Review: The Rock brings his best in action-packed ‘Black Adam’

By Saswat Pati     10/25/22 10:42pm

Rating: ★★★★

“Black Adam” truly feels like a Blockbuster from start to finish. Though the movie is by no means earth-shattering and in fact borrows a lot of tropes from the comic book film genre, “Black Adam” presents an engaging narrative and truly feels like a superhero movie. I was entertained throughout by stunning visuals, a well-written script and strong direction. Most importantly, the movie is fun, with back-to-back action scenes that ensure audiences will never be bored.

The film centers around the fictional Middle Eastern country of Kahndaq, which is initially under occupation by a mercenary organization called Intergang. Intergang controls Kahndaq in order to mine a valuable metal called eternium, which has certain magical properties, and to find the ancient Crown of Sabacc, which is said to give its wearer the power of demons. In an attempt to prevent the total subjugation of Kahndaq, a group of activists led by Adrianna (Sarah Shahi) and her son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui) seek out the crown to hide it. In the process, they end up awakening Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) who has been in hibernation for nearly 5000 years. From here, the film enters its main plot: the US Government sends a team of superheroes called the Justice Society of America to apprehend Black Adam, and simultaneously, a villain attempts to use the Crown of Sabacc to conquer Kahndaq.

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“Black Adam” stands out the most in its action scenes. The visuals throughout are superb, especially compared to the recent lackluster CGI seen in recent Marvel movies. The Rock’s WWE background has sufficiently prepared him for the role. He  understands how to present this spectacle and his charisma bleeds from the screen. In addition to Johnson, the rest of the cast is stellar. Other standouts include Houston’s own Mo Amer, who plays Adrianna’s older brother, and Aldis Hodge as Hawkman. Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) also play off of each other well as the comedic relief of the movie.

Though “Black Adam” is sometimes more generic, particularly with its jokes, the movie is certainly entertaining. The only issues I found with the movie was its mediocre villain and a somewhat bloated third act. The ending is predictable, but I don’t think that detracts from the quality of the presentation. Even though aspects of the film may seem ripped from other comic book franchises (“Black Panther” and the “X-Men” primarily), “Black Adam” does enough to separate itself and provide viewers with a good experience.

Lastly, while it is a superhero movie, I found some of the political commentary presented to be insightful and certainly unexpected. By placing the perspective away from characters of traditional backgrounds, “Black Adam” was able to provoke genuine thought about who we usually see as heroes and who has the right to determine how they behave as heroes. I definitely recommend watching “Black Adam” in theaters, as the wall-to-wall action with stunning visuals make this an engaging experience. Though at times derivative, it is a great movie and solid watch.

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