Black Adam Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs
Another wildly mediocre offering from the DCEU.
The time has finally come: for the hierarchy of power in the DC universe to change, or so Dwayne Johnson claims with his long-gestating superhero epic Black Adam.
More than eight years after Johnson was first cast in the role of the statuesque anti-hero, Black Adam is out now in cinemas around the world. Was it worth the wait?
Sadly, not really.
Is Black Adam a terrible movie? Absolutely not. But does it chart a decisive direction forward for the DC Extended Universe? Not particularly.
Critics have been firmly split on the quality of Johnson's $200 million tentpole. After he's spent so many years talking-up Black Adam's potential to flip the DCEU on its head, it's disappointing that the end result is such an aggressively generic, even forgettable piece of work.
It certainly has its moments, and likely delivers enough action to keep less-fussy audiences happy, but given the obvious potential of a Johnson-starring superhero movie, it's a shame that it proves so reliant on well-trod formula.
Ultimately it'll fall to audiences to determine whether or not Black Adam becomes a mainstay presence in the DCEU moving forward, and going by the movie's widely-spoiled post-credits scene, there are clearly big plans for him if it does hit at the box office.
But first, here's what Black Adam gets so very, very wrong...