Director: Jaume Collett-Serra
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Pierce Brosnan, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Quintessa Swindell, Marwan Kenzari, Bodhi Sabongui, Jalon Christian, Henry Winkler
Distributor: Disney / Fox
Runtime: 124 mins. Reviewed in Oct 2022
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc

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Rating notes: Fantasy themes and violence

Nearly 5000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the ancient gods ­– and imprisoned just as quickly – Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.

Black Adam had his comic strip origins in 1945, something of a super villain but who has evolved over the decades into something of an anti-hero. Some of that ambiguity is presented in his first major cinema screen appearance.

About 5000 years ago in a city-kingdom called Kahndaq, somewhere in the Middle East, a tyrannical king wanted a precious metal to make an all-powerful crown, forcing thousands of his subjects to dig in the harsh rocks to find it (shades of slaves building the pyramids). However, a bold young man defied him, was executed and his protective father buried. Present day. Kahndaq is occupied and subjugated by foreign mercenaries and an archaeologist raises the father to new life.

This is rather complicated because everybody expects him to be a superhero and to save the oppressed citizens. But he is reluctant, despite having superpowers (faster than Superman in soaring into the air). He becomes the target of an elite Justice Society, a kind of more official Fantastic Four, which flies into Kahndaq to take him prisoner. They are led by the wise, Dr Fate (Brosnan), and his aggressive associate, Hawkman (Hodge) and two youngsters, one of whom, Atom Smasher (Centineo), who seems to prefer to be eating snacks.

In fact, there is not all that much plot. The archaeologist and her garrulous and earnest son (and large uncle Al, Henry Winkler) plead with the Justice Society to work with Black Adam, then a fellow worker emerges as the last descendant of the evil king of 5000 years ago and is after the Crown which the archaeologist has rescued. So, with this basic plot, there are lots of fights, special effects, Black Adam soaring everywhere, confrontations with members of the Justice Society, and with the evil, ambitious would-be king and his minions.

Since the word Shazam is taken already, and used several times here, perhaps a way of describing this film is that, of all the DC films, it is the most ‘smasherooist’. And, it would seem from the fans, that this is really what they want, admiration for Dwayne Johnson as a superhero/antihero, lots of action (plus more), and they’re acclaiming it as ‘fun’.

For those wanting a moment or two of sophistication, there is some ironic and sarcastic interchanges between Dwayne Johnson and Pierce Brosnan – and for sophistication not too many more moments.