Movie Review Black Adam (2022)
Black Man , 2022
Director Jaume Collet-Serra.
With Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Pierce Brosnan, Noah Centeno, Sara Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Bodi Sabangi, Viola Davis, Jennifer Holland, Mo Amer, Odelia Halevi, Patrick Sabigui, Jalon Christian and Henry Winkler.
Synopsis
After nearly 5,000 years of receiving mighty power from the Egyptian gods and similarly imprisoned, Black Adam is freed from his earthly tomb and ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.
Let's say everyone knows rock, but no one does. If that person walked into Man in Black and walked out of the theater saying that Dwayne Johnson was once the biggest man in sports-entertainment and one of the sexiest people on the planet, they'd think you were crazy. But that's how Dwayne Johnson, who plays iconic DC Comics anti-hero Adam Tate, attempts to suppress that natural charm and deliver a calmer, darker performance in Black Man .
The movie isn't silent, it's full of non-stop action, and often feels like an animated graphic novel overloaded with special effects (overcrowded, strong colors, and visual violence are always better). It's fate that rarely allows the characters to breathe, interact or do anything else (the explosions here raise the question of how a city survives with so many liberated citizens) and the exposition, magic crowns and l invincibility.
But, whenever there's a lull in the chaos, Adam makes a dumb joke that always makes him feel like he's partly responsible for bringing WWE into the mainstream and this chain smoker. . This does not help the dives in these chaotic sequences, which present the superpowers of the anti-hero in the style of the Rolling Stones (every day in the TV ad, but petrified in the final version). At worst, Dwayne Johnson seems to have disappeared entirely.
The same can be said for director Jaime Collett-Serra (based on characters created by Otto Binder and Sissy Beck from a script by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirwani). Something that matches the emotions. He succeeds somewhat in the third act, but the overabundance of characters does not help.
In addition to introducing Black Man Adam Tate and exploring his unique code of conduct, it also chooses to include the Justice Society in the form of Doctor Fate from Pierce Brosnan (a wizard who can see the future), Hawkman from Aldis Hodge (a winged warrior). ), Noah Centeno's Atom Smasher (who can adjust his size to giant size, looks like a super Ant-Man), and Quintessa Swindell's Cyclone (whose powers are pretty clear). Also, I couldn't tell you anything about who these characters are, because aside from their skills and fighting style, when Adam is in danger, they prevent Adam from understanding what it means to be a hero and how to become out of the game. fight. his choice is a symbol of justice. .
While the script sometimes struggles to find humor, like in a sweet moment when you see Adam learning good detective skills and sarcasm, the film briefly finds its momentum. Much of Black Man is a never-ending stream of battles that, while nice to brag about revisiting the genre, constantly miss opportunities to explore the fictional town of Kahndaq, where he was enslaved before battling a tyrannical king and character. , will remain in the grave for thousands of years. Sure, some of those expressions come back into play in the finale and are somewhat eye-catching, but at this point Black Man dumps something interesting about himself in favor of an extended onslaught of meaningless CGI action. result.
Amon (Bodi Sabingin), the son of resistance fighter Adriana (Sarah Shahi), should be tasked with rescuing Amon (Bodi Sabingin), who exhausted his magic by taking over the city from the organized crime syndicate Intergang . Resources - Eternium Crystals. He is held hostage by his friends and family (one of whom tries to provide comic relief), until Ismail (Marwan Kenzari) joins their ranks and presents him with a mysterious Eternium-encrusted crown. After that, Adam and the Justice League put them aside for good, but in the end, Viola Davis' Amanda Waller wants to stop another Superman.
Black Man's troubled past and anti-hero offer something refreshing, but the movie only cares about action beats. I also know this project has been going on for 15 years for Dwayne Johnson and it's personal so it's not much fun letting him go but I'm doing it because I know there's a character here who worth exploring. And I would say maybe a sequel will do, but DC clearly failed to unleash another anti-hero that fans love but harbor.
Instead of cleanly building something special from scratch, Black Man went further as a brahma bull in a china shop.
Flash Legends Ranking - Movies: ★★ / Movies: ★★
Robert Kodger is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics' Choice Association. He is also the editor of Flickr Fairy Reviews. For new reviews, check here, follow us on Twitter or Letterboxd, or email MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com.
