It is difficult to put into words the feeling of being a DC fan nowadays. While the company has always been behind Marvel in regard to its cinematic universe, the company in recent years seemed like it had finally found its stride. With films like “The Batman” and “The Suicide Squad,” it appeared that DC had finally learned its lesson and were letting directors make the movies they wanted to make with little interference from the studio. 

However, since merging with Discovery, Warner Bros. has once again thrown the whole of DC into complete disarray. It has cancelled anticipated and completed projects like “Batgirl” while it still allowed for Ezra Miller to return and do reshoots for “The Flash,” which is still set to release in 2023. Even this year, the company could only afford to release two movies, the first being the underwhelming “Don’t Worry Darling” and now “Black Adam” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

The film introduces us to Teth Adam (Dwayne Johnson), who thousands of years ago was gifted the powers of the gods to free the people of Kahndaq. In the present day, the city is still oppressed and in need of its savior. When an archeological dig goes wrong, Teth Adam is awakened and begins to lay his own breed of justice upon his city’s oppressors. Unfortunately for him, when a being with the powers of Superman is going around causing massive amounts of damage, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) feels the need to interfere. Enter The Justice Society, consisting of Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) and Atom-Smasher (Noah Centineo). The team is called in to keep Teth Adam under control, but will they be enough to stop him or an even greater threat on the horizon? Who really cares?

I try to start reviews off on somewhat positive notes, but for this film I struggle to muster any kind of happy emotion. “Black Adam” is a mess right from the get-go. The opening narration is such a joke and terribly delivered that you might think the theater you are watching it in is still showing an ad for M&Ms or something. 

The opening narration is the first clear indicator of one of the movie’s biggest problems — it throws way too much at you and it all amounts to nothing. From the opening few minutes, the viewer is expected to understand everything, and most of it is barely explained. That won’t stop the characters from talking endlessly about it, but they just keep saying the same things over and over again. 

Speaking of repeating, not only does the film feel as though every scene is just a repeat of the one before it, but this has to be one of the most generic superhero films in years. “The Rock” was cast as Black Adam all the way back in 2007, and the script feels like it has not been changed since that announcement. Every cliché in the book is on display here. It is a boring origin story. We have heroes set up for their own spinoff movies (that will probably never happen). We have quippy dialogue, and, of course, we have the bloated third act that is drowning in bad CGI and one of the lamest villains I have ever seen. The whole final battle is to literally stop the bad guy from sitting on a chair. I wish I was kidding. 

We should address the elephant in the room, and that is Dwayne Johnson. I know that the actor is charming and it is clear why he has had such a successful career. However, like Ryan Reynolds, I am sick to death of seeing him play himself over and over again. “Black Adam” is no exception, but this might be easily one of his worst performances. 

Yes, he looks the part, and some of that charming personality shines through, but at this point he feels as though he’s phoning in being himself. He just talks in this same monotone voice, and rarely musters any kind of face besides stoic staring. I guess they knew “The Rock” was lackluster, so they surrounded him with even worse actors. I don’t like to be harsh on child actors, but Bodhi Sabongui plays a vital role in the film as Amon, and he is flat out terrible. With a budget of nearly $200 million, there is no excuse for a performance this bad.

The only performances that do not fall flat, and frankly the only part of the film that has many merits, is The Justice Society. I’d rather watch a movie about them fighting Black Adam than a movie about Black Adam fighting them. They’re the only ones having any kind of fun in this movie, and while their powers are very reminiscent of other superheroes, the film at least does some interesting things with them. Dr. Fate particularly steals the show because it is the only time the direction does anything interesting and it is visually impressive to look at. Unfortunately, he and the rest of the team are barely in the movie, and are extremely sidelined by the end, so we cannot even have this one nice thing.

While “Black Adam” might not be as big of a disaster as “Suicide Squad” or “Justice League,” it is still one of DC’s worst films in years. The best film to compare this one to is “X-Men: Apocalypse,” (which is not a compliment) not just because of the film’s middle eastern setting and the fact that the Justice Society is literally the X-Men, jet and all. Both are perfect summaries of everything wrong with most modern superhero movies. 

In its desperate attempt to come off as big and epic, “Black Adam” comes out boring and lifeless. With lame effects, poor acting, an abysmal script and an actor who clearly cannot put his ego aside, “Black Adam” is a massive dud from beginning to end. Not even that post credit scene could save this dumpster fire.

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