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Black Adamopens with a burst of exposition and backstory so cumbersome that it might as well be self-parody.
Thats kind of what happens withBlack Adam, too, though its probably not intentional.
The film ultimately overloads us with so much amazing nonsense that we sort of give up and give in.
Which makesBlack Adamthe movies greatest shortcoming that much more tragic.
Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a.
But Johnson, while limited in range, was never an awkward actor in the way Schwarzenegger was.
Its welcome, but its too late.
Perhaps more importantly, this annoying stoniness doesnt allow Johnson to act much either.
(Just say shazam and we all go home.
I dont have a home.
We both know youre not supposed to be here.
Yourenot supposed to be here.)
There is, it turns out, a narrative reason for the characters refusal to feel things.
But its a dopey reason, and it feels like a cop-out.
That said, all is not lost.
Limbs are yanked off.
Smoking boots remain where once there were humans.
Bodies are tossed into the sky with near-psychotic abandon.
One dude swallows a grenade.Black Adamis PG-13, so theres no real blood.
But this is America, so there are plenty of amputations.
Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan); Carter Hall, a.k.a.
Hawkman (Aldis Hodge); Albert Rothstein, a.k.a.
Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo); Maxine Hunkel, a.k.a.
Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell).
But even here,Black Adamhas something intriguing it starts doing, only to promptly give up on it.
That would, of course, make these superheroes hypocrites and colonizers of a different sort.
These scenes dont work the way the picture wants them to.
Honestly, after more than a decade of overbaked cookie-cutter superhero flicks, Ill take it.
Just dont ask me to care about anybody.
