Black Adam

[Anthony W]

I'll see it in theatres, something I didn't do for Thor:Love And Thunder and don't plan to do for the Pantherless Wakanda movie.

[Multiverse]

Just been to see Black Adam; I give it a 3/5. A decent film with visible flaws.

spoilers:

Pros 1) Doctor Fate – Man, good old Pierce Brosnan kicked it outta the park in this movie. He really came off as the wise mentor of the team, knew when not to get involved in a squabble, and was cryptic when needed. Despite his fate in the film, I hope the Helmet of Fate makes a reappearance in a future film (heck even have that though dead, Nelson’s soul to still boned to the Helmet in some way). 2) Improvements to the “New 52” Black Adam Backstory – Instead of him stealing his kin’s powers, his son grants them willingly to save him and ends up assassinated by their enemies. 3) DC Easter Eggs – Loved the backstory of Cyclone referencing her experimented by T.O. Morrow (wasn't named but those who know her backstory in the comics can connect the dots; man I hope they introduce Red Tornado at some point), and the appearance of Al Pratt (played by the Fonzie himself). Plus, is it me or did Anh-Kot’s soldiers remind anyone of the Shazam villain King Kull. Cons 1) Intergang and Ishmael Gregor – This international crime syndicate came off rather poor in the movie. Would have loved to have seen them using weaponry from LexCorp, a cool reference to Bruno Mannheim, and perhaps a better plot reason of the Justice League not being there is that they were dealing with bigger Intergang-related issues elsewhere (that as dangerous as Khandaq was at the time, other countries were getting it just as worse). Plus, main villain Ishmael Gregor was hit and miss for me; while his motivation to return Khandaq back to his ancestor’s “glory” was a cool motivation, I didn’t feel like he was a Intergang leader; he came off more as just a high-level member of the gang. 2) Lack of Justice Society Backstory – Outside of a telling us what they stood for, we didn’t get any lore to how/ when the Society was formed, what other members were on the team, and where they have been all this time throughout the DCEU. Heck even Hawkman didn’t get much backstory; hope he gets a solo film at some point to explatin a bit. 3) Issues with Young Cast – Not gonna lie, Amon got on my nerves throughout the movie (the silly catchphrases and obsessive need to “motor-mouth” his opinions). And poor Cyclone and Atom-Smasher felt like underutilized in the character department (powers were well represented though).

end of spoilers


As of now here is my ranking of the DCEU:

1 - ZSJL
2 - Man of Steel
3 - Aquaman
4 - The Suicide Squad
5 - Wonder Woman
6 - BVS (UE)
7 - Black Adam
8 - Shazam
9 - Peacemaker S1
10 - WW84
11 - Birds of Prey
12 - JoSStice League
13 - Suicide Squad

[Anthony W]

4 - The Suicide Squad
13 - Suicide Squad

You should switch those in the rankings. I know that The Suicide Squad was given away on HBO Max and that gave it a lot of goodwill but it isn't as good as the first one. Between the patented James Gunn attempts at "humor" and Idris "I can be a leading man even if all the evidence collected from every movie I have ever been in says otherwise" Elba. And look! It's Taika Waititi! The celebrity that everyone is tired of but they don't realise it yet. Man, that thing was a drag to watch.

[JBatmanFan05]

Interesting closing portion from a critic's review on The Verge: (that he thinks the film misses the key narrative/thematic opportunity to truly make Black Adam a anti-imperialist and thus also more an antihero, perhaps in a semi literal sense)

It would make all the sense in the world for Teth-Adam to have nothing but fury and thunderbolts for foreign vigilantes coming into his home. But Black Adam stops short of being that logical, both because Warner Bros. knows how irredeemable it might make the character seem in people’s eyes and because the studio has some rather obvious plans for him in the future.

For those who’ve been waiting for a big, bombastic celebration of how powerful Black Adam is that also strips away most of the narrative context that makes him work in DC’s comic, neither Black Adam nor its mid-credits scene will disappoint. But for anyone hoping that Black Adam might actually herald a new era of quality and substantive superhero features from Warner Bros., there’s always the chance that the next movie he pops up in might be a good one.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/20/...hnson-the-rock

[The Cool Thatguy]

How? Most of the people against his position were either villains, hypocrites or strawmen who undermined their own arguments. No one was going to root for someone who opposed Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross.

