THE DCEU has been through its fair share of ups and downs over the past few years, but everything is set to change with Black Adam, a Shazam! spin-off which breathes new life into the flagging franchise and proves that movie audiences really do love bad boys.
The film is a long-time passion project of Dwayne Johnson, who has spent years trying to adapt the story of the infamous DC Comics supervillain-turned-antihero Teth-Adam, who later adopts the name Black Adam. It also introduces the Justice Society of America (JSA), a new group of heroes whose superpowers are derived through magic and/or science.
The film starts out with a surprisingly long flashback sequence set in the ancient city of Kahndaq, detailing the origins of Teth-Adam (Johnson).
We learn that Kahndaq was once ruled by an evil king, until a brave young boy sparked an uprising. The boy is whisked away by the council of wizards (featuring a cameo by Shazam!’s Djimon Honsou) who gift him with the powers of Shazam, turning him into (wait for it) the people’s champion. The king is defeated, but the champion suddenly disappears.
We then cut to present day Kahndaq, which has been taken over by a criminal organisation known as Intergang. We’re introduced to university professor and resistance fighter Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi), her brother Karim (Mo Amer) and her assistant Ishmael (Marwan Kenzari).
Adrianna is leading an expedition for a mysterious magic crown, when she and her group are suddenly ambushed by Intergang, and it is revealed to the audience that Ishmael is working with the organisation.
In a moment of desperation, Adrianna reads out an inscription which revives Teth-Adam, who then proceeds to destroy the Intergang mercenaries, in a glorious scene featuring plenty of explosions and fiery bolts of lightning, all set to The Rolling Stones’ Paint it Black.
His revival draws the attention of the JSA, leading to its members Carter Hall/Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Kent Nelson/Dr Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Maxine Hunkel/Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) and Al Rothstein/Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) travelling to Kahndaq to capture him.
Justifiable homicide
One thing that really sets Johnson’s antihero apart is his total lack of restraint when it comes to taking out bad guys. Zapping them with his lightning powers, blowing them up or even dropping them from great heights – Teth-Adam absolutely relishes in killing, up to the point that the JSA has to rescue the terrified Intergang henchmen.
This leads to some of the more memorable lines of dialogue in the film. Hawkman states: “Heroes don’t kill people”, and Teth-Adam replies: “well, I do.”
We get an extended scene of Teth-Adam fighting against the JSA, giving us a terrifying idea of the full scale of his power. It’s also clear that despite the JSA’s opinion of him, the people of Kahndaq see him as their champion. An angry Adrianna questions why the JSA ignored the plight of the Kahndaqi people when the Intergang were opressing them, only to suddenly decide to intervene when Teth-Adam showed up to save them.
Honestly, it feels as though the film is trying to make a statement about modern western foreign policy in the Middle East, but just barely scratches the surface before shifting gears to the next big action scene.
Dancing in slow motion
Speaking of the action scenes, I’m happy to report that they are the best part of the movie. Director Jaume Collet-Serra has not done that many action films, but truly excelled here in terms of mayhem and destruction. Each explosion and punch is carefully shot and choreographed, and utilises slow-motion in order to depict Teth-Adam’s amazing speed and to showcase the fighting skills of each JSA member. In particular, Cyclone’s powers look especially impressive in slo-mo.
Of course, by the fifteenth or so slo-mo scene, you might feel it is a little bit too much, but at least you will not be bored.
The only downside is that the CGI looks choppy and unfinished in parts. Considering the film reportedly underwent additional post-production work, it is quite a letdown.
Fortunately, everything is right for the climactic final battle with the film’s true villain, the demon Sabbac. His presence was one of the worst-kept secrets during production, and here he has an interesting (if underdeveloped) backstory, and proves to be a formidable match for both the JSA and Teth-Adam.
A new dawn for the DCEU?
As an origin story, Black Adam does just enough to introduce the lead character – and even throws in a truly eyebrow-raising twist midway through – but does very little to shed light on the other heroes.
Which is rather a pity, as I enjoyed the glimpses of the group dynamic between the JSA members in this film, and they definitely have better chemistry than the core members of the Justice League. Hawkman and Dr Fate are shown to be old friends, with Atom Smasher and Cyclone being the rookies of the team.
Between the dark and brooding Teth-Adam, and the light-hearted banter between the JSA, I felt as though we needed to spend more time with the latter.
But to be fair, the movie is named Black Adam, and not Black Adam and Friends. Hopefully we will get to see more of them in a sequel.
Overall, Black Adam will go down in history as a polarising movie. Johnson’s star power and his millions of fans will undoubtedly make Black Adam a huge success, while serious movie critics will have a field day lampooning the movie.
For those in the middle ... grab your popcorn, sit back and enjoy the ride.
