Rating of
2.5/4
Fun way to kill time but feels like a first draft
Indyfreak - wrote on 03/16/23
Dwayne Johnson's much awaited superhero movie is a fast paced and action-packed blockbuster. But it does have a messy script that does feel like a movie that was in development hell for a decade.
But then a cool fight scene happens or there is actually a germ of a good idea that pops up. Like how the besieged people of Black Adam's homeland praise him for ruthlessly killing bad guys instead of simply disarming them. It's an interesting effort at commentary that could had been expanded more-maybe in a reboot? The Justice Society is a welcome addition to the now defunct DCEU franchise. It's too bad because they make Hawkman look like a badass warrior and Pierce Brosnan is a lot of fun as the sorcerer Doctor Fate.
Dwayne Johnson is perfect casting as Black Adam. He plays the role surprisingly serious for the most part though he does have a couple one-liners. It is exciting to watch the Rock smash helicopters into mountains or toss rockets into tanks. But then he's saddled with an annoying kid sidekick when really Sarah Shahi makes better sense as his human familiar. The villain being a terrorist leader turned into a demon sounds cool. But he's just another CGI baddie to fight by the end.
To its credit, for a movie that clocks at two hours, it doesn't waste time. But I think an extra ten minutes could had been used to flesh things out better. As mentioned earlier, the fight scenes and CGI action actually does look pretty good for the most part. Director Jaume Collet-Serra seems more willing to have fun with insane spectacle compared to other first-timers in the superhero genre. And the muscial score and cinematography are way better than they have any right to be.
It's entertaining as escapist popcorn fluff but you can see where this could had been fantastic instead of just a little too familiar. At least it was fun.
