Black Adam

Dwayne Johnson is perfectly cast as one of DC Comics' most famous antiheroes in the long awaited Black Adam. Having been in development for decades, and with Johnson first signing up way back in 2007, this entry in the DC Extended Universe has been touted as changing up the entire landscape of the franchise. It unfortunately doesn't live up as much to that belief and despite The Rock's love for the character, this movie falters. It still has fun action sequences as this tells the story of Black Adam being unearthed after thousands of years of imprisonment in the present day as he takes on a mercenary organization that has taken over his old nation of Kahndaq. His brutishness and violent tendencies gets the attention of the Justice Society and that basically leads to constant fight scenes one after another, with Adam fighting Hackman, Doctor Fate, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone. The writing isn't terrible, and gives some nice surprises while giving many of the characters depth, but there isn't a lot new to make it stand out and gives off a vibe similar to early 2000s superhero films. It also over relies on jokes and humor that are done over and over, including Adam constantly walking through walls when a door is right there that gets old real quick. Jaume Collet-Serra works with Johnson again after their effort in Jungle Cruise and continues to show a good dynamic they had together. He does give us well shot action scenes with really great effects and very well shot thanks to Lawrence Sher's cinematography and the editing from Mike Sale and John Lee. One drawback however is the overuse of slow motion scenes that feel like they're trying to imitate Snyder's work. The biggest positive for this movie is the cast's performances, though while Johnson is good he doesn't give a lot of depth and feels like he's just channeling his typical action roles. Still, everyone else, especially the Justice Society actors like Pierce Brosnan and Aldis Hodge, are all great and make me want to see them again. Sadly, due to James Gunn declaring a new take on a DC cinematic universe and this film bombing, a lot of the effort made for Black Adam didn't go as well as expected, but it was at least fun to watch. Over all: 84%

2022 top list so far:

1. Top Gun: Maverick

2. The Black Phone

3. Nope

4. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

5. The Northman

6. The Batman

7. Pearl

8. Lightyear

9. Dog

10. Everything Everywhere All at Once

11. X 2022

12. Scream 2022

13. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

14. Bullet Train

15. Halloween Ends

16. Thor: Love and Thunder

17. Jurassic World: Dominion

18. Black Adam

19. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

20. Uncharted