'Black Adam' movie review: A topsy-turvy origin story

Still from Black Adam

Film: Black Adam
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Pierce Brosnan, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Bodhi Sabongui
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Rating: 2.5/5
Runtime: 125 min

Imagine seeing the WWE superstar Dwayne ‘The Rock' Johnson in a superhero avatar, wearing spandex accentuating sculpted cuts that make his heavy-duty pounds look even more lethal? Well, you don't have to look deep or far…Just go to a movie theatre near you. ‘Black Adam' the origin story for this brand new addition to the DC comic book - cinema universe links that explosive lethality to a 5000-year-old legacy when the Gods anointed Teth Adam protector of Khandaq, an ancient country that is today being ravaged by the Intergang. 4600 years after he was imprisoned in an earthly tomb, he is called back to life by a widow - an archaeologist, Adrianna (Sarah Shahi), and her son, Amon (Bodhi Sabongui), who are hell-bent on protecting a powerful artifact. The opening (narrated prologue) meant to encapsulate the origins of the title character, is rather disjointed and jumbled up. We get to see a series of scenes set in the ancient city of Khandaq but there's no real clarity on what happened then.

This superhero genre flick is replete with elements and tropes that come across as flashy, blast-happy, loud, and discordant and the movie owes most of its stunt action to CGI. Fist-fights, pyrotechnics, and explosive blinding gold and silver whites signify weapons of destruction as Adam seeks to gain supremacy over his rivals. The Justice Society of America -constituting the Leader, Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) all who look like a low-rent Avengers/X men outfit, can't seem to figure out what their role is in the scheme of things. So there's a whole lot of unnecessary haranguing and blindingly flashy and loud pyrotechnics before the audience can make a guess.

The conflict between Adam and the JSA appears forced and invalidating. The JSA thinks he is a loose cannon out to harm the human race, but while the debate on whether Adams is an anti-hero or hero ensues, the widow believing in his innate goodness directs him to become a savior once again. Even the invocation of ‘Shazam!' is room for grave concern here. It's been bandied about for no logical rhyme or reason - as though the word alone could guarantee a bonafide hit with the audience. Of course, the kids in the ‘Guests only' audience were enthused by the existence of the word if not the bumbling superhero they so clearly adored.

Also Read: 'Black Adam', Dwayne Johnson's latest, took 'a lot of edits' to avoid R rating

The comic book origins are clear but the cinema world requires more character build-up and that's severely lacking. The plotting is half-baked and in total disarray - before the narrative begins to gain a consistent foothold in the last 40 minutes or so. It's evident from the throw-up of popular characters that the makers were in a hurry to connect Black Adam to pre-existing franchises. There's not much info on the Intergang, who the inhabitants of Khandaq appear to hate. Jaume Collet-Serra who directed Johnson in Jungle Cruise and Liam Neeson in B-grade action films like Unknown, Non-Stop, Run All Night, and The Commuter, thinks he is drumming up echoes of The Terminator. The widow's kid is the stand-in for the side-kick here and the fact that the widow looks a lot like Adam's wife who the evil king Sabbaq (Marwan Kenzari) put to death some 5000 years ago, lends some validity to her ability to resurrect him from the past. But the rest of it is made up of collisions and confusion. Johnson's attempts at stone-faced sarcasm come unstuck here. The levity is all in the jumbled-up messy imagery. The narrative plays out like a wild kiddie fantasy - inconsistent and totally lacking in clarity. The writing also fails to solidify this opening salvo for a happy-ever-after franchise success story. But, from the audience reaction, it's clear that the die-hard DC comic fans appear to be happy about an end-credit reveal that could heighten expectations for a sequel. Hopefully, that won't be messed up like this one was!