Black Adam review

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast : Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, Quintessa Swindell, Bodhi Sabongui, Pierce Brosnan, Mohammed Amer, Viola Davis
Genre: Action/Adventure
Run Time : 125 min
Opens : 20 October 2022
Rating : PG13

Dwayne Johnson became officially linked to the role of Black Adam in 2007. 15 years later, he finally dons the black suit emblazoned with the yellow lightning bolt. But is the Rock the saviour that DC Films are desperately looking for?

Teth-Adam (Dwayne Johnson) was a warrior slave from the fictional kingdom of Kahndaq, a civillisation that arose alongside ancient Egypt. Adam was granted the powers of the gods but misused these powers for vengeance. As punishment, Adam was imprisoned. Almost 5000 years later, Teth-Adam, now Black Adam, is released when university professor and resistance fighter Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) finds his tomb. Adrianna sees Black Adam as a figure who could rally the citizens of Kahndaq to fight against Intergang, the militaristic corporation currently occupying Kahndaq. Black Adam continues what he feels is his justified crusade, leaving destruction in his wake. Rising to oppose Adam is the Justice Society, a team of superheroes comprising Carter Hall/Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Al Rothstein/Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), Maxine Hunkel/Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) and Kent Nelson/Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan). Adam must form an uneasy alliance with the Justice Society to defeat an even bigger, more diabolical threat.

Black Adam isn’t afraid to feel like a comic book, and it also has a good amount of Saturday morning cartoon energy – albeit with quite a bit more brutality to it. Dwayne Johnson does a fine job balancing both his own finely-honed celebrity persona with the Black Adam character from the pages of Fawcett, then DC, comics. The movie is rated PG13, but Black Adam’s violent streak is largely preserved.

Long-time DC Comics fans will enjoy seeing mildly-to-relatively obscure comic book characters on the big screen, though iterations of said characters have appeared on TV in Smallville and in the Arrowverse. For the most part, the film is tonally assured, neither too crushingly serious nor too flippant. Sometimes comic book movies seem preoccupied with trying not to come off as too silly, something which has plagued earlier entries in the DC Extended Universe. In Black Adam, superheroes pile into a high-tech jet and set off to save the day, as they do in the comics, and nobody really bats an eyelid.  

Black Adam is being promoted as a tentpole event movie when it doesn’t really feel like one. It’s not a small movie by any stretch, but it does feel restricted. For all the movie’s world-building, it aspires to a scope and scale that it ultimately doesn’t possess. Its plot beats are straightforward to a fault, while it also struggles with feeling slightly bloated because of all its characters, none of whom the general moviegoer would already be familiar with. There is a reliance on exposition, and it feels like certain things were glued together in reshoots. There is unfortunately a dullness to the visuals, because everything takes place in dusty environs. While there is an effort made to make Kahndaq look like a real place, there are instances when it feels like we are on a studio backlot. The action sequences start blending into each other after a while. The movie’s villain is also far from compelling, and it ends as all these movies must end, with our heroes fighting a thing made of CGI.

This is as much a Justice Society movie as it is a Black Adam film. Aldis Hodge is a charismatic and appropriately stubborn presence as Carter Hall/Hawkman, the leader of the team. Both Noah Centineo and Quintessa Swindell are endearing as the younger members. Pierce Brosnan is the movie’s MVP as Doctor Fate, and this reviewer would love to see him headline a Doctor Fate spinoff film. He has gravitas to spare and is taking it all quite seriously. Besides, he looks very dashing in full silver fox mode. Unfortunately, it is difficult to connect to the characters given the very limited time we get to know them. The movie completely sidesteps Hawkman’s complicated backstory, which involves him being an archaeologist who is the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian prince.

It seems like Warner Bros executives are hoping that Dwayne Johnson’s star power will help rescue DC Films. Things have never been particularly smooth going for this franchise, and anyone who follows movie news will be aware of baffling developments like the decision to never release an almost-completed film. You will find many helpful infographics online explaining how each DC Extended Universe movie connects to the other. Black Adam is not an A-lister and it’s clear that Johnson does have affection for the character, elevating the character with his own celebrity status. However, the Black Adam movie feels like it should occupy a corner of the DC universe and not be at the centre of it, and it feels like it is being pushed into that spot because other plans have fallen through.

