Rating: PG-13 | Runtime: 125 minutes
Release Date: October 21st, 2022 (USA)
Studio: DC Films / Warner Bros.
Director(s): Jaume Collet-Serra
Writer(s): Adam Sztykiel and Rory Haines & Sohrab Noshirvani / Bill Parker and C.C. Beck (characters)

I’m not peaceful. Nor do I surrender.

I’ll never really get the hate for DC films. They’re objectively not great and almost without exception worse than most Marvel Cinematic Universe fare, but they’re also fun. You know. Like how comic books are fun. So, if you’re going to drag a movie like Black Adam for no other reason than it’s not Citizen Kane, you better drag every MCU installment too. Be consistent. Gatekeep-y, but consistent.

That’s not to say Dwayne Johnson’s anti-hero’s origin tale doesn’t have its issues. How could it not when the studio didn’t even want to give the character a standalone until he demanded it from them? So, rather than debut in Shazam!, the IP sat on the shelf. Zach Snyder’s dour-verse ended. James Gunn’s irreverence was introduced. And Black Adam was born in the middle. If anything, it should have been an unmitigated disaster.

I assumed it would be that by the word of mouth I’d heard. I assumed they’d be milking the whole “is he a hero or villain” thing until the Justice Society became the real bad guys. But that wasn’t the case. They let the conflict be Teth Adam’s alone. Which path would he choose? Hawkman, Dr. Fate, and company were merely there to keep him in check so the people of Kahndaq could help him decide. Jaume Collet-Serra was there to provide a steadying hand like he has during an underrated career of memorable b-movie diversions.

The Rock is really good in the film—the straight-man-out-of-time opposite everyone else’s know-it-alls. Aldis Hodge and Pierce Brosnan lend legitimacy. Noah Centineo and Quintessa Swindell lend comic relief. And Sarah Shahi and Bodhi Sabongui lend heart. Add Mohammed Amer’s perfectly timed gags and it’s difficult not to sit back and enjoy the ride. Because it never tries to be more than it is: the origin tale of a superentity that toes the line. Not because he might be evil. Because good isn’t always enough to defeat evil alone.

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(L-r) DWAYNE JOHNSON as Black Adam and ALDIS HODGE as Hawkman in New Line Cinema’s action adventure BLACK ADAM, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. © 2022 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.