Surjya Ray

Black Adam has an atrocious script, and the Rock is a monotone character. His WWE-style wisecracks quickly become annoying. While in the archeologist's apartment, he kept on going through walls and crumbling them, the door being just a foot away - just for the sake of having action. It wasn't funny, just dumb. A general viewer who is not an avid superhero fan will not get anything out of it except for a heavy dose of cringes. The Rock had 10 years to get a good story and screenplay to add some depth to his favorite character. Instead, he spent 300 million on a 2+ hour-long WWE superhero fight. A movie tells a story. That story can be complex or simple, in which case it is balanced by emotions and depth, something the viewers can empathize with. The random wall breakings and meaningless fights give viewers no chance to connect with the characters other than maybe avid fanboys. I suspect even they know it's bad, but their ego won't let us tell them, "we told you so." Stop wasting money and ruining characters like this.

350 Million to make the first movie. Four years of hindsight and insight. Then a rare chance to tell YOUR story with that hindsight and an added 70 million. This time YOU, Zack Snyder, are in charge. Here is what we get when that happens: 1) 4 hours of screen time. Mama paid for HBO MAX Subscription. Gotta milk it? 2) Limitless slow-motion 'artistry.' Everything is in slow motion. Fighting, driving, crying, washing dishes, breaking them, sleeping. Everything. Even a high school football game. The four-hour runtime will decrease by an actual one hour without the incessant slomo. e.g. Victor Stone wanted his scientist father to watch his game, but time after time his father bailed. We would actually feel for Victor had we not been distracted by a minute-long slow-motion football spectacle preceding it. By the end of it, you neither feel sorry for Victor nor do you remember what happened in prior scenes/plotline(s). 3) 'Dark'. Literal darkness, as in an Instagram filter. Not metaphorical. The director is not capable of metaphors. This is evident if one looks at Mr. Snyder's resume. Similar to when teens hit puberty and suddenly feel like wearing and weeping black to feel like a 1000-dimensional, deep-cut character. Teens grow out of that phase. Zack does not. 4) Lots of sad background score to evoke the hardship of the misunderstood characters who gave it all for mankind. My 'favorite' is the melancholy score whenever the film visits Themiscyra. It was actually me playing random stuff like a cello and a bagpipe while my sister did the 'vocals.' Why? Why? What did the Amazons do to deserve THAT theme score? 5) 'Better' action scenes. They are better than Joss's. Yet, my friend's gaming rig renders far more realistic scenes. 70 Million and still could not get the villain to feel physically 'real.' Instead, the money was spent on more video-gamey tricks such as interstellar FaceTime with your boss using molten metal. Yes, a slab of metal becomes piping hot, flows like a fiery liquid, and assumes the shape of your boss. 6) Script & Editing. All can be forgiven in favor of a strong script and good editing. The viewer goes from Gal Gado's narration of 'what-happened-a-long-long-time-ago' to a scene where a random character trying to start her car gets t-boned by a runaway truck. Barry Allen happened to be nearby and saved the damsel in distress. Other than an avid comic-bookie, one would ask, what happened then? Nothing. Simply a few minutes spent on an easter egg in slow motion glory to show Barry's future love interest, Iris. Nothing to enhance either character or the story arc. Let us not delve into the script ... please? Because even in its second iteration, this film has none. To summarize, if a scene does not evoke a sense of pity for the character based on their circumstances, slapping an Instagram filter, using slomo, or adding a background score cannot force the audience's emotions. They tend to work when a scene with genuine emotions; it begs the question: Do people such as Warner Brothers execs with deep pockets read the script before spending 350 + 70 Million? 'We live in a society' (the quotes are intended) where things happen through connections. Unfortunately, knowing people and having money does not elevate your talent, especially if the epitome of your artistry is akin to a wall-art in a man-cave of a 40-year-old.

Loved the first two episodes. James Wan's signature eerie atmosphere is everywhere. It appeals to more than comic book fans; if I hadn't know he is a DC comic character, I would assume its a supernatural/horror/mystery TV series with almost movie quality production (except some of the 'swampy goriness' which looks a bit B-movie-ish). There is ABSOLUTELY no reason for the series to be cancelled. It has a much broader appeal than Titans or Doom Patrol, the latter of which only panders to hard core comic book fans like myself. WarnerMedia please, hire the RIGHT people!

I have heard a few complaints about the series, two frontrunners being slow and muted acting from the two androids, Mother and Father. For the first grievance, you can save your time if you are looking for an action-in-space and fighting-aliens series. The series is more about humanity's vicious cycle of faith, conflict, war, and destruction, but there are plenty of heart-pounding moments, engrossing sci-fi if that is what you are looking for. The second complaint that Mother and Father's acting is often lifeless and erratic is the point of the two characters. They are burdened by the shadow of their past, infused with a new purpose and human emotions. What humans take decades to learn, mother and father had only a few years after they were hacked together in a back-alley in war-torn earth and infused emotions and a new purpose. Their new programming never got any trials; they faced the music in the field for the first time when the children started to express their mind in the new world. No wonder their responses are often muted, monotone, and on some occasions, over-the-top over petty things. It is as if they are trying to understand themselves, question their purpose. Raised by Wolves reads more like a fantasy novel with twists and turns on a snowy/rainy day. Your patience will be rewarded!

Loved every bit of it. It stay true to the Harely that first appeared in my childhood favorite animated series, 'Batman: The Animated Series' by Bruce Timm'. It has the mist filled Gotham, the foggy harbor and the fun house of fear and the chills that brought me every time. The action scenes were better than any in previous DC incarnations, and it was REFRESHING to see the very different girls, even the super awkward Huntress getting together. Some critics had a problem with the plot and Harley's portrayal. Probably they should either watch the original or go with a fresh perspective.