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shadowkatWell, finally saw Black Adam - which is the last film produced/spear-headed by the former WB/DC show-runners - Geoff Johns & John Berg, and Walter Hamada. (DC's version of Kevin Feige for Marvel). It was one of the spin-off or stand-alone films made after Snyder's five year plan was tossed aside and Whedon was brought on board.
It's not very good. I can see why it didn't do that well at the box office.
“Black Adam” performed poorly at the box office, earning $400 million worldwide against a $195 million budget — which doesn’t include marketing and other costs related to promotion and distribution. However, Johnson disputed claims that “Black Adam” would lose between $50 million and $100 million. In a tweet, Johnson cited financiers, saying “Black Adam” would net between $52 million and $72 million.
I didn't care about anyone in the movie, and I should have. It has a lot of pretty visuals, and the CGI painted visuals are well done. Snyder's era and the films spun out of that - all look like paintings, and from a purely "visual" set up - are well done. But the story, dialogue, character development, performances - are lacking. The dialogue is stilted, and lacks humor or depth. The characters are thrown at us, and lack motivation or much back-story at all - the only one we get any back story on is Black Adam. And his story feels cut and pasted from other, better films.
The set up? Centuries ago, some power hunger ruler decided he wanted the Crown of Sabbac, a fabled demon crown that would bring him absolute power. And to get it he had to sacrifice someone, who the Wizards saved with the word "Shazam" and turned into their champion. There's a twist regarding who the Champion really is, but I didn't find it all that shocking or interesting. An archaeologist desperate for a champion for her crime ridden city, finds the crown and breaks the champion out of what she believes is his grave. Except he's all powerful. This is a problem for Amanda Waller who send the Justice Society (Doctor Fate, Hawkman, Cyclone, and Smasher) after him. Then of course the real villian pops up - the wearer of the crown of sabacc, who they have to defeat...
The movie felt like it went on forever. I was bored. Although I did like Doctor Fate. (I'd read some of those comics in the early 80s or 90s. Doctor Fate is kind of DC's take on Doctor Strange.) Pierce Bronsan plays him, and does a decent enough job - with the piss poor dialogue he's stuck with. As does Aldis Hodge, the other bright note in the cast, along with Sarah Sahai who plays the archeologist who finds the crown and is seeking the champion. The Rock is kind of ponderous and boring, pretty but boring. Actually I found Aldis Hodge (Hawkman) more interesting - but we got next to nothing on who his character was - and unless you are into the DC comics? You'd have been completely lost.
The clip at the end with Cavil was perhaps the best part, but also ultimately wasted, since as I stated previously - this is the last of the Hamada, Snyder, Johns, and Berg era. Which despite the disappointment of Cavil fans, is actually a good thing. Those guys were...ahem toxic and endemic of an on-going toxic culture at DC. Snyder has possibly the most toxic fanbase out there - and that's saying something. I dipped my toe into it and jumped out right quick. And I honestly think the toxicity at DC during the time period in which this film was made - had an effect on it. Every film coming out of DC has fallen flat at the box office in recent years, with the possible exception of Aquaman and Wonder Woman, and they all have been tainted by scandal.
The underlying problem with Black Adam is it is at its root an anti-hero story, and Cavil's entrance at the end as "Superman", once again sheds a dark light on that hero. Cavil didn't really play Superman as a hero, so much as an ambiguous anti-hero in his films, deadly, with an almost callous disregard for the lives of the humans around him, with Lois his sole connection to humanity - a stark departure from the character created in the comics, in the television series, and in various prior films. While a darker take on that hero is admittedly interesting - it has to be done well, and I've no quibbles with the casting, but the writing and the direction - I've always found to be a bit lacking. Christopher Nolan similarly struggled with Batman, often putting the other characters front and center. That said, I felt Snyder's Justice League was a far better film than Black Adam, in that it built the characters better and I actually cared about them. Here, I didn't.
The other difficulty with the darker take on the characters is the disturbing thematic choices. There's an almost pro-authoritarian/fascist theme going on here - in the DC films. Now, DC has always had that difficulty - while Marvel's comics make a point of critiquing that, DC almost embraces it somberly without any critique. Marvel pokes fun, and undermines the fascism. Tony Stark (Marvel's take on Batman) is a weapon's manufacturer and often portrayed as an anti-hero, Marvel also examines and critiques him throughout - he is on a redemption journey, Batman on the other hand is praised for his vigilantism and seen as a wounded hero. Then there's Captain America - the Super Solider, who is a creation of the propaganda and a weapon for a war, but initially utilized merely as a symbol of patriotism. He fights against that symbolism, and against the fascism and authoritarianism he sees around him. And unlike Superman, he's not all powerful. The villains are also more complicated in Marvel's verse.
