Black Adam (2022)

DC does it again! They manage to make something so visually amazing... so without a soul, with way too much surplus slow-mo and sound, with a breakneck pace that never lets you rest or truly stretch your senses... and they throw a small but versatile cast at you right off the bat with no prior introduction.

For a while I thought it'd be Harley and the squad again.

Yet it was awesome to see Pierce Brosnan as the wizard, and The Rock as Adam even more so, and the whirlwind sidekick was a breath of fresh air. The Atom Smasher looks a biit like Ant-Man and Deadpool combined hmm? And the villain like one straight out of Hellboy.

The ending was just too predictable... though you do wonder what other superheroes lurk there in the underwater prison.

But enough about them! The Rock.

He's a bit too quick to catch up on catchphrases isn't he? And a bit devoid of personality at times. And he has certain mannerisms that remind you more of the bad than the hero... but for the most part he was hella great.

Loved the early skateboarding music too. Loved the kid, and the mom.

It is a blast, and the visuals really are a treat, yet it's also easily forgettable. It could've been twice as long. No room for characters to grow and settle. No Oscar-worthy emotional outbursts. Too rapidfire and quick witted - leaching off the Marvel formula but not fully managing.

That's what it feels like, to me.

They may have been the originators but this... feels somewhat sub-par.

Once upon a time... they really had this under lock. The perfect formula for a superhero movie.

I also feel like the fall CGI in particular looks off. The angles are messy. The motion's messy. The slow-mo breaks fights, and makes it more of a visual demo. They have a killer cast though, and great engineers with both props and artistry.

They could do so much more with what they have. And the cold-blooded Rhikes is unnecessary to this story.

All that said: Still can't wait for the sequel.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle