Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) is Black Adam.

By Anton Massopust III

“This world is filled with heroes and villains. Heroes don’t kill.” – Hawkman

“But I do.” – Black Adam

Former Wrestling Superstar and Actor, Dwayne Johnson (A.K.A. The Rock) takes on the role he says he was born to play in Black Adam, a DC Comics antihero who is the equal to Shazam a.k.a. Captain Marvel (DC Character).

Black Adam is a character that was given power by a wizard by saying the word: “Shazam,” a predecessor to the charter of Shazam. The character was created by Otto Binder and C.C. Beck and debuted in Fawcett Comics’ The Marvel Family in December 1945. Acquired by DC Comics in the 1970’s, Black Adam was an archenemy of Shazam/Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family. (Source: Wikipedia)

The recent movie shows thousands of years ago, Black Adam was imprisoned in a palace after he defeated an evil king who wanted to use an ancient crown that was made from a rare element in order to rule everybody.

The catch was it was also could summon a demon. Black Adam defeated the king but was imprisoned because the wizards thought he was not worthy of his power because his rage was too uncontrollable, and the power was unlawfully used.

In present time, an ancient mountain is what is left of the palace. A terrorist organization called the Anti-Gang have taken over the country where the palace was once located in order to use it for all of its resources. The Anti-Gang was looking for the crown.

A psychologist, Sarah Shahi (Adrianna Tomaz) and her family are taken hostage, but once she invokes Black Adam’s name, she frees him. Black Adam awakens and deals with the terrorist group. This brings the attention of the Justice Society, the group that was before the Justice League.

Led by Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) who is a tough winged warrior, Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), and Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan) who are on a mission to capture and imprison Black Adam, so he doesn’t threaten the world.

The heroes realize that they have to work together in order to stop a worse threat from the Anti-Gang who want to use the crowd for their own benefits. Doctor Fate can see the future and it looks pretty grim. He doesn’t think that it’s over with the capture of Black Adam and realizes they may need him to stop what worse threat is coming.

The only complaint I could really say about this movie is that it takes a little bit too much time to get going and has a predictable plot like many other superhero movies fall into that trap. It could easily become that way and that’s more or less what a lot of films are facing.

However, the movie has plenty of great laughs, especially from Atom Smasher who is very, very, funny. Peter Brosnan who is a terrific actor to begin with plays the mysterious Doctor Fate who is a really strange character Aldis Hodge plays Hawkman as an unconquerable warrior who won’t give up.

The main plot of this movie is riding on the shoulders of Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) is terrific as this character very soft spoken that doesn’t say very much, but his actions speak for him. The special effects are great.

Once the movie gets going, the action gets going and there is a lot to appreciate, especially if you love superhero action movies. Stay to the end for a special cameo which is the best part of the whole movie. The cinematography is beautiful especially the exotic locations.

It is just plain old-fashioned fun at the movies. Comic book fans will appreciate this character more. Tell the man in black sent you, and go see Black Adam.