Black Adam

[Powerboy]

Rock giving the Rock Bottom to Shazam would be funny.

But imagine the shock on Black Adam's face when Shazam/ Captain Marvel kicks out at the count of 2.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I watched Black Adam on streaming last week. It was really good. I don't understand why this underrated gem of a movie flopped badly at the box office. Black Adam is like Superman meets the Punisher or Namor the Sub-Mariner.

I loved his origin backstory. It is better than the comic book story where the Black Adam was a man who killed his idealistic nephew to keep his powers rather than sharing them with him.

It flopped because despite what people say, viewers want and can get more from superhero movies than they can from the usual action movie.

The Rock barely did any acting, he was the family friendly anti-hero, and until Sabbac showed up he was barely in any danger.

In the comics, Black Adam might be like Namor, but he was nothing like him in his own movie. The vast gulf between them is even more obvious now that we've seen Namor in the MCU

[choptop]

It flopped because despite what people say, viewers want and can get more from superhero movies than they can from the usual action movie.

The Rock barely did any acting, he was the family friendly anti-hero, and until Sabbac showed up he was barely in any danger.

In the comics, Black Adam might be like Namor, but he was nothing like him in his own movie. The vast gulf between them is even more obvious now that we've seen Namor in the MCU

But no one really likes mcu Namor that much either so....

[The Cool Thatguy]

But no one really likes mcu Namor that much either so....

Debatable. But he at least had depth, and was willing to risk the audiences wraith. That's more than you can say about any role The Rock has done

[j9ac9k]

Debatable. But he at least had depth, and was willing to risk the audiences wraith. That's more than you can say about any role The Rock has done

It came across to me that the writers used those "surprise reveals" so that as we found out more about his origin we were supposed to change our opinion about Adam, but it was a poor substitution for actual depth of character and a real arc where our opinion of him changes over time as we go on the emotional journey with him.

[Scott Taylor]

Yah, the Rock's Black Adam was basically cardboard. Acting is more than just looking cryptically menacing. His character arc was more defined by the events and characters surrounding him than his actual character.

Say what you want about the way Namor was portrayed, love it or not, you can define Namor's arc by the actor's response to everything happening around him rather than the other way around.

[The Cool Thatguy]

To pick up on Namor again, I'd point out that he made sense in the movie. His origins were tied into Wakanda, so he at least felt like a logical enemy/character.

They had the ability to do the same with Hawkman and Dr. Fate. In the comics, the three of them all knew one another. In the movie, they could have had Dr. Fate and Hawkman have been the bad guys from back then, having changed now, but still worrying that Adam hadn't.

Instead, they were only there because Waller sent them there. Weird how Black Adam's hype man Amon knew more about the just emerged Justice League than the Justice Society (was there any indication that he knew of them at all?).

I loved Black Reign, don't get me wrong. But it's weird that they'd cater a 100 million dollar plus movie to a few thousand fans of the comic instead of trying to reach a large audience

[Phoenixx9]

Yah, the Rock's Black Adam was basically cardboard. Acting is more than just looking cryptically menacing. His character arc was more defined by the events and characters surrounding him than his actual character.

Say what you want about the way Namor was portrayed, love it or not, you can define Namor's arc by the actor's response to everything happening around him rather than the other way around.

Absolutely. The funny thing is the Rock thinks he is a great actor and did a bang-up job with Black Adam!

[The Cool Thatguy]

Absolutely. The funny thing is the Rock thinks he is a great actor and did a bang-up job with Black Adam!

It really feels like we've moved backwards with action stars.

Die Hard was awesome because John McClane had to fight tooth and nail for his victory. Unlike Steven and Van Dam, who just spout one liners.

Now, action stars gotta land an equal amount of hits and crap. And heaven forbid they don't have some half assed one liner.

[j9ac9k]

I loved Black Reign, don't get me wrong. But it's weird that they'd cater a 100 million dollar plus movie to a few thousand fans of the comic instead of trying to reach a large audience

Regardless of how familiar a movie screenwriter or director is with the comic books, and even if they draw inspiration from a storyline, no studio is ever looking to "cater to comic book fans" for big-budget movies.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Regardless of how familiar a movie screenwriter or director is with the comic books, and even if they draw inspiration from a storyline, no studio is ever looking to "cater to comic book fans" for big-budget movies.

In theory, sure.

But the way so many comic book movies default to big story lines that took a great deal of canon to build up to in the comics themselves (I.E, the first DD, New Mutants movie, Black Adam), it sure seems like it in practice.

[Godzilla2099]

I watched Black Adam on streaming last week. It was really good. I don't understand why this underrated gem of a movie flopped badly at the box office. Black Adam is like Superman meets the Punisher or Namor the Sub-Mariner.

I loved his origin backstory. It is better than the comic book story where the Black Adam was a man who killed his idealistic nephew to keep his powers rather than sharing them with him.

Overall, I agree. While this movie definitely had some rough edges, the group I went with all had a great time and enjoyed watching it.

I listed my pros/cons but never gave my opinion on the Rock. He's one of those actors that doesn't transform into another character. He's the Rock in all his movies. With Black Adam, he did the job.

My biggest compliments for this movie was the pacing (I wasn't bored with this movie for a single second), Dr Fate was easily my favorite character, and I liked most of the fight scenes (and there were plenty to go around).

And as you said, the origin story of Black Adam was also creative.

I don't get why this flopped either. I thought it was better than many of the recent super hero flicks I watched

[StickMin]

But no one really likes mcu Namor that much either so....

That's just a flat out lie, Namor was one of the most praised parts of Wakanda Forever, a movie that already got a large amount of positive reception

[Captain Craig]

I wasn't wild about Namor's portrayal, hate hate hate the nose ring. Massive visual distraction the whole time he's on screen and especially in conversation. I hate that Marvel didn't honor his backstory and instead seemingly dodged Atlantis because DC "got there first" with Aquaman. SIGH.

[StickMin]

Being completely honest complaining that Taloksn isn't Atlantis feels nitpicky for the sake of being nitpicky, it's an underwater city full of blue people who breathe water, it's Marvel Atlantis in every way that matters, because it's not as if there's this deep important lore about Marvel Atlantis that ever gets explored or that the place is ever important for anything other than to be where Namor is from.