Black Adam

[Jay Virtual]

I the late 90's I was obsessed with The Rock, had posters of him on my wall and would just consume anything with his name on it and when he slowly became a Hollywood star, I was over the moon. "Now the world can witness the greatness that I've been experiencing for years!" was what I thought in the early 2000's.

But slowly and surely, I kinda lost interest when a) his movies were all kinda generic and bland and b) he kinda became too big for his own good (I don't mean physically). I noticed that with Black Adam he kinda appoints himself as the person that will head the DC movies, or at least that's the impression I got from the marketing and constant "hierarchy of power" crap. To me it kinda feels like he's treating superheroes-- characters that are supposed to me virtuous and inspiring, as some kind of wrestling promo hence his incessant need to bring Cavil back. It felt like he doesn't really care about Superman, he just wants to have a made up fight with him to show how tough he is.

I totally lost respect for him when I read an article stating that he has a clause in his contracts specifically prohibiting him from looking weak, losing or taking too many hits which is honestly straight up laughable. I dunno, as a teen growing up I might think that's an awesome deal but as I grew older I always thought that a real man is measured not by how many punches he can throw, but rather how many he can take.

https://www.gqindia.com/entertainme...that-stipulate-they-cant-lose-in-fight-scenes

 

[ShadowGuardian]

Watched this one for the first time last night, and it was exactly what I was expecting.

A big pile of mediocrity. Not absolutely terrible, like Suicide Squad (2016) level bad or anything, but nothing worth rewatching to me either. I feel the same about this one as I do Aquaman and Shazam, or half the MCU films. I just don't care and it does nothing to reinvent anything.

Plus Adam basically had zero character development throughout the entire film, he was just there to be a badass by the Rock's standard. Yes, he decides to become more heroic towards the end, but a lot of his actions are never earned. He just sort of decides to be good.

 

[karamazov80]

I also just saw this yesterday. Glad i didn't waste money seeing it at the theater. Horrible in just about every way, from writing to acting to effects and cinematography. A disservice to the JSA. I hope James Gunn can right that ship because DCs batting average ain't great.

 

[Khev]

I watched about 10 minutes of this last night and it was literally Age of Apocalypse bad right from the get go, lol. All these grown men attacking another man and a quiet kid walks up and says "stop fighting" and A. they somehow hear him and B. somehow decide to do what he says. Then the dumb kid grabs a rock and runs to the top of a mountain where he is instantly noticed by thousands of slaves who all start cheering for him, despite the camera pulling back and revealing that the kid was just a speck on the horizon next to many other specks to those down below. I quickly started surfing the site here while watching and ended up deciding to just stop and watch the 3 hour cut of the original Avatar instead, lol.

 

[All Might]

I’m 36 minutes into this and had to stop. I thought I‘d at least wait until Rock appeared to give him a chance but then I did and realized this was mostly a two hour ego jerk off session for The Rock.

Glad Gunn gave him the people’s elbow.

 

[TheBatman]

Sounds like some folks' masculinity is a little fragile when the Rock is in the room..

 

[DParga21]

I the late 90's I was obsessed with The Rock, had posters of him on my wall and would just consume anything with his name on it and when he slowly became a Hollywood star, I was over the moon. "Now the world can witness the greatness that I've been experiencing for years!" was what I thought in the early 2000's.

But slowly and surely, I kinda lost interest when a) his movies were all kinda generic and bland and b) he kinda became too big for his own good (I don't mean physically). I noticed that with Black Adam he kinda appoints himself as the person that will head the DC movies, or at least that's the impression I got from the marketing and constant "hierarchy of power" crap. To me it kinda feels like he's treating superheroes-- characters that are supposed to me virtuous and inspiring, as some kind of wrestling promo hence his incessant need to bring Cavil back. It felt like he doesn't really care about Superman, he just wants to have a made up fight with him to show how tough he is.

