compass. 

      With directing, Jaume Collet-Serra generates a well-balanced atmosphere that effectively blends the fun-spirited tone of Shazam with the grittiness of Zack Snyder's Man Of Steel. Collet crafts the action to be similar in nature to that film with the violence shown as being dark and brutal. An example includes an opening flashback sequence in which a slave is stabbed in the gut and tossed off a cliff in a shockingly sadistic fashion. The film's striking cinematography utilizes a slow-motion style that's similar to that of Snyder's work. Given Serra's previous collaborative history with Johnson on Disney's Jungle Cruise, he knows how to maximize as well as magnify The Rock's presence on screen. The film is kept at a remarkable fast-pace which delivers consistent action, while allowing enough time to develop the characters and plot. The soundtrack proves effective in adding to the films electrifying action sequences, along with building up the suspense. Overall, Serra succeeds in bringing both Black Adam and the Justice Society to the screen in a fashion that gives the story a unique visual flare that fits right at home within the DCEU.

      A key theme of Black Adam's story is changing the hierarchy of power that's emphasized with Adam looked upon as being a godlike figure and protector of Kahndag by its people with no one to challenge him. Some of the stories main themes consist of legends, corruption, freedom, sacrifice, fate, and global stability with Adam's story driving home the message that its sometimes hard to tell what the right side is and who's in it. Despite delivering that message, some of the plots elements feel predictable such as Amon trying to convince Black Adam that he's more of a hero than he believes himself to be, or Ishmael being revealed as the last descendant of King Ahk-Tom with audiences foreseeing his twist early on. The side characters are fairly well-established with each member of the Justice Society team feeling thoroughly fleshed out, particularly Brosnan's Dr. Fate and Hawkman. Adam's characters origins is presented through a series of flashbacks regarding his past as a slave and losing his loved ones, ultimately making him different than the typical DC character. Where Black Adam's story is at its strongest and most thrilling is the slow but steady transformation that the character experiences in not wanting to be a heroic figure to performing noble deeds and teaming up with the Justice Society to save mankind. Despite the arc between young Amon and Adam feeling lifted from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, its serviceable enough to where it helps flesh out Adam's arc and cements him as being the DC universes anti-hero.

      While its story beats may feel familiar to audiences, Black Adam counters this issue with numerous easter eggs and surprise cameos that reference other characters in the DCEU. The script also contains cleverly humorous bits such as Black Adam killing a villain by throwing him towards a mountain only to realize his mistake when asked for his whereabouts by Dr. Fate so that he can probe his mind to gather information regarding defeating the villain. It's moments like these that make up for any shortcomings that the script possesses and make Adam a generally fun experience for audiences along with being an efficient entry in the DC universe, while teasing a much brighter future for the cinematic universe as evidenced by the films thrilling post-credits scene. 

Final Verdict: A definite watch for comic book fans, particularly DC.

Images Courtesy Of Warner Brothers