Not long into B次元官网网址淏lack Adam,B次元官网网址� a preteen boy looks up at the muscled hulk of Dwayne Johnson and begs for his help: B次元官网网址淲e could use a superhero right now.B次元官网网址�

Speak for yourself, kid.

Do we need another superhero with another convoluted origin story that stretches back thousands of years and fulfills a whacko destiny? Do we really need another clutch of secondary level heroes to muddy focus? WeB次元官网网址檙e almost 40 deep into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a dozen in the DC universe. You can almost smell the fumes now, canB次元官网网址檛 you?

isnB次元官网网址檛 bad, itB次元官网网址檚 just predictable and colour-by-numbers, stealing from other films like an intellectual property super-villain. But Johnson is a natural in the title role, mixing might with humor and able to deliver those necessary wooden lines. Why he hasnB次元官网网址檛 had a starring role in a DC or Marvel superhero flick until now is astonishing B次元官网网址� cB次元官网网址檓on, heB次元官网网址檚 built himself into a freaking superhero in street clothes already.

Like MarvelB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淓ternals,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淏lack AdamB次元官网网址� gets out of the blocks very sluggishly with the tangled tale of our setting B次元官网网址� Kahndaq, a fictional Middle Eastern kingdom in 2,600 B.C. that has wizards, a blood-thirsty king, a magical crown and Eternium, a rare metallic ore with energy-manipulating properties (Hello, Vibranium from B次元官网网址淏lack PantherB次元官网网址�).

Flash-forward to present day, where Kahndaq is under the cruel rule of the organized crime syndicate Intergang and its citizens are ripe to rebel. They think they may have a leader in Black Adam (here Teth Adam, when he is introduced), who is released from his 5,000-year-long tomb and is naturally cranky. Is he a force for good or bad? (Or for a new sub-franchise?) The answer is yes to all.

Yet the other superheroes in the DC pantheon arenB次元官网网址檛 sure about the new guy and send what can only be described as the Plan B of muscle from leftover members of a knock-off organization called the Justice Society of America.

ThereB次元官网网址檚 Doctor Fate (a dollar-store Doctor Strange played by Pierce Brosnan, who somehow keeps his dignity), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo, nicely playing a dweeby and always hungry giant), Aldis Hodge as a one-note Hawkman and Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone, who can control B次元官网网址� checks notes B次元官网网址� the wind. They apparently left at home the superhero with the ability to open jars.

Black Adam is more than a match for all of them combined. He can fly, move as fast as The Flash, catch rockets, deflect bullets and harness his own bluish electricity. Mostly he does this weirdly passive thing of just floating. B次元官网网址淚 kneel before no oneB次元官网网址� he intones, which might explain it.

Director Jaume Collet-Serra and the design team do a great job in every department but are let down by a derivative and baggy screenplay by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani that goes from one violent scene to another like a video game in order to paper over a plot both undercooked and overcooked. At one point, with the audience exhausted by all the carnage, they introduce skeletons who rise up as a legion from hell, just what we wanted.

They nicely include pockets of humor that DC has not always done well B次元官网网址� a recurring bit with B次元官网网址淏aby Come BackB次元官网网址� and teaching Black Adam satire are fun; a Clint Eastwood gag fails B次元官网网址� and there may have been three natural endings piling up before the final, manipulative one. (B次元官网网址淭his can only end one way,B次元官网网址� says the script. DonB次元官网网址檛 believe it.)

Amidst the punching superheroes are two humans B次元官网网址� a rebel leader and her skateboard-and-comics-loving pre-teen son, played superbly by Sarah Shahi and Bodhi Sabongui, respectively. Comedian Mohammed Amer is a much-needed bolt of bright humor.

Most intriguing B次元官网网址� and the angle most fruitful to lean into B次元官网网址� is the notion of hero itself. The Justice Society members are shocked to find that they arenB次元官网网址檛 seen as heroic to the residents of Kahndaq, living 27 years under oppression. Black Adam has come to help, even if heB次元官网网址檚 a little more violent. Residents wonder where were the guys with all the superpowers for almost three decades while they suffered B次元官网网址� a nice dig at Western nations.

B次元官网网址淭here are only heroes and villains. Heroes donB次元官网网址檛 kill people,B次元官网网址� a confused Hawkman states. Black Adam replies: B次元官网网址淲ell, I do.B次元官网网址� It is ShahibyB次元官网网址檚 character who notes that itB次元官网网址檚 easy to call someone a hero when youB次元官网网址檙e the one drawing the line.

The number of B次元官网网址� ahem B次元官网网址� call-backs to other films is pretty sad B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭omb Raider,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淏ack to the FutureB次元官网网址� and plenty of B次元官网网址淪tar WarsB次元官网网址� (even, unforgivably, the line B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檙e our only hopeB次元官网网址�.) ItB次元官网网址檚 a film that is sometimes self-aware, as when the kid urges Black Adam to come up with a catchphrase that will sell lunchboxes.

He does, but it makes little sense: B次元官网网址淭ell them, B次元官网网址楾he man in black sent you.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Wait, he was sent by someone else? Do they mean Johnny Cash? Actually that may be a clue. What the filmmakers probably had in mind was cash B次元官网网址� selling those lunchboxes.

B次元官网网址淏lack Adam,B次元官网网址� a Warner Bros. Pictures release that hits cinemas on Friday, is rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, intense action and some language. Running time: 124 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

B次元官网网址擬ark Kennedy, The Associated Press