He’s played a Tooth Fairy , cops, a lifeguard and himself, but now Dwayne Johnson finally turns his hand to a comic-book movie.
And it’s a passion project for the former wrestler as he has been trying to get a Black Adam project off the ground for a long time.
Playing the indestructible titular antihero who, nearly 5000 years after he was bestowed with the powers of the Egyptian gods, is freed from imprisonment to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world - it's no stretch for Johnson as the likes of San Andreas and the Fast & Furious series have shown he isn’t an easy man to take down.
Johnson reunites with his Jungle Cruise director Jaume Collet-Serra for the latest entry to the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) , and it’s a tricky project to enlist for as Black Adam is, essentially, a villain.
He commits some shocking acts of violence and Johnson has to really delve into his banked love from mainstream audiences to stop them from holding his latest film at arm’s length; his brooding dark charisma and walking weapon physique don’t hurt matters either.
Strangely, though, Black Adam is often sidelined in his own movie.
There are lots of characters thrown into the script and while it’s cool to see Pierce Brosnan ( Dr Fate ) back in the big time and perennial DC favourite Hawkman ( Aldis Hodge ) finally make it to the big screen, we could’ve done with the leading man having more time and room to breathe.
Collet-Serra also pounds the screen with a lot of set-pieces and CGI-heavy sequences, and while a lot of them are fun to watch, you start to lose sight of exactly what is going on and where certain players are.
The director should have taken a page from Black Adam’s frequent enemy Shazam’s origin flick, which did have action and a large number of characters, but never lost sight of its titular star and his emotional journey.
As a set-up film for promising DCEU face-offs to come, Black Adam does it’s job well, but with more focus and character development it could have absolutely rocked.
● What are your thoughts on Black Adam? Would you like to see more of the character in the DCEU? Pop me an email at ian.bunting@reachplc.com and I will pass on your comments – and any movie or TV show recommendations you have – to your fellow readers.
● Black Adam is showing in cinemas now.
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