I totally lost respect for him when I read an article stating that he has a clause in his contracts specifically prohibiting him from looking weak, losing or taking too many hits which is honestly straight up laughable. I dunno, as a teen growing up I might think that's an awesome deal but as I grew older I always thought that a real man is measured not by how many punches he can throw, but rather how many he can take.

https://www.gqindia.com/entertainme...that-stipulate-they-cant-lose-in-fight-scenes

That's a silly stipulation, but sadly not uncommon for action stars. I believe Stallone and Schwarzenegger both have (or had) that as well. It's something to do with the idea that they can't maintain an action star aura if they get their ass beat too much on screen.
I'm not surprised the Rock had that in his contracts, actually, because wrestlers are notoriously jumpy about how weak they look in matches.

 

[Wor-Gar]

This is the worst. Right from the start with that terrible narrator. Never gets better. Halfway through and just gave up. Makes zero sense. Terrible characters, terrible powers, waste of time... with wannabe parkour skateboarding to top it all off.

Only DC could bring you this kind of crap.

DC = Derpidly Consistent

 

[ironwez20]

Sounds like some folks' masculinity is a little fragile when the Rock is in the room..

Nah the movie just sucks

 

[e30ernest]

This is the worst. Right from the start with that terrible narrator. Never gets better. Halfway through and just gave up. Makes zero sense. Terrible characters, terrible powers, waste of time... with wannabe parkour skateboarding to top it all off.

Only DC could bring you this kind of crap.

DC = Derpidly Consistent

The kid made skating uncool.

 

[Khev]

After three attempts I finally finished this one. Easily the worst movie I've seen all year. If it was at least laughably bad that would be something. But this was just about as generically bland as you could get. I did like the twist that the statue he was staring at wasn't actually him but was rather his son but that's pretty much it.

The visuals of him easily defeating foes (which comprises about half the film's run time) are almost identical to watching Faora kicking ass against humans...nine years ago. There weren't even any stakes for the supposedly lesser powered Justice Society. Isn't Hawkman just a guy in a suit? Yet he's constantly thrown through stone buildings and ends up without a scratch despite his armor only covering half his body. Ridiculous.

 

[Wor-Gar]

This movie was the worst with ego-driven "beauty shots" of its lead actor, worse than Tom Cruise movies.

 

[Khev]

This movie was the worst with ego-driven "beauty shots" of its lead actor, worse than Tom Cruise movies.

They literally state point blank that the only way he can be defeated is if he himself voluntarily says the word Shazam. Who can root for a character like that? He takes the "Mary Sue" concept to absolutely cosmic levels.

 

[csutkakoma]

It is funny how things turned around. Lots of people on the internet were so vocal about how fun and good this movie was, the second coming and guys who were critical towards BA were attacked. Then the movie underperformed and things quickly went to the other direction. Not talking about you guys. It is just funny to see generally young people don't have minds on their own.

This movie is simply garbage. I hope Gunn going to put the DCU together.

 

[TheBatman]

But Gunn is garbage....

 

[Bleah]

I've enjoyed most of Gunn's superhero movies and series but they all share the same beats which is becoming monotonous.

 

[Dave_W]

Butt Gun is garbage....

It depends how you use it.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

It is funny how things turned around. Lots of people on the internet were so vocal about how fun and good this movie was, the second coming and guys who were critical towards BA were attacked. Then the movie underperformed and things quickly went to the other direction. Not talking about you guys. It is just funny to see generally young people don't have minds on their own.

This movie is simply garbage. I hope Gunn going to put the DCU together.

What are the relative numbers though?

For example, some people said some things on social media to Kelly Marie Tran that they should not have said. Some things were openly sexist and racist. Some things were allegedly sexist and racist.

However, some key things to note

1) Whether any of the Rey/Kylo Ren Star Wars reboots films were good or not or well received in general by fans or not is an entirely separate issue to how KMT was treated

2) While I don't agree with people acting like jerks, this is part of being in the public eye. You want to be a movie star, you lose your privacy.

3) The narrative was built around "toxic fandom" as a sweeping generalization when it was likely a small subset of people. Just the loudest usually.

