Black Adam Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

2. Black Adam Makes For A Dull Protagonist

Regardless of Black Adam's presentation in the comics, the movie's biggest failing might be that it just doesn't make him a particularly appealing or interesting character.

Johnson plays the part as a pillar of stoicism, which could theoretically make for a fun contrast with the more light-hearted characters surrounding him, yet the script and general cast chemistry just don't convincingly sell it.

Black Adam's defining characteristic is that he brutally murders the bad guys, but otherwise there's little here to distinguish him from the glut of musclebound superheroes flooding our screens these days.

For a movie that should be going out of its way to sell us on Black Adam as a cornerstone of the DCEU moving forward, it doesn't make much of a persuasive argument at all, no matter how perfectly cast Johnson appears on paper.