Black Adam Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

3. It's Surprisingly Violent

Surely the most pleasantly surprising thing about Black Adam is just how damn violent it is.

Accepting its content-limiting PG-13 rating, it's frequently shocking just how much brutality Jaume Collet-Serra was able to sneak into a "family-friendly" tentpole.

Though there admittedly isn't much blood seen on-screen, Adam absolutely annihilates Intergang soldiers throughout this movie: melting them to the bone, blowing them up, throwing them into the sky, and crushing them beneath vehicles.

There's a meanness to the violence that's honestly pretty refreshing compared to the MCU's more sanitised action. For all of its many flaws, Black Adam at least makes you feel the impact of every hit and every kill.

While many are sure to wring their hands about Adam's no-nonsense approach to crime-fighting, that's entirely the point of the character. He's not supposed to be a bastion of virtue, and the movie sure as hell lets you know it.