Film Review: Dwayne Johnson Like a Rock as Star of ‘Black Adam’

Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 21, 2022 - 12:54pm

CHICAGO – Once again Dwayne Johnson finds himself in a vehicle unworthy of his considerable charms and talents. Johnson stars as “Black Adam,” a demigod from a mythical middle eastern country who was given power from a counsel of wizards to protect his homeland from injustice. He’s woken from a 5000 year sleep to protect the country again from foreign interlopers... while a scholar and her son are trying to keep an ancient crown – with the powers of hell – out of the wrong hands.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

Black Adam is not so much a hero, but more of a villain in some of the comic stories. Here he’s been transformed into more of an anti-hero with a real problem with anger management. He keeps killing the bad guys that he’s just supposed to knock senseless. So the Justice Society steps in, composed of Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), and are dispatched to put a lid on this loose cannon. After reducing half the city to rubble they come to an uneasy truce and join forces to fight against a greater foe who wants to literally unleash hell on earth.

“Black Adam” opens in theaters on October 21st. Featuring Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Pierce Brosnan, Noah Centineo, Quintessa Swindell, Sarah Shani and Bodhi Sabongui. Written by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Rated “PG-13”