Running time: 125 minutes
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Viola Davis, Sarah Shahi, Pierce Brosnan, Quintessa Swindell, Noah Centino
Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
The story: Five thousand years after being bestowed with the powers of the Egyptian gods, an almighty champion is freed from his tomb.
The verdict: It wouldn’t be unfair to say that The DC Extended Universe has had its share of ups and downs. However, the universe has appeared to find its feet in recent times with films like Shazam! and The Suicide Squad, and tv show Peacemaker, proving popular with both audiences and critics alike. That being said, there was still room for some new characters to make their entrance into the DCEU and shake things up, and who better to do that than Black Adam played by the almighty Dwayne Johnson?!
You would have had to have been living under a rock (naturally occurring solid mass) to not have heard of The Rock (former wrestler turned actor) and as such Black Adam brings a gravitas and excitement to it before the film has even started. Though Johnson doesn’t necessarily bring anything unique to the role in terms of characterisation and performance, he is well suited to the role and as always is highly watchable. The rest of the cast also works well and in particular it’s great fun to see Pierce Brosnan as a superhero.
Visually, Black Adam has the same look as the rest of the DCEU and thus is slightly darker and muted rather than the boldness, brightness and sharpness that audiences may associate with other superhero franchises. This isn’t a problem though and there are lots of moments that draw the audience’s eye.
In fact, the action is where Black Adam shines because the film is action packed throughout. There is not one moment where the film lags or goes off course. The plot is reasonably simple and some may perhaps even feel that it’s slightly scant. However this worked really well as an introduction to the character and as a film that marks a new story in the DCEU. As well as being action packed, Black Adam was surprisingly funny and there were lots of moments of laugh out loud humour.
Whilst Black Adam is a reasonably formulaic superhero film, it doesn’t matter because it is such a fun and engaging watch. It’s thoroughly entertaining throughout and is just an all round great trip out at the cinema. It also feels like a film in which a sequel has the potential to be even better and it certainly garners excitement for the DCEU moving forward.
The rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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