Joseph Grosso

Heads up - this review contains spoilers. After much hype, I went to go and see the new Black Adam movie on the big screen. I was definitely attracted to see the movie, due to the trailer and the character’s role in the comics. I went in open minded, and hopeful that they did the DC comics justice. Let’s start with the good stuff: - Dwayne Johnson’s acting was fantastic and I really respect the actor for his physical transformation and commitment to the role. - Pierce Brosnan’s acting skills were absolutely phenomenal and on point in performing his role. - Finally, the post credit scene was awesome to get a teaser, as well as sneaking in the original superman theme song if anyone picked up on that. Unfortunately there’s not much more I can positively say about the movie. The movie tends to imitate a lot of scenes and ideas from other movies. Towards the start of the movie, characters are searching in a tomb for a lost relic (Indiana Jones) and soon uncage a person thought to be dead (The Mummy, 1999). Dr. Fate resembles a combination of Marvel’s Doctor Strange and Professor X by having similar abilities as Dr Strange and in regard to Prof. X, he mentors a few people with special abilities. Dr Fate even has a jet that comes out of a Mansion’s Garden/Yard like the Xmen. Dr. Fate’s Justice Society is a similar name for Xmen. His squad has 3 members, with two resembling the unpopular Xmen characters from Deadpool. One of which appears to have a mask that shares similarities with Deadpool. Im unsure as to why the writers decided to go with Zombies? As the storyline wasn’t bland enough. The plot is very similar to Thor’s Love and Thunder, in the sense of the perspective of the villain ‘Gorr’ came from poverty, to transitioning into a Godly figure and going on a rampage. Black Adam has a similar upbringing with a twist. If anyone has watched the movie ‘Samaritan’ on Amazon Prime, Sylvester Stallone’s herotic character gets approached by a young child who became friends with the protagonist, looking out for the child. Black Adam does the same with a child that he meets, protecting him and rescuing him, whilst trying to throw in some catch phrases. I can’t help but draw connections to the Terminator and young John Connor. Finally, I was disappointed to hear the news that like movie Venom, the production companies became simps, and so .. Warner Bros have done the same with their recent release Black Adam. In the US, the movie was supposed to be released in R 18+, due to all the violence and murder scenes. After editing the movie 4 times, they then released it in US PG 13. Black Adam’s violence is meant to be iconic and shockingly evil. Unfortunately it did not hit the mark. I can only assume they edited the movie several times and cut out a lot of scenes so that the box office would be higher, to attract younger viewers and a greater audience.