Black Adam
2022
*½
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Pierce Brosnan, Bodhi Sabongui
As the good guys and the bad guys attempt to locate the Crown of Sabbac, an object of great power, in the modern day Kahndaq, they reawaken Teth-Adam, a former slave with the powers of Shazam!. The US government sends out Justice Society to deal with the situation. The 11th release in the DC Extended Universe is not able to revive this consistently underwhelming superhero franchise. Zack Snyder is no longer in charge, but this looks and feels like many of the previous movies in the series. The runtime is almost entirely dedicated to noisy, weightless, and stakeless CGI destruction. The script, if there is one, is inept and the characters are barely sketched. The main villain is forgettable and the Justice Society features four superheroes with impressive powers but zero personality. In fact, Hawkman, Atom Smasher, Cyclone, and Doctor Fate are just second rate versions of the well-established Marvel characters Falcon, Ant-Man, Storm, and Doctor Strange, respectively. Dwayne Johnson, usually such a charismatic screen presence, is a dull shadow of himself in this one.