DC at times takes itself almost too seriously. But the side characters can be interesting, and provide a less "authoritarian" or "fascist" undercurrent. Also a spot of humor. They had the opportunity to develop them here - a bit more than they did. There was a touch of humor and flirting but for the most part, it fell flat. Because they didn't take the time to develop them, I had troubles caring what happened to them.
After I saw this film, I could see why DC chose to fire its current show-runners after this movie hit the theaters, and nix it's current plan (which was largely non-existent at this point). Snyder's five year plan had been nipped in the bud several years ago, because Snyder was a bit too dark, and had a relatively small nitch audience. DC needed a bigger one than that - to cover the increasingly expensive films. Keep in mind these films cost well over $200 million to make, so they had to make twice that to break even.
I also understand why they hired the current ones - the current team is lighter in tone, has a less authoritarian/fascist slant. Like it or not, objectively speaking Guardians of the Galaxy didn't only do a whole lot better at the box office than any of the DC films, including Black Adam, it also was a more entertaining and far better movie. Better dialogue, better plot, and a better effects. (Whether you prefer to look at the Rock, Cavil or Chris Pratt is irrelevant - Guardians had badass female fighters and a diverse cast.)
This film and those that proceeded it - explains the changes going down in the DC Movie-verse. It's not a good film. Wakanda Forever kind of mops the floor with it, as did Black Panther. The Marvel films are far superior to it, heck the Marvel television series are for that matter. All it had going for it were the visuals. And I've seen better ones in some of the Marvel films.
While not considered completely a flop...it didn't make back as much as anticipated, and went to streaming far earlier than planned.
In short, I'd skip it. They aren't moving forward with Henry Cavil as Superman, nor are they moving forward with a Black Adam sequel, and there's not much there to recommend it. I liked Doctor Fate - but he's not developed enough or prevalent enough to take the time to watch.
***
Disney's 30th Anniversary of Beauty and the Beast
I waited to see it on Disney + - because I knew there'd be a ton of commercials.
I was right - because they had the breaks still in there - not the commercials, just the announcement of a break for them - which was amusing.
It was, outside of the above, well done. They combined the stage, animated, and back stage process together. So we saw how the animation was done, along with how they handled the staging, costumes of the stage version, and the songs along with the story-boarding. I was impressed with it. Along with the stellar cast chosen to perform it.
It's not very good. I can see why it didn't do that well at the box office.
“Black Adam” performed poorly at the box office, earning $400 million worldwide against a $195 million budget — which doesn’t include marketing and other costs related to promotion and distribution. However, Johnson disputed claims that “Black Adam” would lose between $50 million and $100 million. In a tweet, Johnson cited financiers, saying “Black Adam” would net between $52 million and $72 million.
I didn't care about anyone in the movie, and I should have. It has a lot of pretty visuals, and the CGI painted visuals are well done. Snyder's era and the films spun out of that - all look like paintings, and from a purely "visual" set up - are well done. But the story, dialogue, character development, performances - are lacking. The dialogue is stilted, and lacks humor or depth. The characters are thrown at us, and lack motivation or much back-story at all - the only one we get any back story on is Black Adam. And his story feels cut and pasted from other, better films.
The set up? Centuries ago, some power hunger ruler decided he wanted the Crown of Sabbac, a fabled demon crown that would bring him absolute power. And to get it he had to sacrifice someone, who the Wizards saved with the word "Shazam" and turned into their champion. There's a twist regarding who the Champion really is, but I didn't find it all that shocking or interesting. An archaeologist desperate for a champion for her crime ridden city, finds the crown and breaks the champion out of what she believes is his grave. Except he's all powerful. This is a problem for Amanda Waller who send the Justice Society (Doctor Fate, Hawkman, Cyclone, and Smasher) after him. Then of course the real villian pops up - the wearer of the crown of sabacc, who they have to defeat...
The movie felt like it went on forever. I was bored. Although I did like Doctor Fate. (I'd read some of those comics in the early 80s or 90s. Doctor Fate is kind of DC's take on Doctor Strange.) Pierce Bronsan plays him, and does a decent enough job - with the piss poor dialogue he's stuck with. As does Aldis Hodge, the other bright note in the cast, along with Sarah Sahai who plays the archeologist who finds the crown and is seeking the champion. The Rock is kind of ponderous and boring, pretty but boring. Actually I found Aldis Hodge (Hawkman) more interesting - but we got next to nothing on who his character was - and unless you are into the DC comics? You'd have been completely lost.