In general, I don't pay attention to professional reviewers/reviewers from major sites. They are all bought and compromised in my eyes.

As for reviews, I only pay attention if it's a fringe movie. For example, I've become a huge Florence Pugh fan in general, and I took a look at her back catalog, and I looked at some user reviews for her much older stuff. She doesn't have a big role in some of those earlier films and I don't know how much I want to bother with it. As for mainstream films, if I like the trailer, I don't read reviews and I just give it a chance.

What helps is I pretty much stay off social media. Apparently according to many, including many here, I'm not missing all that much by staying off of social media platforms.

I found Black Adam middling myself. But I have always held that big super hero movies, that even if it's a bad movie, you can usually see the elements of a good movie hidden somewhere deep inside of it. I didn't like Shang Chi, but I could see where it could have been a good movie, at least to my viewpoint.

What helps me is I just really don't like most people and I don't like being around most people and I don't care what most people think. I make efforts to be civil and decent to people when it's appropriate, but I just don't need the senseless drama that comes as free baggage with most folks.

I just wished The Rock would just be The Rock, without trying to be the best product possible. What's killing his movies so far, at least the first of many issues, is he's completely inauthentic. He wants to be all things to all people at all times. It's like watching a discount rate Tony Robbins on steroids. People tend to respond when things are just real. Honest. Genuine.

Some thoughts....

Happy New Years my friend.

 

[All Might]

But Gunn is garbage....

What? You don’t have to like his movies but calling him garbage is wrong. He has turned garbage into gold with Guardians and Peacemaker. He made a three word tree and talking raccoon into household names. Peacemaker gained viewers as the show went on. He makes great entertainment that general audiences love. Baby Groot and Peacemaker dance were huge in pop culture.

RT Critic/Audience Scores

GOTG - 92/92

GOTG2 - 85/87

TSS - 90/82

GOTG Holiday Special - 93/80

Peacemaker - 94/89

He has 2 of the top 4 DCEU shows. GOTG stuff would in the top 5. He has shown he can build a team and grow them while working in a interconnected universe with GOTG.

The DCEU would be THRIVING if they got these scores and this reception that Gunn managed to get.

 

[Alatar]

After three attempts I finally finished this one. Easily the worst movie I've seen all year. If it was at least laughably bad that would be something. But this was just about as generically bland as you could get. I did like the twist that the statue he was staring at wasn't actually him but was rather his son but that's pretty much it.

The visuals of him easily defeating foes (which comprises about half the film's run time) are almost identical to watching Faora kicking ass against humans...nine years ago. There weren't even any stakes for the supposedly lesser powered Justice Society. Isn't Hawkman just a guy in a suit? Yet he's constantly thrown through stone buildings and ends up without a scratch despite his armor only covering half his body. Ridiculous.

I involuntarily laughed out loud when the Rolling Stones “Paint it Black” played to the first big action sequence. It was so corny and on-the-nose that it struck me as genuinely hilarious. Thankfully the action itself was so noisy that no one could hear me, so I wasn’t a jerk as such. It was also laughably bad for me when the Khandaqi people rise up and “rebel”—against Intergang mind you ( what?)—they‘re fighting video game level 1 zombie canon fodder that move so slowly anyone can kill them with ease…

The movie has a few decent moments with Doctor Fate but nearly everything else about this movie just feels cobbled together using tropes and stylistic conventions from movies from the late 1990s to early 2000s. What on earth was DJ thinking?

Using the standard 2.5x multiplier of budget for breaking even just with ticket sales… that’s $260M (after the 11th hour overhaul per THR) x 2.5 = $650M… and it legged out at $391,273,355… so it lost $258.7M.

Now movies do make money on the back end via toys, merch (t-shirts, lunch boxes, etc.), disk, digital copy, VOD, cable TV, streaming services with ads, product placement, tax credits, etc. But the idea is that if the film at least breaks even with ticket sales that’s sort of necessary for it to actually make that money on the back end.