Black Adam, played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, is the newest character to enter the DC Universe. “Black Adam” is set to hit theaters this Friday, but is it worth seeing?
Critics haven’t had many positive things to say about “Black Adam” — the movie currently has an all critics score of 58% on Rotten Tomatoes. Top critics on Rotten Tomatoes rated the film even lower, with a score of just 28%.
Johnson is know for his charisma — there’s a reason he’s been named Hollywood’s highest-paid actor. Although there are slightly mixed reviews, it seems like The Rock isn’t enough to carry this movie.
What is ‘Black Adam’ about?
“Black Adam” follows Teth-Adam, a man who is bestowed with the power of the Gods by the wizard Shazam — the same one who gave Billy Bean his powers in the 2019 film “Shazam.” Teth-Adam began as a hero to society, but when he let his powers corrupt him, Shazam banished him for thousands of years and he became Black Adam.
Now, Black Adam, both hero and villain, is back. Adam’s ideas on justice are challenged by the Justice Society of America — Cyclone, Hawkman, Dr. Fate and Atom Smasher.
Johnson stars in “Black Adam,” along with Noah Centineo, Quintessa Swindell, Aldis Hodge and Pierce Brosnan.
What do critics say about ‘Black Adam’?
“Watching an action movie shouldn’t feel like a chore, but Black Adam does,” says Kristy Punchko, a top critic with Mashable.
Allison Duralde with The Wrap called the movie “anti-entertaining,” and labeled it “one of the most visually confounding of the major-studio superhero sagas.”
Linda Marric with The Jewish Chronicle gave the movie two out of five stars and says, “Let down by a convoluted premise and some truly atrocious CGI renderings, it’s safe to say that this isn’t the DCEU offering starring Dwayne Johnson most of us were hoping for.”
Joshua Yehl with IGN gave Johnson’s performance “top marks,” but criticized the film for having “an excessive number of repetitive action scenes.”
“Much like a McDonald’s hamburger is technically food, ‘Black Adam’ is technically a movie, and both can be intermittently enjoyable before you come around to ask ‘why am I consuming this?’” says Jordan Hoffman with Vanity Fair.
Rolling Stone’s senior editor and film critic, David Fear says, “Not even the pleasure of watching Johnson enter into a blockbuster template he seemed destined to dominate can make up for how generic, flavorless and incoherent this is.”
When does ‘Black Adam’ come out?
Black Adam will premiere in theaters this Friday.