Black Adam Review (Non-Spoiler)

I do not want this to be a spoiler post for Black Adam (although I’ll probably post a spoiler review once it is available for home viewing), because I want people to see the film in theaters or buy it when it comes out. I will spoil my thoughts and say that I loved the film, but I know that many critics and even some of my fellow comic book fans had issues with the film. I went in hearing these criticisms, but just hoping for a fun time. When I left, I was so happy and in love with the film because it was just a pure fun comic accurate comic book movie. Over the years, I’ve become very engaged with the comics community and became a “Wednesday Warrior” (a term for someone who regularly buys comics and makes it a part of their life) during a time when Black Adam and the Justice Society of America were in ongoing comics and were main characters, and those stories made me fall in love with these characters. I remember reading a Peter Tomasi and Doug Mahnke issue of the Black Adam The Dark Age miniseries off the comic rack; I also remember thinking I loved this kind of superhero legacy old school melding with the new school comic storytelling and knew I would never see it translated to film. Dwayne Johnson was announced as working on a Black Adam movie in 2007 and even though I personally always try to be an optimist (sometimes to my detriment), I thought it was unlikely to ever be released. But I was pleasantly surprised and one of the first to sit in a movie theater the weekend of October 21st, 2022 to watch the Black Adam movie! 

I thought the film was a fantastic adaptation of the storyline and characters within the comics.  The film also used some of the old school superhero movie tropes, while adding in some new thinking about the anti-hero theme mixed in  with the most of the time shining DC Universe Mythology. I also enjoyed the portrayals of Doctor Fate and Hawkman, played by Pierce Brosnan and Aldris Hodge respectively. These characters are the heart of the film and my personal favorites from the comics, so seeing their friendship feel so real in the movie was a high mark for me. Black Adam is a fun, huge, bombastic superhero movie and I loved that the film’s creators didn’t shy away from that. 

There is a speech towards the third act of the film which I feel is the whole point of the movie and why the story is being told. Dr. Fate plainly states just because something looks, sounds, or society tells you something is good doesn’t mean its purpose or what it's actually existing for lines up with that ideal. Sometimes, but not always. This movie shows that not all superheroes are right or think the same way. From the JSA’s attitude of “defending the world from Injustice” to Black Adam’s only care being his country and his people. Different sides of a conflict.  I went and saw Black Adam for the second time and I’m thinking of going for a third; I’ll also buy a copy on digital or Blu-Ray the moment the movie is available. It made me feel like that person who held that Black Adam comic in his hands never thinking he’d see something so fun and so dark coming to a mainstream audience or a movie, but here we are! I hope to see more with those characters. I hope you give it a shot, because I think if you go in with a love of comics, superheroes, and a dark anti-hero story line, you will not be disappointed. Shazam!