I think you're thinking of the comic book, not the movie.

In the movie, Cap ruined the lives of every Avenger on his team to address a non existent threat, destroyed the Avengers, and lied to Tony about his father's death. That hardly makes him Frank Castle, but it's certainly more questionable than anything Adam does.

You should switch those in the rankings. I know that The Suicide Squad was given away on HBO Max and that gave it a lot of goodwill but it isn't as good as the first one. Between the patented James Gunn attempts at "humor" and Idris "I can be a leading man even if all the evidence collected from every movie I have ever been in says otherwise" Elba. And look! It's Taika Waititi! The celebrity that everyone is tired of but they don't realise it yet. Man, that thing was a drag to watch.

...have you seen the first one? Because I think you're confusing Will Smith and Idris.

In the first one, like Johnson, Smith didn't have the courage to actually play a villain. He was the usual 1980s anti-hero, who hogged the limelight, was the same as virtually every other Will Smith action star.

Which is not to say that James Gunn's movie was great, but it was far superior to the first movie (not a high bar) for a host of reasons.

[CliffHanger2]

Really liked it The Rock was born to play Black Adam. Big bold action, plan on seeing it a couple more times.

[Scott Taylor]

Really liked it The Rock was born to play Black Adam. Big bold action, plan on seeing it a couple more times.

Good to hear. I'll probably take a look, see how it is in theatres.

[CliffHanger2]

Good to hear. I'll probably take a look, see how it is in theatres.

Yeah it gave me the same feeling of the last dbz movie. Lots of big action.

[Frontier]

I think you're thinking of the comic book, not the movie.

In the movie, Cap ruined the lives of every Avenger on his team to address a non existent threat, destroyed the Avengers, and lied to Tony about his father's death. That hardly makes him Frank Castle, but it's certainly more questionable than anything Adam does.

Technically he had no way of knowing that at the time and he wasn't 100% the reason for the split and they all went along with it willingly.

...have you seen the first one? Because I think you're confusing Will Smith and Idris.

In the first one, like Johnson, Smith didn't have the courage to actually play a villain. He was the usual 1980s anti-hero, who hogged the limelight, was the same as virtually every other Will Smith action star.

Which is not to say that James Gunn's movie was great, but it was far superior to the first movie (not a high bar) for a host of reasons.

When Bloodsport end up being a better Deadshot than movie Deadshot.

[tabo61]

I really enjoyed it. Loved how the Justice Society has a working partnership with Amanda Waller.

[Doctor Kent Nelson]

Spot on review - https://www.impulsegamer.com/black-adam-film-review

... Unfortunately, the sparse script gives them little to do in terms of personality, humanity, and even levity. The intrepid pair of Noah Centineo (as Atom Smasher) and Quintessa Swindell (as Cyclone) barely show any spark while a pulse from Pierce Brosnan (as Dr. Fate) is scarce. Aldis Hodge is fun and imposing as Hawkman. The real downer here is Marwan Kenzari. He is a talented actor in films like Instinct (2019) and it is not his fault that his role in Black Adam is bereft of any qualities that would appear menacing. It just goes to show that a convincing motivation for a villain is not enough to make it memorable.

Black Adam fails to be a memorable, cinematic action film. With haphazard storytelling, increasingly tedious and repetitive action scenes and forgettable characters, the latest DC entry lands with a heavy thud.

[Serpico Jones]

John Campea says the script for the sequel has already been written.

[Doctor Kent Nelson]

John Campea says the script for the sequel has already been written.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Technically he had no way of knowing that at the time and he wasn't 100% the reason for the split and they all went along with it willingly.

He knew he'd be leading them in breaking the law, and making them criminals. He knew Hawkeye had a family, and a more cynical reading could be that he exploited Wanda's guilt, and Scott who was clearly star struck by him.

Again, not much, but more than Black Adam

[Frontier]

He knew he'd be leading them in breaking the law, and making them criminals. He knew Hawkeye had a family, and a more cynical reading could be that he exploited Wanda's guilt, and Scott who was clearly star struck by him.

Again, not much, but more than Black Adam

In the service of what he felt, at the time, was the greater good. He didn't force any of them into doing this and I doubt he intentionally exploited anyone, if they said no he would've respected that. Everyone had their own reasons for going along with it.