This film somehow managed to be both better than I was expecting, and frustratingly cliched and predictable, but the end result is an enjoyable comic-book movie with some original touches, satisfying action sequences, and a convincing lead performance from Dwayne Johnson.

Premise: In the occupied Middle Eastern country of Kahndaq, university professor and resistance fighter Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) races to find the mystical Crown of Sabbac before the occupying warlords of Intergang do. But when she also uncovers the hidden tomb of Teth-Adam (Dwayne Johnson), a legendary champion who freed Kahndaq from tyranny nearly 5,000 years ago, it attracts the attention of Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan) and the rest of the Justice Society of America.

Review:

Bringing Black Adam to the big screen has long been a labour of love for Dwayne Johnson, which is why, despite the film’s flaws, it is satisfying to see the character make his cinematic debut in a way that makes him feel unlike any other comic-book character that has headlined a movie for either DC or Marvel so far. But it’s also what makes the film’s shortcoming that much more frustrating.

On the positive side, the Black Adam movie is shot from a unique point of view, and touches on issues of imperialism and interventionism that I never expected to see addressed in what is essentially a family-friendly super-hero movie. The events of the film take place almost exclusively in the fictional Middle Eastern country of Kahndaq, but the real-world parallels are clear for all to see. But not only that, the film is told from the perspectives of the Kahndaq people, represented in the film by Sarah Shahi’s academic-turned-freedom-fighter Adrianna Tomaz, her son Amon (played by Bodhi Sabongui on just the right side of ‘irritating kid character’), and her brother Karim (played by Mo Amer, who gets many of the film’s most memorable comedic moments).

“…the American characters are very much shown to be a part of the problem…”

But it doesn’t just stop there, as Black Adam doesn’t even try to have any token ‘Western saviour’ figure to act as the (Western) audience’s proxy – instead the American characters are very much shown to be a part of the problem as much as they are a part of the solution. The early scenes make it clear that the Justice Society of America is just that – an American organisation working with Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) as an adjunct to her Suicide Squad project. Not only that, but the JSA’s stated objective is not to defend freedom or justice, but rather, to protect “international stability”, which in the context of this movie means something else entirely. The characters from Kahndaq call out the JSA for having stood idly by while the country was occupied and oppressed for decades, but as soon as a super-powered being from Kahndaq appears, the JSA suddenly decide that international intervention is the only reasonable response.

It’s these sorts of issues that really elevate Black Adam from being just another typical super-hero origin story. There are also some interesting plot developments about the origin of Teth-Adam's powers, and about the morality of his actions, which help make the film standout from lesser genre entries. And although the character of Teth-Adam clearly has a kill-first-ask-questions-later approach to justice, the film itself at least tries to present a more balanced view, and the filmmakers have clearly decided to hold back on how far they push the character’s amorality so that he never crosses a line from which he can’t be redeemed in the audience’s eyes.

“…Dwayne Johnson also adds a surprising amount of levity…”

Dwayne Johnson walks that fine line expertly as Teth-Adam, ensuring that the character never descends into family-unfriendly violence or amorality (Teth-Adam is no Punisher, for example), while also showing that he does have more edge (based on his 5,000 year old sense of justice) than his modern counterparts. For a character that, on paper at least, could be fairly dark and two-dimensional, Dwayne Johnson also adds a surprising amount of levity (albeit normally through his straight-faced sarcasm or his failure to understand the moral ambiguities of the modern world).

After Dwayne Johnson, it’s Sarah Shahi that arguably gets the most screentime, and although her role is largely expositional, as a huge fan of the underrated TV show Person of Interest, it’s great to see her in such a major role. In terms of the characters from the JSA, it’s Aldis Hodge and Pierce Brosnan that get the most to do – Hodge as Hawkman, the leader of the JSA with a very clear-cut sense of right and wrong, and Brosnan as Doctor Fate, the slightly jaded veteran hero with the power (or curse) of seeing glimpses of the future. Both are excellent in roles that could have been rather one-note in lesser actors’ hands.

“…for all the film’s originality, the actual storyline is very cliched & predictable…”

In comparison, the rest of the JSA make less of an impression. I’m a lifelong comic-book fan, but while I’m quite familiar with Hawkman and Doctor Fate, I have to confess that I'd never heard of Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) or Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) before this film came out. Both actors do what they can with the roles, but both characters are essentially there as new recruits to make up the numbers (although Noah Centineo is responsible for one of the film’s funniest moments).

And this is the part of the review where I have to acknowledge the elephant in the room, which is that for all its originality in terms of its themes and perspectives, the film’s actual storyline is very cliched and predictable. In any given scene, you can pretty much guess what’s going to happen in at least the next three scenes, and the couple of plot developments that would have actually been a surprise were given away in the movie’s trailers. The end result is that much of the film feels extremely derivative, from the similarities with the comic-book-obsessed-teen character from Shazam! or the super-jet-hidden-under-the-garden-of-a-mansion trope from X-Men, to the overly familiar quest for a mystical MacGuffin story device or the ill-defined and unclearly-motivated Intergang villains. It also doesn’t help that some lines of dialogue take cheesy to a whole new level, and some of the characters’ actions in certain scenes make no logical sense at all.

“…offers a completely fresh perspective on the super-hero genre…”

And yet … despite these flaws, Black Adam was a lot more enjoyable than I was expecting, and had a lot more to say than its trope-laden marketing led me to believe. The film offers a completely fresh perspective on the super-hero genre, and Dwayne Johnson has constructed an interesting anti-hero who I would happily watch in further adventures (just hopefully with a more inventive plot next time).

Oh, and make sure you stay for a mid-credit sequence which made me very happy...