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It’s no secret that some of the most popular and successful films of all time are superhero movies. It’s also no secret that one of the most popular actors on the planet is Dwayne Johnson. So when the two Hollywood juggernauts joined forces for DC’s “Black Adam,” audiences were excited.

One of the main reasons for the hype surrounding this film was its star. Johnson has wanted to make this for a long time — he was originally cast in the role of Black Adam in November of 2007. But script rewrites and production delays led to Johnson and Black Adam to be left out of the movie — 2019’s Shazam! — altogether.

It was not until November 2019 that Johnson was able to officially confirm that Black Adam would be a solo film and that they’d be able to begin filming. There was plenty of anticipation, with Johnson himself calling it the most important movie of his career.

After all of the hype and intense marketing that Johnson did for the film, it is not surprising that “Black Adam” ends up being a perfect analogy for his acting career thus far — fun at times, but dull and lacking emotion.

In the film, Johnson plays Teth-Adam, the savior of the fictional Middle Eastern country of Khandaq. Adam was once a great champion in ancient Khandaq, but had been locked in a mountain for thousands of years while his country was taken over by authoritarian regimes and gangs.

It’s not until he’s awoken by an archaeologist, played by Sarah Shahi, that Teth-Adam returns to save Khandaq. At first, it seems like Adam is the hero that Khandaq needs, as he quickly dispatches the gang members and gains tremendous support from the people of Khandaq. But it becomes clear that Adam is too powerful to remain unchecked.

To combat him, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), the director of the Advanced Research Group Uniting Superheroes (ARGUS), puts together a superhero team known as the Justice Society of America to travel to Khandaq and fight Adam. The team features Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) and Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo).

After a few fights between Adam and the Justice Society, Adam realizes that he truly is too powerful and sacrifices his powers to protect others. That is, until a new threat emerges and tries to destroy Khandaq, forcing Adam to come back, defeat him and officially claim his place as the all-powerful Black Adam.

While the overall plot of the movie is confusing, there are a lot of fun action scenes that keep the audience engaged. It’s made clear in multiple instances throughout the film that Black Adam has no moral code and will do whatever it takes to defeat his enemies.

This lack of morality leads to some brutal yet entertaining action sequences, including a slow-motion fight where Black Adam easily dispatches a group of gang members. Johnson may not be the best dramatic actor, but he is always reliable for action scenes.

That last sentence is pretty much an encapsulation for the movie in general. The action sequences are fun, but there’s a lack of any real emotional journey for any of the characters. The only main character who has any real arc throughout the film is Dr. Fate, with Brosnan perfectly displaying the wisdom and experience that the character has in the comics.

Johnson, Hodge and Centineo specifically give dull performances that seem to put more emphasis on the actor’s physical appearances than their abilities as actors. Those three are all strong in fight scenes, but when there are real conversations to be had, everything seems dull, making it hard to believe that anything said is genuine.

What makes some of the best superhero movies is a clear and consistent tone between all of the characters no matter what is going on in the story. There are instances throughout “Black Adam” where it seems the characters are acting in different movies with different tones.

To its credit, “Black Adam” never tries to be more than what it is at its core: an action movie. My favorite parts of the movie come when Johnson and Hodge fight, whether it really makes sense for the plot or not.

At the end of the day, “Black Adam” is a great movie to watch mindlessly at the movie theater and gives the audience enough entertainment to keep them engaged. Throughout the highs and lows, Johnson’s ability to captivate an audience simply through his presence makes a movie even as messy as “Black Adam” watchable.

Published on October 26, 2022 at 10:25 pm