The fact that action-movie juggernaut Dwayne Johnson is making his cinematic superhero debut as Black Adam – a role he’s coveted for years – has certainly whetted the appetite for this latest offering from the DC Extended Universe.
It’s fair to say there’s a lot riding on it, what with Warner Bros controversially canning the already completed Batgirl film earlier this year and dark clouds hovering over the production of the solo Flash film – due for release in 2023 – that will see Ezra Miller’s scarlet speedster encounter Michael Keaton’s version of Batman while hurtling through DC’s version of the Multiverse.
The original holder of the power of the wizard Shazam (bestowed upon young Billy Batson in the 2019 hit film of the same name), Teth-Adam lived some 5,000 years ago in the Middle Eastern nation of Kahndaq until a catastrophic confrontation with a tyrant king resulted in his disappearance.
Cue Kahndaq in the present day and curious archaeologist Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) who accidentally releases Johnson’s incredible bulk from his millennia of entombment while trying to avoid the brutal mercenaries oppressing her country.
But is this spandex-clad man mountain a saviour or a sinner? Well, first impressions indicate the latter as he lethally lays waste to Adrianna’s pursuers and pretty much anything else that gets in his way, a super-charged rampage that soon attracts the attention of Suicide Squad head honcho Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) and the Justice Society of America, DC Comics’ first super-team, here making its live-action bow.
The Society – a predecessor to the Justice League – first appeared in the DC comics of the 1940s and included the wartime versions of the Flash, Atom and Green Lantern along with lesser-known “mystery men” such as Hawkman and Dr Fate.
In the film, enigmatic sorcerer Dr Fate (played with dry aplomb by former 007 Pierce Brosnan, swapping his Walther PPK for a cape and a glistening gold helmet) and Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) act as mentors to size-changing Atom-Smasher (a charmingly klutzy Noah Centineo) and Quintessa Swindell’s Cyclone, whose psychedelic wind powers only add to the team’s visually imposing presence.
Not surprisingly with an adversary exhibiting Superman levels of power, a series of concussive slugfests soon erupts, which may tick the boxes for action fans but leaves little time to flesh out these new heroes to the franchise. Nevertheless, Adam’s bickering and brawling with Hodge’s grumpy winged warrior could be the start of a long-running rivalry, while a cameo featuring an iconic star of ’70s American TV does leave you wanting more.
Of course, Johnson cannot help but look the part. All brooding menace and bulging muscles, Johnson remains steadfastly deadpan as Adam attempts to adjust to the modern world, which wryly includes bursting through walls instead of using a simple thing like a door.
Ultimately, director Jaume Collet-Serra’s reunion with his Jungle Cruise star stands or falls on Johnson’s physicality, charisma and his way with a laconic line, and he delivers in spades.
Black Adam may not be a game-changer for DC like the first Wonder Woman film or as much fun as Shazam, but it does establish the character as a serious player in the DCEU, as a post-credits sequence promises to gobsmacking effect.
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