Black Adam Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

4. The Justice Society Steals The Show

If the jury remains out on Johnson's Adam, the film does a much better job of endearing the audience to the supporting cast of heroes in the Justice Society.

Pierce Brosnan in particular is a delightful highlight as Doctor Fate: he clearly knows exactly what sort of movie he's in and is evidently having a blast with the role.

Elsewhere Aldis Hodge and Noah Centineo make for a fun pairing as reluctant teammates Hawkman and Atom Smasher, and Quintessa Swindell's Cyclone offers up the movie's most visually eye-popping superpowers.

Even with most of these heroes having familiar personalities and power sets, they inject Black Adam with the fun and energy that it'd surely otherwise lack were Adam himself the sole "heroic" focus.

Their peppiness makes them entertaining foils to the more serious-minded Adam, and they're absolutely the reason the movie is at least a passable piece of work.