After the success of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” in March 2021, DC planned big projects. When DC announced “Black Adam,” many fans were ecstatic. The movie follows the violent hero Teth-Adam as he learns to adapt to the modern world and overcome conflicts with peaceful heroes. This movie may present a generic superhero storyline, however, it makes up for it with stand-out characters and hit-or-miss comedy.
As more superhero films make theatrical releases, I’ve noticed the same formula for every movie. The formula describes the journey a hero takes throughout a film and how they resolve their issues. While some movies like “Spider-Man: No Way Home” managed to break away from this formula, the same cannot be said for “Black Adam.” The second act stands out as the worst act because it transitions from an action-packed first act to very little action and all villain exposition. In line with the formula, it also uses the second act to portray the villain as more powerful than the hero. Although this act held down the movie, I felt relief when I saw the movie return back to action in its third act, as it’s one of the movie’s better qualities.
The characters also stand out as another great aspect of “Black Adam.” Besides the brutal Teth-Adam, characters like Hawkman, Atom Smasher, Cyclone and Doctor Fate made their first live-action appearance. I love how all the characters kept their costumes from the comics since it makes the characters seem more realistic. I noticed how each character built some sort of connection with one another throughout the movie. This trait also made the story 10 times more enjoyable than before.
A majority of people hate hit-or-miss comedy, but it works great in “Black Adam.” While not all the jokes got a grin out of me, most of the jokes were funny enough to make up for the ones that were not. All the jokes were spread out enough to where they did not seem to occur back to back which allows the audience to take a moment to somewhat enjoy the story. I hope future DC movies continue this comedy pattern since it works well in “Black Adam.”
Overall, “Black Adam” did great as a superhero movie, even if its second act could be less formulaic. The action, characters, and comedy were big pros for the film. I give this movie four “Shazams!” out of five “Shazams!.”
