Black Adam (2022)

★★
Black Adam, for all its bluster and spectacle, is just too ordinary. Its setup and execution offer few surprises, and Dwayne Johnson is becoming less interesting as the years go by. Once again we get the origin story, the introduction of the hero, the introduction of the supporting characters and the final battle between everyone involved. This can work, and it has worked many times, because the wide variety of comic book superheroes and their powers offers filmmakers enough material to give each entry a different look. Of course, the nature of the D.C. Extended Universe (D.C.E.U.) requires that many movies are made within close proximity to each other to capitalize on the opportunities for cross pollination while squeezing as many appearances as possible out of the actors before they age out of their roles, but this business model can give rise to a tendency to fall into redundancy. If Black Adam had been played by a different actor, then there might have been hope for a better movie, but Black Adam was played by Dwayne Johnson, who looks like he's just passing through from San Andreas to high-five everyone in the audience on his way to the next Jumanji sequel.

In 2600 B.C., the land of Kahndaq has fallen under despotic rule by an outside conqueror. Much of the population has been enslaved, but one boy has had enough and stands up to his oppressors. For his efforts, the Council of Wizards grants him the power of Shazam, which transforms him into a mighty being capable of super powers. We learn that Kahndaq has been conquered numerous times throughout its existence, and the situation is no different in the present day, when the city finds itself under the boot of the criminal organization Intergang. Its leader is Ishmael Gregor (Marwan Kenzari), who seeks the crown of Sabbac and the powers it will bestow upon him. Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) is a rebel fighter who also seeks the crown's location. Her long search has finally led her to a tomb, but she is ambushed by Intergang enforcers. Desperate, she reads the markings on the floor and frees Teth-Adam (Johnson), the one who channels the powers of Shazam and has long been dormant in the tomb. Teth-Adam (let's just call him Black Adam going forward), we are initially led to believe, was that boy from thousands of years ago who stood against Kahndaq's conquerors and is now back to continue his work.

Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) and the Justice Society of America (a low-rent Justice League) arrive on the scene to put away Black Adam before he causes trouble. With him are Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), who can grow to enormous size; Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), who has the ability to manipulate the wind; and Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), a magician who can create copies of himself. Black Adam has the same powers as the original Captain Marvel of Fawcett Comics, but his bad temper and reluctance to be a hero for modern Kahndaq make him more of nuisance than a potential ally. The two sides engage in a series of fights while the story reveals that Ishmael's goal is to become a supervillain, and the crown of Sabbac is the way to make it happen. Meanwhile, we get revelations regarding Black Adam's past and the truth behind the hero of Kahndaq. The Justice Society has reason to doubt the legends, but Adrianna scoffs at the notion that the Society cares about the city after years of standing by during Intergang's iron-fisted rule. Her son Amon Tomaz (Bodhi Sabongui), though, manages to break through Black Adam's cold exterior to find a hint of humanity.

In a movie that already lacked imagination, I was floored by the moment when Black Adam, realizing the errors of his ways, surrenders to the Justice Society and is locked away in a superhero purgatory run by the Society, where he will be immobilized and put in suspended animation. I knew that he would eventually be freed because someone will realize it was a mistake, and his gift for mayhem is all that remains when all other efforts fail to push back the face of tyranny. I probably would have accepted this plot development if not for the movie's treatment of Black Adam's imprisonment, which was presented to us in epically grandiose fashion, as if we were witnessing a long-term arrangement when of course we all know better. Imagine how it would feel if Han Solo were freed from the carbonite at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. Leia and Han's exchange ("I love you." "I know.") would not have resonated as much, but I digress. With the help of Doctor Fate, Black Adam breaks out and saves the day, yet there's no tension because the techniques used to illustrate Black Adam's imprisonment are so transparent. The movie fares better with its special effects and fight scenes, which look amazing, although seeing superhumans battle it out can only carry a movie so far.

I said before that Black Adam has the same powers as Captain Marvel, whose name went unmentioned in Shazam!. That was also an origin story, but it was a superior one. Due to the nature of Captain Marvel (his real self is teenager Billy Batson), that movie had a lot of fun with the superhero image. I had heard of Captain Marvel (I first encountered him in the D.C. vs. Marvel crossover in the mid '90s), but I was unfamiliar with how his own comic books depicted him. Captain Marvel in his movie was like a grown-up child. Shazam!'s funniest scene had the Captain walk into a strip club and then walk out again with a shocked expression on his face. Zachary Levi's amusing performance gave us a different kind of superhero movie. The credited director here is Jaume Collet-Serra, but I can't be certain of his contributions since this movie was a passion project for Dwayne Johnson. His fingerprints are all over the place. Black Adam is too routine, and Johnson's performance resembles the stone statues that dot the cityscape of Kahndaq.

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