Black Adam
Black Adam is playing in theaters at the time of writing. Rated PG-13. Common Sense says 12.
STORY: C
After a 5,000 year long nap, Black Adam wakes up cranky and ready for justice.
The story idea is a good one, but the storytelling is anything but smooth. You know how roller coasters alternate going fast and slow in order to thrill you and maximize entertainment value? Black Adam tries to do the same, but instead it maximizes confusion. It starts out slowly with a nearly ten minute long sequence of voice over exposition that regrettably doesn’t clearly explain everything that comes after. Other times, things happen so quickly that we miss massively important information.
Despite the bewildering pandemonium, the story lightly explores an intriguing idea about heroism. Who gets the right to label a person a hero or a villain? Just because the Justice Society senses a threat to “global stability,” do they have the right to remove somebody who’s finally helping Khandaq in a way the Justice Society never has? It’s a very interesting thread in the tapestry of an otherwise chaotic story.
PEOPLE: C-
So many of these actors have entertained me in previous work. Aldis Hodge is incredible in One Night in Miami. Noah Centineo crushes it in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Sarah Shahi slays in Alias. And who can’t love Dwayne Johnson?
All of them fall short here. I had to check to see if George Lucas directed this movie - a master director but also a guy with a reputation for drawing out flat, unexciting performances from extremely talented people (see: Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman). The only person firing on all cylinders is Pierce Brosnan. Pierce Brosnan popping a breath mint during Hawkman and Black Adam’s brawl is a perfect movie moment.
FILM GEEK STUFF: D
Most of the lightning quick editing is intended to generate excitement. Too often, it just invites confusion. The confusion takes up the entire couch of my attention, crushing any excitement that may have been wanting to sit there against the sofa’s edge, overwhelmed by confusion.
The CGI doesn’t feel different than anything we’ve seen in other superhero movies. It’s well done, but breaks no new ground.
TROPES (Elective Class): D-
Trope: a recurring element or a frequently used plot device in a work of art.
A trope is an idea that’s repeated over and over again in different movies (or books, or art, or music, etc.). When the killer dies in a horror movie, but suddenly roars back to life for one final scare? Happens a lot, doesn’t it? That’s a trope. When the hero walks toward the camera in slow motion as a huge explosion rages behind them? That’s also a trope. You know tropes when you see them.
If used correctly, tropes can be both fun and powerful. Take the common “Fish Out of Water” trope. It’s Buddy in Elf trying to figure out his way around NYC. It’s the Terminator in T2 learning what it means to be a human. These tropes pay off later in their films’ powerful endings. Buddy uses what he learns to become the best version of himself possible. T-1000 uses what he learns to save the human race. These tropes work because they’re not there just for the sake of being there.
Black Adam is chock full of empty tropes that serve no other purpose. Amon has to teach Black Adam a few things about how superheros act in modern times. Funny, I guess. Atom Smasher is a big dude, so he’s always eating. Funny, I guess. A character seen in previous movies makes a quick appearance, drops the name of another character, spins around and quickly leaves. Mind-blowing, I suppose. Two guys who hate each other join forces at the end and forge a grudging respect for each other. We’ve all seen these tropes before, but each one falls flatter than a sad piece of confetti because they have little to no connection or meaning behind them.
FINAL COMMENTS:
One more trope for you: Character “A” really likes character “B”, but B doesn’t like A back because they’re all into character “C”. So A tries acting just like C in order to impress the object of their affection, B. They start doing things they hate. They join the glee club. They start wearing t-shirts of bands they can’t stand. They go vegan. It never works. In the end, A finally lands their guy/gal/non-binary bae once they look inside themselves, sit inside their own amazingness, and fully accept who they are.
It’s a trope that could describe the making of Black Adam. This movie seems like it’s trying its best to be everything Marvel (C) is because the DCEU (A) wants us (B) to like them, and they know we love Marvel. It’s not as bad a movie as a lot of critics are saying. But it ultimately feels soulless because it’s trying so hard to be someone else instead of exploring its own potentially exciting possibilities.