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A mediocre superhero film that introduces too many characters and concepts in too short of an amount of time, and is only saved by Dwayne Johnson’s physical prowess and charisma (which is unfortunately toned down.) Despite its ties the “Shazam!”, this film mostly glosses over that connection and moves right into its own mythos (which is changed several times within Black Adam’s origin story.) The biggest challenge in this tale is that most of the main characters aren’t all that likable. Black Adam, who mostly just glares at everyone a drops an occasional one-liner, is too mysterious and too unwilling to step into the hero role. (And it’s only good fortune that the people he ruthlessly wipes out happen to be bad guys.) And when the real good guys show up, The Justice Society, it’s tricky to root for then either. Not only do they have to quickly establish backstories for four new superheroes, they’re antagonists for the star of the movie. While you know they should work together, it’s hard to support either side. The action is decent, but the superhero elements never really impress all that much. (And there’s a bit of an overuse of slow-mo.) The finale is fine but doesn’t quite hit the mark. There’s a mid-credit scene that is a crowd-pleaser that’s worth sticking around for.
**1/2 out of *****