The newest film in the DC Extended Universe may not be an absolute success, but it has many good things to make it a fun superhero movie. The screenplay makes no sense whatsoever, and the direction by Jaume Collet-Serra is the definition of a mindless joyride from start to finish. The action scenes felt like two different people crafted them. Where you have one person who made the scenes look astounding and well shot, whereas the other one made them at a swift pace and edited them choppily so that you can't tell what's going on. Dwayne Johnson is excellent as the anti-hero Teth-Adam AKA Black Adam. Breaking away from being the likable hero we're used to seeing him be, Johnson is as charismatic and believable as the famed villain. We find ourselves rooting for him to win instead of rooting for the Justice Society of America, assigned to take him down. The actors who portray the members of the JSA give great performances in this film, which includes Aldis Hodge as Carter Hall, AKA Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Albert Rothstein, AKA Atom Smasher, and Quintessa Swindell as Maxine Hunkel, AKA Cyclone. Pierce Brosnan portrays the JSA's final member known as Kent Nelson, AKA Doctor Fate, and is the standout performer in this film. Brosnan's take on the character is a man who has mastered the art of sorcery for many years and has used these abilities to become a superhero. Still, his power comes with unforeseen consequences allowing Pierce Brosnan to turn in the best performance he has given in quite a long time. The only version that doesn't work in this film is Marwen Kenzari as the main villain Sabbac. Kenzari comes off as generic and uninteresting as the villain. Considering that he wasn't good as Jafar in 2019's "Aladdin," maybe he should stay away from villain roles because he's been in other movies as the good guy and has delivered good performances in those films. "Black Adam" may not be the most fantastic superhero movie ever. Still, thanks to most of the action scenes and the tremendous performances from Dwayne Johnson and Pierce Brosnan, "Black Adam" knows how to give people a good time. This film directs the DC Extended Universe in an exciting direction that has me curious to see where we are going next in the franchise.
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