Black Adam

At least this one’s better than Aquaman and Wonder Woman 84, but that’s not saying much!

The latest DCEU movie to hit theaters, Black Adam, is all about changing the “hierarchy of power” in nerd cinema by introducing one of the earliest antiheroes in DC Comics lore. Following the violent return of the once great protector of the nation of Kahndaq, Teth-Adam aka Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson), the other superhero team of the DCEU, the Justice Society, is dispatched to force Adam to bend the knee, and if he refuses, to take him down with prejudice. Soon needing to work together to face an even darker threat, Black Adam shows a different side of the DCEU that fans haven’t seen before, one where the line between hero and villain is blurred and almost erased outright — to varying results.

Let’s get this out of the way: I liked this movie. It’s not a particularly good movie, as there are things about it that are quite bad at times, yet after the credits rolled, I was left wanting a sequel that apparently won’t be happening, at least not for a very long time. Despite what the haters say, this is not a Morbius-level piece of crap or even as bad as the aforementioned DCEU films, but it’s not exactly as good as its sister film, Shazam! either, so temper your expectations accordingly with this one.

Full of mindless action, fun interactions, and a tone that works more often than it doesn’t, this movie is at its best when it’s just that; a big, dumb, entertaining Hollywood blockbuster. With a story that’s serviceable at best (seeing the Justice Society shoe-horned in for no good reason was cool but narratively contrived), completely average performances (The Rock needs to stare less and act more), and filmmaking that’s Zack Snyder-lite (#RestoreTheSnyderCut), Black Adam one hundred percent could have been a better film, but as it stands, we could have done worse.

Delivering on more than enough satisfying comic book action beats as well as the appearance of first-time live-action DC Comics characters that I was more than happy to see on the big screen (Doctor Fate needs a solo movie stat!), I was able to overlook the mediocrity of nearly everything else happening here — like the points-for-trying relationship between Adam and the family that befriends him — though I can’t fully ignore it all. Make no mistake, this movie deserves the shit it gets, but it goes down way smoother when people are being chucked through buildings and zapped to ash with lightning every couple of scenes.

I enjoyed this one despite its many flaws, so for me, a stylish piece of popcorn entertainment is better than a steaming pile of trash, and luckily for Black Adam, it just barely misses the latter cut. We might not be getting another entry in this budding DCEU series thanks to all the shake-ups behind the scenes at Warner Bros., but at least what Black Adam gave us didn’t leave as nasty taste a taste in my mouth as I was bracing for, and for that, I’m satisfied enough.