Summary: Black Adam won’t blow anyone away, but it is a largely enjoyable comic book adventure movie. It’s not ashamed of its somewhat sillier elements, but also the brutality and angst befitting its protagonist. For something that has been in development for a long time, it feels half-baked – maybe three-quarters-baked, if you’re being charitable. Dwayne Johnson is a suitably imposing, brutal Black Adam, but the movie’s secret weapon is a dashing and quietly haunted Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate. Black Adam sometimes feels a little overstuffed and too formulaic, but it never loses sight of that crucial comic book sensibility, thus remaining entertaining all the way through. Stick around for a mid-credits screen that would have a very nice surprise if it weren’t spoiled to the point of being a part of the marketing.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong

Halloween Ends review

Director: David Gordon Green
Cast : Jamie Lee Curtis, James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle, Andi Matichak, Rohan Campbell, Will Patton, Kyle Richards, Michele Dawson, Michael O’Leary, Keraun Harris
Genre: Horror
Run Time : 111 min
Opens : 13 October 2022
Rating : M18

After this, it’s over – so say the producers of Halloween Ends. Cross their heart and hope to die. There are bound to be more Halloween movies in some shape or fashion, but this movie is meant to be a definitive end to the decades-spanning story of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle). For real, this time.

It is four years after the events of Halloween Kills. Michael Myers went on a rampage through the town of Haddonfield, Illinois, and then vanished. In the time since the last Michael Myers incident, a collective paranoia has continued to build. Laurie is writing her memoirs, ready to put everything behind her and finally find closure. She is living with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak), who works at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital as a nurse. Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) is a young man who works for his father at an automobile scrapyard. He was linked to a tragic incident, but after having his name cleared, he continues to be picked on and met with suspicion by various Haddonfield residents. After Laurie introduces Corey to Allyson, the two begin a relationship, but darkness lurks around the corner as Michael resurfaces, leading up to the fabled final confrontation between Laurie and her tormentor.

After spending most of Halloween Kills lying in a hospital bed, Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode is back with a vengeance in Halloween Ends, and Curtis has an abiding affection for the character and still cares a great deal about Laurie, a role she first played in 1978 and which marked the beginning of her film career (she had TV roles before Halloween). The interactions between Laurie and her granddaughter are mostly affectionate but also tinged with tension, and Andi Matichak gets many chances to shine. There are several tense moments brutal kills, including one cartoonishly gruesome murder that gore-hounds will dig. However, Halloween Ends does very much want to be a character piece – albeit not quite in the way one might expect. It is also nice to see Kyle Richards and Will Patton return, even if their characters are not especially instrumental to the plot.

There doesn’t seem to be quite as much excitement surrounding Halloween Ends as one would expect, especially compared to the hype leading up to the 2018 Halloween film. It is likely that the lacklustre Halloween Kills dulled that interest, such that what should be a hotly anticipated clash of titans is instead met with a shrug. Perhaps a key factor is that Michael Myers’ ludicrous nigh-imperviousness, especially without a supernatural explanation as in earlier instalments of the franchise, borders on the laughable. If a man can survive what would have killed a regular person 50 times over, the stakes feel oddly diminished. Michael Myers is Superman – it’s always been that way, but the 2018 film was pitched as being a grounded back-to-basics approach, but especially after surviving the ending of that film and all of Halloween Kills, the prospect of Michael Myers actually, finally dying just doesn’t have the kick that it should.

The promotional materials lean heavily on the inevitable final confrontation between Laurie and Michael, but when it does come, it can’t help but feel anticlimactic. Weirdly enough, the movie doesn’t seem primarily interested in Laurie and Michael Myers – we won’t say the exact figure, but it takes a surprising amount of time before Michael Myers shows up proper, excluding archival footage from previous films. Perhaps this is a bit refreshing considering how repetitive slasher movies can be in general, but it can also feel like long-time fans have been sold a somewhat misleading bill of goods.

The character who gets the most attention is a new one: Corey Cunningham, played by Rohan Campbell, who is probably best known for playing Frank Hardy in the 2020 Hardy Boys TV series. The Corey character is compelling, equal parts sympathetic and suspicious, and Campbell does a fine job with the character. However, the relationship between Corey and Allyson feels rushed, and the crucial role he plays in a movie that should ostensibly focus squarely on Laurie is a bit puzzling. There is an attempt to link Corey’s plot to what has been set up in the previous two movies, but it is only fitfully successful.

Summary: Halloween Ends is being sold on the long-awaited final confrontation between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers. It is good to see Jamie Lee Curtis back in fighting form, after the Laurie character spent most of the previous movie down for the count, but Halloween Ends doesn’t seem particularly interested in either Laurie or Michael Myers. Instead, new character Corey Cunningham, played by Rohan Campbell, gets a disproportionate amount of focus. There are engaging character beats and several gruesome kills, but as the finale to a trilogy that began with much promise as a whole-hearted throwback to the original 1978 movie, Halloween Ends is far from wholly satisfying.

RATING: 3 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong