Black Adam

[Nate Grey]

#1 at the box office again

The film has legs.

[80sbaby]

#1 at the box office again

The film has legs.

Those aren't really "legs." There's been virtually no competition.

[krazijoe]

Those aren't really "legs." There's been virtually no competition.

So it's smart booking then...

[useridgoeshere]

So it's smart booking then...

Yes, a lot of folks talked about how it fell in a great spot with three competition-free weeks. I also think the whole #1 at the box office is irrelevant. If it had the same numbers but was third, it wouldn't make it any more or less of a success. The 33% hold is the story, because that sounds really good for week three.

[krazijoe]

Yes, a lot of folks talked about how it fell in a great spot with three competition-free weeks. I also think the whole #1 at the box office is irrelevant. If it had the same numbers but was third, it wouldn't make it any more or less of a success. The 33% hold is the story, because that sounds really good for week three.

{Sarcasm} BUT they moved his date back so DC/WBD MUST be going under!!!! {/Sarcasm}

[Wildling]

So it's smart booking then...

Keep in mind Black Adam was delayed. I'm not saying theaters shouldn't have had more movies in the last months in general (I've seen people wondering if Disney messed up by not releasing Hocus Pocus 2 in theaters first to make more money), but IIRC Black Adam was supposed to debut in the middle of the summer when the opening weekend would have been even higher. As it is right now it compares well to Rock's Hobbs and Shaw at least in the US, and will probably be above Shazam ultimately, which was much more well reviewed but had a lower budget. And when this movie was in production (it was envisioned over a decade ago) you also have to keep in mind China cracking down on blockbuster western movies for arbitrary reasons was probably not in anyone's minds.

Since Black Adam has not been dropping like a stone these weeks (keep in mind not having super competition doesn't matter in that regard if people really hate the movie since the opening weekend), I assume the conversations suits are having behind closed doors right now are about if people are watching Black Adam more because the Rock is a top news DC anti-hero now, or more because of the super expensive action. I assume they are keeping an eye on how the next Shazam performs, from the trailer I got the feel that has a budget closer to Black Adam.

[90'sCartoonMan]

The DCEU has always felt unnecessarily dark to me and more like...maybe not deconstructing the idea of classic heroes but just bringing them down to Earth and sucking some of the joy out of them. After two Suicide Squads and Birds of Prey, I was getting kind of sick of the villain-focus, but Black Adam somehow managed to star an anti-hero yet give us the most traditionally heroic assemblage of characters in the Justice Society. And Dr. Fate was just awesome.

Adam was cool, I didn't have high expectations for him, so I liked him more than I was expecting. I don't want them to play him too safe in further appearances. When fighting Superman or even Shazam, he should be the bad guy.

- Cavill never looked more like Superman to me and I liked his line.

They finally gave him a hairstyle worthy of Superman.

[Jared]

It was fun. Action was really good, script was kinda weak, particularly in the third act.

That was the sorriest Legion of Hell that I've ever seen. No match for a kid with a pipe!

I would have thought DC was done introducing new CG villains for a final battle...nope. They should have have done it makeup/prosthetics. Hellboy worked, so did Tim Curry in Legend.

Hakwman adamantly insisting that heroes don't kill would sound more credible if...

1) He wasn't working for *Amanda Waller.*

2) He wasn't bring a spiked mace (that transforms into an axe) to battle.

3) Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, and Aquaman didn't already kill bad guys in this universe. None of them kill as much or as hard as Adam does, but still, that wasn't Carter's objection.

I think they should have swapped out Cyclone for one of the Marvel kids. Or Shazam family kids, whatever we call them now. Mary is around the same age, right?

[Menacer]

It was fun. Action was really good, script was kinda weak, particularly in the third act.

That was the sorriest Legion of Hell that I've ever seen. No match for a kid with a pipe!

I would have thought DC was done introducing new CG villains for a final battle...nope. They should have have done it makeup/prosthetics. Hellboy worked, so did Tim Curry in Legend.

Hakwman adamantly insisting that heroes don't kill weight aound more credible if...

1) He wasn't working for *Amanda Waller.*

2) He wasn't bring a spiked mace (that transforms into an axe) to battle.

3) Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, and Aquaman already kill bad guys in this universe. None of them kill as much or as hard as Adam does, but still, that wasn't Carter's objection.

I think they should have swapped out Cyclone for one of the Marvel kids. Or Shazam family kids, whatever we call them now. Mary is around the same age, right?

I've always taken the heroes don't kill in sorta the cops arrest people they don't kill people sorta thing. Of course if you push the cops they won't take you to jail or court, they'll kill you. But killing isn't what cops do...

It applies to heroes the same.

At least this is how it seems to actually play out in the comics and films.

[David Walton]

A really fun film.

The civilian cast was interesting and their world felt lived-in.

The dynamic between Hawkman and Fate was excellent. I liked Cyclone and Atom Smasher too.

The Rock was highly enjoyable as Black Adam and he pulled off the emotional twist nicely.

[Captain Craig]

I finally saw this yesterday. I had a number of tasks I have been needing to do so I just took a vacation day. Watching Black Adam was my personal treat amidst the tasks.

Grade: B

Pros:
Johnson as Black Adam was great
Brosnan as Fate worked for me cause I love the actor, he's my favorite Bond. Did I see Mamma Mia largely cause of him, I might've. I await his resurrection for Black Adam 2
Aldis Hodge seems to be a bit of a rising star. I'm currently also watching the AMC+ show Turn:Washintons Spies and he has a support role there.
Cavill's Superman cameo in the credits, very nice, very, very nice!!

Indifferent:
Atom Smasher
Cyclone, Quintessa Swindell, had me going for a good while that she might be Astra/Olivia Swann from Legends of Tomorrow. I was convinced she was the same person. The hair and pseudo name similarities had me going there for half the film. When you sit on the back row center of a theater at 11am and only 6 other people are there, all in front of you, pulling out your phone to check IMDB isn't rude.
Adrianna/Sarah Shahi- I first saw her on TV in Alias, thought she had break out power but has been a drifter over the decades

Cons:
The actor playing Adrianna's son didn't work for me. Not sure if it was direction, script, him or a combination.
Adrianna's brother, the cliche fat comic relief was hit or miss at times and as such he could've died earlier
The residents of the city who ban together to fight felt.....weird. Not organic at all.
The bad guy was working for me right up to the point of the giant CGI transformation into the Red Devil(whatever his name was).
The Task Force X underwater sequence felt unnecessary. It felt like a glorified set cameo for the sake of doing so. I felt it interrupted the flow of the film. It caused an unnecessary ceasing of character growth between all characters.

Worth the price of admission and that...is not sarcasm.

[StickMin]

Personally I don't understand the hype with this movie.
The characters were all one note and uninteresting, the plot was near nonexistent and made no sense, none of the themes and ideas the movie tried to bring were executed well, and the villain was just awful.

Heck I can't even see how people say Johnson gave a good performance when Black Adam has almost 0 personality or character arc, he just kind of floats and zaps things, but he nothing actually says or does is interesting or thoughtful.

[Scott Taylor]

Black Adam has almost 0 personality or character arc, he just kind of floats and zaps things, but he nothing actually says or does is interesting or thoughtful.

That is 100 percent Black Adam from the comics. And its the number one reason he always loses.

[StickMin]

That is 100 percent Black Adam from the comics. And its the number one reason he always loses.

I may not be the knowledgable of Black Adam, but there's no way he's the personality devoid cardboard that was in the movie.

From what I've seen in the comics he's ego centric and has a god complex, not the most unique traits I know definitely more than what was in the movie.

[CliffHanger2]

Watching it again on amazon. This movie is a good time at home and in theaters.