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
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.
Last edited by j9ac9k; 08-25-2023 at 08:51 AM.
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.
Every day is a gift, not a given right.
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
[Quote Originally Posted by Thor-El 10-15-2020 12:32 PM]
"Jason Aaron should know there is already a winner of the Phoenix Force and his name is Phoenixx9."
Like a Red Dragon, The Phoenix shall Soar in 2024!
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.
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
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.
"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" - Optimus Prime
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.
Last edited by StickMin; 09-08-2023 at 03:01 PM.