The Good - The film wasted no time getting into the middle of it all, but throwing the viewer into the middle of a throw-down with a bunch of guns and super abilities, which brought the initial pacing of the movie with some extreme [and gratifying] action sequences that are pretty standard for today's Hollywood super-hero movie. This is also a large array of new Muslim-Arabic actors that fill the screen, as this movie takes place in the middle east. Where most of their performances were pretty believable and filled with a lot of emotion and tension, one of the new actors, Bohdi Sabongui had a few issues delivering emotion, but his delivery as the side-kick, delivering a humorous and bungling dialog - pretty much the standard in today's Hollywood genre - was spot on. The big surprise was the addition of Pierce Brosnan and Aldis Hodge, who play the parts of Dr. Fate and Hawkman [respectfully], well for their part in the DC Universe. There's also a ton of good humor throughout the film, breaking the tension as required, but the story arc and historical back flashes were diligenty, artfully presented with direct and proper respect to the comicbook canon of Black Adam's backstory.
The Bad - As with most of today's Hollywood movie formats, this movie becomes so heavy with special effects CGI that the film beings to fall apart during the last third of the films run. Just when you think the movie is just about over, there's a turn in the plot and the villain is transformed into a super-villain with superior CGI abilities that just look too animated and computer generated to be believed. In my opinion, the abilities of the proven DC heroes of Dr. Fate and Hawkman seem to limited to take care of the real problem at hand; leaving the resurrected muscle of Black Adam to come to the rescue. A severe plot-hole ensues when at the end of the film, the team real leader, Amanda Waller [played by Viola Davis] back in the U.S., raises a hint that all she has to do is raise a hint and Superman [played by Henry Cavill] can appear at a moments notice; which he does at the end of the film to face a world-wide threat. So, that makes you wonder why Hawkman didn't just make a call to Waller for BIGGER assistance in dealing with the main villain in the film.
Post Mortem - With the exception of the final third of the film's heavy CGI presence, I think that the film was well thought out and presented with a strong screenplay and a sharp performance by Johnson. It's obvious that Hollywood is trying to push the envelope that there are other less known superheroes that are not of the "Caucasian persuasion" and are equally as powerful. Leaving some to speculate a possible faction of Middle East super beings who can stand up to the heroes of the Justice League and more. By now, the news has reached the surface that any chance for an extension to this film was prematurely cut off, after Johnson was recently fired by the "powers that be" from the franchise before any real chance to produce sequels was even attempted. I think that the Black Adam was a good start to relaunch Johnson's serious attempt to revamp his career as a serious action star; too bad that others "in the circle" didn't think so.
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 [3.5 of 5 Stars]
