The world needed a hero – it got Black Adam.
But did it get a good movie?
"There's no one on this planet that can stop me."
Throughout his Hollywood career, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has done more than most actors
will in their lifetime.
He joined the "Fast and Furious" family as Luke Hobbs, revived the "Jumanji" series for
a new generation of moviegoers, and, infamously, fought Rick O'Connell as a half-human, half-scorpion
CGI monstrosity.
But he's come a long way since that rocky start, and now, he's joining the ranks of
superheroes as the anti-hero Teth-Adam in DC's "Black Adam."
Even though he signed on to play the character in a "Shazam!"
movie way back in 2007, it took 15 years to complete his journey to the screen.
The story of his solo film follows Adam as he breaks his thousands of years-long imprisonment
to wreak havoc on the modern world.
In response, the Justice Society of America takes it upon themselves to not only stop
his destruction but teach him what it means to be a hero.
After all, they have bigger fish to fry in the form of the way more villainous Ishmael
Gregor, aka Sabbac.
Days ahead of the theatrical release of "Black Adam," some reviewers got to see the movie
early.
Sadly, in the eyes of many, the movie wasn't worth the wait.
Here's what early reviews have to say about "Black Adam."
"I kneel before no one."
While the score fluctuated on Rotten Tomatoes as new reviews came in, "Black Adam" has wound
up with a generally rotten critic score, with 54% of reviewers having a positive opinion
as of the making of this video.
Even the positive reviews are a little middling, and according to critics, the film has some
fundamental issues.
The New York Post's Johnny Oleksinski spared nothing in a negative review, saying,
"It's just as thoughtless and rancid as the rest of DC Comics' crummy catalog."
According to the critic, "Black Adam" suffers from poor dialog and underdeveloped characters
— complaints that several other pundits would have as well.
Alonso Duralde of TheWrap honed in on the film's supporting characters, writing,
"Knowing nothing about the Justice Society and its members doesn't make them particularly
interesting adversaries for our anti-hero protagonist."
Deadline's Todd McCarthy adds that the film has a bad habit of letting flashy special
effects do the talking instead of taking the proper time to flesh out the characters and
story.
Something else about "Black Adam" that critics can't look past is the overall quality relative
to how long it took to get made.
Brian Truitt of USA Today wrote,
"This is [Dwayne] Johnson's baby, a film spotlighting a complicated anti-hero he has championed
for years.
It wins some battles and packs plenty of punch, yet it just can't get past familiar tropes
and flaws."
Matt Rodriguez from Shakefire compared the movie itself to the marketing for it, stating,
"It's not awful, especially when compared to many of the other DCEU films, but it's
far from the game-changer it claims to be."
While it may sound like "Black Adam" is a huge swing and a miss with critics, that's
not entirely the case.
More than a few early reviews have found something to praise in the feature.
Jeff Nelson of Showbiz Cheat Sheet wrote of his appreciation for Dwayne Johnson's performance,
claiming that the Black Adam character shows loads of potential.
Collider's Ross Bonaime was more lukewarm on the movie, but still felt like it might
be a decent foundation to build on.
The critic wrote,
"It's a welcome shift for this larger world and an invigorating look at the potential
going forward in this universe."
Gregg Katzman from Comic Book Resources also gave Johnson praise for his take on Black
Adam, writing,
"Johnson does the character justice and dials the charisma back for a performance that is
badass, brutal, confident, and determined, with just the right amount of depth and dry
humor."
Meanwhile, Ben Rolph of Discussing Film says,
"'Black Adam' is a thoroughly entertaining ride that makes for an awesome experience
on the biggest screen one can find."
All in all, "Black Adam" seems like a mixed bag of a film with more negatives to its name
than positives – but if you walk in with the right expectations, you just might find
something to enjoy.