Black Adam review: Dwayne Johnson’s antihero wakes up after 5,000 years and the audience sleeps

Celebrated as “The Rock” among WWE fans, Dwayne Johnson has come a long way as an actor, from starring in the meme-able Scorpion King to leading his own comic book venture. However, despite his immense passion to play Black Adam, the latest DC film falls short of the thrills and leaves you wanting for way more.

As we touched upon Black Adam’s comic book history in a previous article, the character starts off as a villain but also has his antihero moments. So, it is pretty obvious that the plot would give him a classic villain origin story while also humanising his motives. After all, we live in an era of supervillains who make sense, Marvel’s Thanos and Killmonger being the posterboys of this villainy.

Similarly, in DC’s first villain-led film after The Suicide Squad series, we are taken 5,000 years back to the fictional kingdom of Kahndaq. The inhabitants of Kahndaq are mostly slaves serving the Pharohs of Egypt with one of them being their unlikely saviour. Granted powers by the wizard Shazam (yes, the same chap from 2019’s Shazam) for his bravery, he turns into a superhuman only to be buried in a tomb for the centuries to come. 

In present day, Kahndaq’s people are enslaved yet again by foreign mercenaries until their mythical saviour (Johnson’s titular character) returns back from the dead and unleashes his hyperviolent wrath. With the beefy 6’5’’ tall ex-wrestler totally owning his majestic character, gets some really stylish scenes of causing mayhem. 

Just take for instance how upon emerging from the dead, he blasts helicopters and takes down mercenaries with The Rolling Stones’s Paint It Black playing in the background. It makes for an engaging moment but that’s about it. When such stylish action sequences keep on playing on loop, the viewer can grow weary. This isn’t the early 2010s anymore, or even 2008 when an Iron Man walking with an explosion behind him seemed like the best thing ever to happen to the superhero genre.

As Black Adam engages in relentless violence (even though it’s mostly Kahndaq’s invaders who are being killed), the Justice Society of America (think of them as discount Justice League in the film’s context) shows up at Kahndaq to imprison him. 

When it comes to the Justice Society, Pierce Brosnan shines in the limited screentime he gets as Doctor Fate, a Doctor Strange-like sorcerer who can look into the future. Coming to terms with the fact that he is way beyond his womanising James Bond phase, Brosnan effortlessly sinks his teeth into the “old mentor” archetype, especially with his relationship to his younger peer Hawkman. 

Aldis Hodge is decent enough as Hawkman but the overdependence on the flashy CGI behind his costume is definitely distracting. Oh, and also To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’s Noah Centino is also in the mix for some reason as the superhero Atom Smasher. His powers of turning giant-sized might be cool for some but again his costume (that seems vaguely similar to a blue-coloured Deadpool) is again distracting. Trying to put on a Spider-Man/Peter Parker-like naivety, Centino’s cute-boy antics definitely feel misplaced in a film that’s supposed to be more serious. 

Coming back to Dwayne Johnson, he seems to be one of the few redeeming factors of Black Adam. Of course, with his limited set of expressions, he is no acting maestro but for a trauma-struck and confused man coming back to his homeland after 5,000 years, Johnson gives his best. Johnson does shine in slightly light-hearted blockbusters like Hobbs & Shaw and the Jumanji series but thankfully, he tones down the comedy and follows a more introspective approach to his character. 

At the film’s various press events, Johnson has stressed on how the character means a lot to me and how his villainous traits make him quite different for a DC protagonist. But here’s the thing. Black Adam surprisingly bears a lack of gray areas with the character’s “heroism” coming out right from the start.

As mentioned earlier, most of his victims are the white men imposing a militaristic regime on Kahndaq in the first place. He soon befriends a local boy and saves him every single time he is in trouble. So, Black Adam doesn’t really need to go through any major emotional struggles to get his redemption arc as the audience is bound to empathise with him right from the start. And this is why even when the Justice Society try to imprison Black Adam, the locals of Kahndaq aren't particularly pleased with this decision. Instead, they cheer for Black Adam as their hero right from the first half. 

Given how the DC Extended Universe kicked off with a pretty violent Superman in Man of Steel who not only kills his main adversary but also causes extreme collateral damage on his way, one can say that the franchise has always had antiheroic undertones. So, not only in terms of its plot but even in terms of the morality of its “new” character, Black Adam doesn’t really bring anything new to the table.

Towards the third act, viewers do get more glimpses into his traumatised past and we also see his angle as a family man. Finally, some depth is added to the plot but alas an unmemorable villain laced in some cringe-inducing CGI spoils the whole moment (predictable spoiler: the villain of Black Adam is not Black Adam). 

Ultimately, Black Adam is not a bad film. It’s just a bland film. Still, watch it for the few adrenaline-fueled action sequences and Johnson’s sheer commitment to the role. Black Adam’s struggles to understand the concept of sarcasm, his search for a superhero catchphrase, and his bulky frame just crashing into walls while walking would draw some laughs, but that’s about it. 

We’re going with 2.5 out 5 stars for Black Adam. 

Black Adam is out now in theatres.