The Shoemaker Bugle

By Muna Agada

Cast: Dwayne Johnson (Black Adam), Sarah Shai (Isis), Aldis Hodge (Hawkman), Pierce Brosnan (Doctor Fate), Noah Centineo (Atom Smasher), Quintessa Swindell (Cyclone)
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Screenplay: Sohrab Noshirvani, Adam Sztykiel, and Rory Haines
Film Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Synopsis:

In the country of ancient Kahndaq, Tenth Adam (Dwayne Johnson) was bestowed upon the powers of the gods. After using his powers for revenge, he is imprisoned for 5,000 years. Now free and causing chaos, he is challenged by the Justice Society.

Things I Loved:

Firstly, coming into the movie I was hoping for it to be good because it’s like a spin-off of Shazam and that movie was great. But it is a D.C. movie, and when it comes to their movies they aren’t always the best. However, I was thoroughly surprised and glad that this was a great movie.

I enjoyed the coloring of the movie. It really did give off that superhero vibe. I liked the portrayals of the characters that the actors gave. The plot twists about how it was actually Black Adam’s (Dwanye Johnson) son being the true champion of Kahndaq, and that he was the one whose powers were bestowed by the gods were excellent. Furthermore, I loved the way that his son transferred those powers onto him. And because his son passed those powers onto him, it doesn’t save him when he gets killed, which is why Black Adam goes on his path of revenge. I don’t know why this film only got 45% on Rotten Tomatoes. I really enjoyed myself.

Things I Hated:

I expected the movie to be funnier considering its predecessor, Shazam was hilarious; but there was only one time where I laughed out loud. Most of the time, the cinematics were great but there were times where it was a little choppy; and when it came to the action scenes, it looked like it came straight out of a video game.

Additionally, this might be a bit of an unpopular opinion, but I wished they had picked a different person to play Black Adam. I don’t hate the guy. I think Johnson is a good enough actor, and he played the character well. I just think it would have been nice to see someone else playing this character.

They also could have done without the extra characters they added like Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell). They just didn’t bring anything to the story, except for maybe the scene when Atom Smasher made me actually laugh once in the movie.