Black Adam (12A)

In 2600 BC, a council of wizards bestows great power on slave Teth Adam. Unfortunately, Kahndaq's protector allows grief and vengeance to dictate his actions and the wizards entomb Teth Adam within the Rock of Eternity. Five millennia later, freedom fighter Adrianna Tomaz unwittingly releases the prisoner with a single word: "Shazam!" Teth Adam represents a potent threat to political stability so the Justice Society are swiftly dispatched to negotiate his peaceful surrender.

LondonNet Film Review

Black Adam (12A) Film Review from LondonNet

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. With the notable exception of Christopher Nolan’s brooding Dark Knight trilogy, films torn from the pages of DC Comics have struggled to match the critical and commercial success lavished upon interlinked phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s perhaps inevitable that action-packed adventure Black Adam, a spin-off from the 2019 film Shazam!, should mimic the knockabout tone of the MCU replete with a wisecracking superhero team that comprises dead ringers for Falcon, Dr Strange, Storm and Ant-Man from the crowded ranks of the Avengers and X-Men…

Imitation doesn’t fatally wound director Jaume Collet-Serra’s brawny blockbuster. This gung-ho gallivant through five thousand years of Middle Eastern uprising strikes a pleasing balance between outlandish slow-motion action sequences, familial angst and irreverence. A teenage boy dispenses pithy wisdom to Dwayne Johnson’s clueless deity about superhero etiquette – catchphrase first then kill the bad guys – and eagerly appraises the leading man’s gym-toned physique: “Batman, Superman, Aquaman… you’re more stacked than all of them!” Bigger, maybe, but not better. The script penned by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani teases gritty emotion (“The world doesn’t always need a white knight. Sometimes it needs something darker…”) but as the film’s 12A certificate indicates, violence is largely implied and blood detail is almost non-existent, even when gun-toting henchmen lose a limb.

In 2600 BC, the power-hungry king of Kahndaq forges a crown from the rare metal eternium to summon and control a skeletal army from the fiery underworld. Slave Teth Adam (Johnson) dares to oppose the megalomaniacal monarch and a council of wizards rewards the brave champion with immense power. Alas, Kahndaq’s protector allows grief and vengeance to dictate his actions and the wizards entomb Teth Adam within the Rock of Eternity to protect mankind from his wrath.

Five millennia later, freedom fighter Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi), her brother Karim (Mohammed Amer) and young son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui) unwittingly release the prisoner with a single word: “Shazam!” Teth Adam emerges into a city he barely recognises, which has been under military occupation by a criminal organisation called Intergang for 27 years. The resurrected champion represents a potent threat to political stability and world peace so the Justice Society comprising Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) are swiftly despatched to negotiate Teth Adam’s peaceful surrender. “I’m not peaceful,” he snarls.

Black Adam dials back Johnson’s natural charisma and smile to a persistent glower as he vaporises anyone who threatens the sanctity of Kahndaq and its people. Pacing is initially sluggish but Hodge and Brosnan provide complementary emotional heartbeats amidst the wanton destruction. Centineo and Swindell are poorly served and a so-called supervillain is crushingly forgettable; a stepping stone to the tantalising showdown suggested in the obligatory end credits sequence.

– Sarah Lee