Marvel’s adventure that started in 2008 still continues without stopping. It has turned into a marathon that we now have to follow even the series. Of course, nothing beats firsts. After Phase 4, it started to taste sour. Yet Marvel still manages to make itself watch. DC has bounced around for a long time, while Marvel has even begun to bore its audiences. While they were trying to establish a universe that started with Man of Steel under Zack Snyder’s leadership and didn’t go bad, the factory suddenly stopped. DC and WB deserve as much criticism as Marvel deserves acclaim for its success in the industry. Because if we had to find just one culprit for all those disappointments, the first name that would come to mind would, of course, be Warner Bros.
Especially for the last five years, Warner Bros. has made us question nearly a hundred-year company with its decisions. They are in a position to be criticized not only by DC Universe but also by its choices in general. Being aware of their unsuccessful course, they went for a CEO change, but the whole company became worse with Zaslav’s “innovations” that are entirely against today’s values. After a few nightmarish months, Black Adam turned from an ordinary movie into a “salvation” movie. Depending on Black Adam’s box office success, WB would either rise again or sink further into the ground. I feel bad for WB because I wish the movie they tied their future to were better. Because the film on which they have pinned all their hopes is nothing more than a hilarious Indian movie starring Americans.
Let’s touch on the subject briefly… The people of Khandaq, who were once enslaved under the command of a dictatorial king, flare up with a rebellion started by a young boy. Because the wizards of the universe deemed this young boy worthy of being a leader, they took him with them and Shazamed him into a superpowered person. He returns and destroys the dictator and the Crown of Sabbac, which he is about to use to bring demons into the world. But what happened next, for some reason, they buried this superhero in the grave. Adrianna, a researcher, finds herself in a deadly position while searching for the crown of Sabbac, which the king has meticulously prepared. Realizing that she is on the top of the Teth-Adam’s tomb, Adrianna frees this suspicious hero. But it is a question mark on whose side this black-clothed hero, who is neither good nor bad, will be and what he will do.
Adrianna “coincidentally” awakens Black Adam(The Rock) in the tomb she is on. As Black Adam wakes up, he begins to strike everyone who attacks him, like Mortal Kombat’s Raiden, killing everyone with fatalities. Adrianna(Sarah Shahi) and her son, Amon(Bodhi Sabongui), who do nothing but get on my nerves throughout the movie, think that this person is the champion of Khandaq and asks him to stop the terrorist organization called Intergang, which is similar to the category of Pornhub. Although Black Adam doesn’t want to at first, he sees that the skateboard boy will not leave him and does what the boy says. But meanwhile, the Justice League Society, reunited by Amanda Waller(Viola Davis), who thinks he’s a danger, arrives, and things get messy.
We all agree that Hollywood is really good at VFX. The images will be excellent if you spend enough money. But the story is not bought with money. You have to sit down and think about it. DC doesn’t seem to have put much thought into the movie’s script on which it has pinned all its hopes. Because if a child is still trying to skate with his skateboard even for 3 seconds with 20 armed men behind him, I will think this movie doesn’t take me, the audience, seriously. The film has a frail and stale scenario that cannot be taken seriously. A hero tries to imprison an ultra-strong man with iron bars, the whole terrorist organization cannot catch a small child, and the skeletons and the people fight each other in the neighborhood like a gang fight.
I usually don’t get hung up on the scripts of these crazy action movies. They are mostly character films anyway, and we satisfy ourselves by focusing on the characters. On the other hand, Black Adam also has a problem with the characters because when all the “new” characters come across in a top-down way, we can’t connect with them. Marvel worked tight-knit on all of its characters and introduced them to us in detail. In fact, they put the ones who were left behind in the 13-year adventure in Phase 4 and produced solo projects for all of them. In fact, DC was progressing well, first with Superman, then Batman, then Aquaman. Wonder Woman still makes the top 5 of the most successful superhero movies. Character introductions would be well riveted with the upcoming Cyborg and Flash movies.
But the plans went differently than planned. Or they couldn’t, and their marathon ended up with a clunker. DC now after a new structure, but when these new ones suddenly appear, we cannot connect with them. I can say that I quite like Dr. Fate, but I could not find any common ground with the rest. On top of that, the perception that they have been around for a long time confuses us even more. Hawkman(Aldis Hodge) and Dr. Fate(Pierce Brosnan) stand out in the movie, yet Cyclone(Quintessa Swindell) and Atom Smasher(Noah Centineo) are left behind. Especially if we remove Cyclone from the movie, nothing will change in the story. At least Atom does some smashing that does justice to his name, but Cyclone remains a blank character just for decorating slow-motion scenes. Ironically, the movie only needed to write a “background” to Cyclone but failed to portray her as a hero.
But what makes Black Adam feel like an Indian movie is its editing. We saw how vital editing is in the Whedon-Snyder fiasco. There was enough difference between the Justice League, edited by Snyder, and the movie edited by Whedon that could be called a brand new movie. We see in Black Adam that DC does not learn any lessons. In the 125-minute movie, the music is not cut even once, including the credits. Like a 2-hour amateur fan-made action, the music continues to play without breathing for a single second. Admiring Indian movies, DC tries to create action with its endless high-tempo music, even on scenes without action. Considering that we are watching a movie that does not stop, the action does not end, and we cannot even breathe to introduce the characters, we can say that Black Adam is a two-hour non-stop Indian action with Dwayne Johnson.
DC’s predictable nature is also starting to seem boring, at least to me. In almost every movie, the main villain emerges at the last minute, heroes fight this last-minute character and win. They need to break these molds and try something new. DC still makes the same mistakes in the movie, where even Dwayne Johnson ends up as someone “different.” As long as they continue with this mentality, unfortunately, they will not be able to achieve the continuity they seek. Especially when you put a strong name like Dwayne Johnson in the lead role, it is now necessary to take off the hat and make a self-criticism. Because if the movie flops at the box office, the reason definitely won’t be The Rock but the year-by-year deteriorating DC.
Finally, we see DC pulling old nuclear bombs out of storage. Henry Cavill is back again. Obviously, these two giants will collide. But as I think of DC and WB, who have not learned from any of their mistakes, no matter how happy it is to see Cavill, I cannot believe that something good will come out of the emerging project.
Cast & Crew
director: Jaume Collet-Serra
writers: Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani (written by) Bill Parker, C.C. Beck … (based on the characters created by)
starring: Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Pierce Brosnan, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Quintessa Swindell, Marwan Kenzari, Mohammed Amer
USA | 2022 | 125 MINUTES |