DC’s Adam makes a good impression

DWAYNE JOHNSON’S SUPERHERO TAKES A LEAF OUT OF MARVEL’S BOOK

BLACK ADAM (12A) ★★★✩✩

IF you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. With the notable exception of Christopher Nolan’s brooding Dark Knight trilogy, films torn from the pages of DC Comics have struggled to match the critical and commercial success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It’s perhaps inevitable that action-packed adventure Black Adam, a spin-off from the 2019 film Shazam!, should mimic the knockabout tone of the MCU replete with a wisecracking superhero team. Imitation doesn’t fatally wound director Jaume Collet-Serra’s brawny blockbuster.

This gung-ho gallivant through five thousand years of Middle Eastern uprising strikes a pleasing balance between outlandish slow-motion action sequences, familial angst and irreverence.

In 2600 BC, the power-hungry king of Kahndaq forges a crown from the rare metal eternium to summon and control a skeletal army from the fiery underworld.

Slave Teth Adam (Dwayne Johnson) dares to oppose the megalomaniacal monarch and a council of wizards rewards the champion with immense power.

Alas, Kahndaq’s protector allows grief and vengeance to dictate his actions and the wizards entomb Teth Adam within the Rock of Eternity to protect mankind.

Five millennia later, freedom fighter Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi), her brother Karim (Mohammed Amer) and young son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui) unwittingly release the prisoner with a single word: “Shazam!”

Teth Adam emerges into a city he barely recognises, which has been under military occupation by a criminal organisation called Intergang for 27 years.

The resurrected champion represents a potent threat to political stability and world order so the Justice Society comprising Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) are swiftly despatched to negotiate Teth Adam’s peaceful surrender. “I’m not peaceful,” he snarls. Black Adam dials back Johnson’s natural charisma and smile to a persistent glower as he vaporises anyone who threatens the sanctity of Kahndaq and its people.

Pacing is initially sluggish, Centineo and Swindell are poorly served and a so-called supervillain is crushingly forgettable; a stepping stone to the tantalising showdown suggested in the obligatory end credits sequence.

■ In cinemas now

Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam

Sarah Shahi as Adrianna and Mohammed Amer as Karim (left) and (right) Aldis Hodge as Hawkman

Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate and Aldis Hodge as Hawkman