I want to talk about Black Adam. Why? Oh this is quite easy! I saw the new movie last weekend, and I thought I would share my unbiased and unsolicited opinion, because why not? 

So let’s start at the beginning; Black Adam is the new movie released by Warner Brothers, starring Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, as the main character, Teth-Adam/Black Adam.

I’m going to establish a few things first. The movie we’re going to be talking about is not going to win any acting or writing awards, but winning set designs and special effects awards, are definitely on the table. I mean this is a movie about people with superpowers; it’s not an art house or an independent film. This film is designed to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars.

If you have no idea who or what Black Adam is, I’m not sure whether that is an advantage or disadvantage, though it depends on how you view  it. As for me I know the character, though I’m not an expert, but I do know him. My wife asked me who exactly Black Adam was, because she was unsure about seeing the film. The reason was because she was not familiar with the character and to be honest, who could blame her? Maybe me? Just kidding.

The terrible point that I’m making, is that I’ve always viewed Black Adam as a character very similar, if not running parallel to Namor from Marvel. They are both leaders of a country, both are slightly less arrogant than Batman and both have a wobbly moral compass, that is extremely brutal and dangerous.

I don’t write a lot of movie reviews, because as you can see, I’m only a few paragraphs in and I’m only just starting to talk about the movie. However more importantly, it’s rare for me to actually go to the cinema. That’s because sitting in the dark with random strangers, eating whatever food I want, while watching a movie, is something I don’t do enough of.

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Anyway, let’s actually get around to discussing the movie, shall we?

Warning, major spoilers ahead. If you haven’t seen the film and you don’t want to know about it, please stop reading now. No, I really mean it. If you do stop reading, you can go and read some of my other blogs, because that would be really handy, even though I don’t get paid.

Let’s start with the Sour Cream and Chives portion of the movie.

When we first meet Teth-Adam, he’s speaking in what I only assume is some type of ancient Arabic language. The next time he speaks and I could be mistaken about this, is when he is in Amon’s bedroom, where he speaks English. I thought this was kind of weird considering Teth-Adam was taken out of the world for around 5,000 years, so how did he learn to speak English? 

I know what you’re about to say. He’s got the wisdom of Solomon; though to be technically correct, Teth-Adam actually has the wisdom of Zehuti. So it is technically possible that Teth-Adam could speak a language he has never spoken before, or the fact that this language had not been invented 5,000 years ago, because of his magical abilities. It is possible, I just would have liked to have see that explained, because it just didn’t quite fit or feel right. Does that make sense to you?

And speaking of 5,000 years, I think it would have been quite fascinating for the viewer to be looking at the world through Teth-Adam’s eyes. I mean he’s over 5,000 years old. Entire civilizations would have risen and fallen, with technology, politics, medicine, philosophy, music and science would have all been developed to modern standards.

However by the end of the film, Black Adam seems to have completely adjusted to his new world. I just feel it would have been a bit of a stretch for that to happen, because he’s got 5,000 years to catch up on, so it’s going to take him a long time to adjust to this new world. Yes, I know he’s got the godly magical abilities and they could possibly help him to adjust, but I feel like the film makers could’ve had a lot of fun with it, but also being serious at the same time. Or maybe Black Adam just didn’t care enough about the world to learn about the last 5,000 years.

I think there’s another thing to consider with Black Adam; he’s a difficult character to relate to or at least like.

I mean is Black Adam the protagonist, or just another antagonist in the film? Is he the villain or the hero, or maybe he’s exactly what he’s supposed to be in the comics: an anti-hero.

The thing is, Batman is an anti-hero as well and people love him; but the character is pretty brutal. The difference with Black Adam, is that the brutality is dialled up to 11. He’s not hiding behind a mask, that’s just who he is and he does not give a damn whether you approve of his methods or not; you’re beneath his attention.

I think this is one of the things that they’re going to have to work really hard on, if they want people to care about the character or at least, care what happens to him. Or maybe they don’t need to. Maybe he’s exactly the way the film makers want him to be, sitting in the middle of a Venn diagram of good and evil.

As for the Justice Society, I would love to have seen them being fleshed out a lot more, but when you have an ensemble cast, everyone is jostling for the spotlight and it would make it extremely difficult for everyone to have their time to shine.

Having said that, I thought Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan) was pretty cool. I think he was the very first superhero magician, I had ever read about. From the helmet to his costume, I thought he was awesome. I discovered Doctor Fate, before I discovered Doctor Strange, so when Fate was in full costume for the first time on screen, there was a small part of me that was yelling, “It’s about time!”

I really hope they flesh out Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) as a character, whether it’s through more movies or television shows, because I think he has left us with more questions than answers, which is a positive thing.

Ok, I want bring balance to this review, just like the Force.

I thought the special effects were amazing. I also think they did a great job of mixing practical effects with CGI. The scene where Black Adam was floating down the staircase in the apartment block, was outstanding. I could be wrong about this, but it sure looked like a practical effect!

As for Black Adam himself, I thought it was very brave that DC made this film, basing it on an anti hero/villain. What I mean is the fact that the main character is going out of his way to murder people. He’s not holding back, he’s doing what needs to be done and very similar to Namor.

Black Adam is not Superman or Captain America or Wonder Woman or Black Panther. It was very interesting to see a character like this, to use their abilities in a twisted and demented form of altruism. Some of those death scenes were funny, but some of them were very brutal and gruesome; but that’s the whole point of his character.

Another aspect of the movie I liked, was the use of geo-politics. I’ve heard this example used before and it’s the best one I can think of: One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. This example fits exactly into the Black Adam mythos. There is a scene with Adrianna (Sarah Shahi) arguing with the Justice Society.

They are claiming that Black Adam is a villain and a killer, that needs to be stopped. However to Adrianna and the citizens of Kahndaq, Black Adam is a saviour, a liberator, a hero. Who is right and who is wrong? Is it possible that the Justice Society and Adrianna can be right and wrong at the same time?

I thought it was very powerful and meaningful for Adrianna to be pointing out, that after so many years of Intergang controlling Kahndaq and the world not caring about them, it was only until Black Adam appeared, that the world gave a damn about them. I thought that was extremely important and profound; but hey, what do I know?

I could keep talking about this film, but basically it has several good and bad points, just like any other film. To be honest, I liked the film. It’s not perfect, but that’s ok with me. For a superhero movie, I was entertained and that’s one of the biggest compliment I can give.

I know there is a criticism that this movie was only made for comic book fans; but isn’t any adapted film made for old fans, as well as new fans? I mean isn’t the whole point of adapting films to bring in new audiences also? I mean imagine if there was a disclaimer that every time you wanted to see a Harry Potter film, you were only allowed to see it, if you had read the book? Imagine if going to watch a new Stephen King film, you were only allowed to see it, if you had read the book first? It doesn’t work like that and it shouldn’t.

The point of this completely disjointed review about Black Adam, is that you shouldn’t listen to me about the film and don’t listen to anyone else. If you’re curious about the film, go and see it and make your own mind up. It’s the same for any product, whether it’s a movie, TV show, book or music; don’t worry about what everyone else is saying about it, if you’re interested, go and read it or watch it or listen to it. Make your own mind up about it, because that way you’ll know.

And that’s a wrap from me! Thanks for stopping by, now go walk your dog, read some banned books, and I’ll see you next Monday.