Black Adam (2022) * *

 

Directed by:  Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring:  Dwayne Johnson, Pierce Brosnan, Aldis Hodge, Viola Davis, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Mo Amer, Bodhi Sabongui

Black Adam doesn't do much to distinguish itself from other superhero movies, either of the DC or Marvel Brand.   Buildings are blown up, bodies fly around, and a backstory dating back thousands of years.   The story is of Teth Adam (Johnson), who supposedly led a revolt circa 2600 BCE against a despot in a fictional Middle Eastern nation and was then buried for 5,000 years in a desert tomb.   The word "SHAZAM" is used to grant him superpowers (a tie-in to the Shazam! series seems inevitable) and 
Teth Adam can just as easily give up his powers by shouting the same word.  

When Teth Adam is awoken by those who wish to utilize him to rid the nation of a drug gang which has enslaved it, while others such as the Justice Society headed by Amanda Waller (Davis-in a cameo featuring her Suicide Squad character) are dispatched to imprison him for reasons never made fully clear. The Society is headed by Carter Hall/Hawkman (Hodge), whose team consists of Atom Smasher (Centineo) who can grow to the size of Godzilla, Cyclone (Swindell) who can harness the wind, and Dr. Fate (Brosnan), who can occupy multiple spaces and is clairvoyant.   Only Brosnan generates any interest, and as I've stated in a previous review of a forgettable Brosnan movie, he could read the phonebook and still sound cool. 

Even after being buried for 5,000 years and originating in a land in which English wasn't spoken, Teth Adam can helpfully speak English perfectly and goes on to annihilate bad guys while not worrying about property damage or innocent civilians meeting untimely deaths.   The Justice Society acts as Adam's frenemies, while Adam's real friends emerge (the woman who dug him up and her son) and his enemy is determined to sit on the throne and rule the world.   And yes I mean an actual throne.

Johnson has charisma to spare in normal circumstances.  In Black Adam, that charisma is used sparingly.  He, of course, looks the part of a superhero (or antihero), but there isn't much character there.   We witness him morph from anithero to hero and we're not much moved.   Confusing CGI-inflated action scenes rule the day and the plot is too thin to support a nearly two-hour, overly bloated film.   As is custom with DC or MCU movies, there is a post-credit sequence in which Black Adam's next potential opponent is revealed.  That is more compelling than anything in the movie.   Maybe we should just skip to the post-credits scene and save ourselves two hours.