Black Adam (2022)

There are scenes in cinema you never forget. For me, Black Adam's first rampage in Black Adam is one of them. Jaume Collet-Serra constructs it with total precision and it lands exactly as intended. Pure craft.

Every choice in Black Adam feels deliberate. The framing, the pacing, Black Adam's first rampage — Jaume Collet-Serra is operating at a level most filmmakers never reach. It's the kind of film you study rather than just watch.

Black Adam is not background viewing. Every scene requires you. Put your phone down. Jaume Collet-Serra is doing too much to be half-watched. Give it the attention it deserves.

Black Adam is technically accomplished and I understand its place in film history. But it left me cold. The anti-heroism element felt mechanical and I never connected emotionally. Maybe I'll try again.

I liked Black Adam when I first saw it, but the second viewing is where it clicked. Once you notice how Jaume Collet-Serra plants every detail early on, the whole film transforms. Layers everywhere.

Black Adam ended and I sat with it for weeks. The colonial oppression and liberation theme kept circling back. I'd be doing something mundane and Doctor Fate vs Sabbac would pop into my head. That kind of resonance is rare.

Every actor brings something to Black Adam, but the lead performance is genuinely extraordinary. The subtlety involved, the way the character changes without announcing it — it's a masterclass.

We watched Black Adam together and spent an hour talking about anti-heroism afterward. That kind of conversation doesn't happen often. The film gives you something real to think about together.

Everyone told me to watch Black Adam for years. Finally did and instantly understood why. Dwayne Johnson's long-awaited role is immediately apparent. Now I'm recommending it just as loudly to everyone else.

Some elements of Black Adam show their age, but the core of it — colonial oppression and liberation, Dwayne Johnson's long-awaited role — hasn't diminished at all. Films this good age better than almost anything else.