The clip at the end with Cavil was perhaps the best part, but also ultimately wasted, since as I stated previously - this is the last of the Hamada, Snyder, Johns, and Berg era. Which despite the disappointment of Cavil fans, is actually a good thing. Those guys were...ahem toxic and endemic of an on-going toxic culture at DC. Snyder has possibly the most toxic fanbase out there - and that's saying something. I dipped my toe into it and jumped out right quick. And I honestly think the toxicity at DC during the time period in which this film was made - had an effect on it. Every film coming out of DC has fallen flat at the box office in recent years, with the possible exception of Aquaman and Wonder Woman, and they all have been tainted by scandal.
The underlying problem with Black Adam is it is at its root an anti-hero story, and Cavil's entrance at the end as "Superman", once again sheds a dark light on that hero. Cavil didn't really play Superman as a hero, so much as an ambiguous anti-hero in his films, deadly, with an almost callous disregard for the lives of the humans around him, with Lois his sole connection to humanity - a stark departure from the character created in the comics, in the television series, and in various prior films. While a darker take on that hero is admittedly interesting - it has to be done well, and I've no quibbles with the casting, but the writing and the direction - I've always found to be a bit lacking. Christopher Nolan similarly struggled with Batman, often putting the other characters front and center. That said, I felt Snyder's Justice League was a far better film than Black Adam, in that it built the characters better and I actually cared about them. Here, I didn't.
The other difficulty with the darker take on the characters is the disturbing thematic choices. There's an almost pro-authoritarian/fascist theme going on here - in the DC films. Now, DC has always had that difficulty - while Marvel's comics make a point of critiquing that, DC almost embraces it somberly without any critique. Marvel pokes fun, and undermines the fascism. Tony Stark (Marvel's take on Batman) is a weapon's manufacturer and often portrayed as an anti-hero, Marvel also examines and critiques him throughout - he is on a redemption journey, Batman on the other hand is praised for his vigilantism and seen as a wounded hero. Then there's Captain America - the Super Solider, who is a creation of the propaganda and a weapon for a war, but initially utilized merely as a symbol of patriotism. He fights against that symbolism, and against the fascism and authoritarianism he sees around him. And unlike Superman, he's not all powerful. The villains are also more complicated in Marvel's verse.
DC at times takes itself almost too seriously. But the side characters can be interesting, and provide a less "authoritarian" or "fascist" undercurrent. Also a spot of humor. They had the opportunity to develop them here - a bit more than they did. There was a touch of humor and flirting but for the most part, it fell flat. Because they didn't take the time to develop them, I had troubles caring what happened to them.
After I saw this film, I could see why DC chose to fire its current show-runners after this movie hit the theaters, and nix it's current plan (which was largely non-existent at this point). Snyder's five year plan had been nipped in the bud several years ago, because Snyder was a bit too dark, and had a relatively small nitch audience. DC needed a bigger one than that - to cover the increasingly expensive films. Keep in mind these films cost well over $200 million to make, so they had to make twice that to break even.
I also understand why they hired the current ones - the current team is lighter in tone, has a less authoritarian/fascist slant. Like it or not, objectively speaking Guardians of the Galaxy didn't only do a whole lot better at the box office than any of the DC films, including Black Adam, it also was a more entertaining and far better movie. Better dialogue, better plot, and a better effects. (Whether you prefer to look at the Rock, Cavil or Chris Pratt is irrelevant - Guardians had badass female fighters and a diverse cast.)
This film and those that proceeded it - explains the changes going down in the DC Movie-verse. It's not a good film. Wakanda Forever kind of mops the floor with it, as did Black Panther. The Marvel films are far superior to it, heck the Marvel television series are for that matter. All it had going for it were the visuals. And I've seen better ones in some of the Marvel films.
While not considered completely a flop...it didn't make back as much as anticipated, and went to streaming far earlier than planned.
In short, I'd skip it. They aren't moving forward with Henry Cavil as Superman, nor are they moving forward with a Black Adam sequel, and there's not much there to recommend it. I liked Doctor Fate - but he's not developed enough or prevalent enough to take the time to watch.
***
Disney's 30th Anniversary of Beauty and the Beast
I waited to see it on Disney + - because I knew there'd be a ton of commercials.
I was right - because they had the breaks still in there - not the commercials, just the announcement of a break for them - which was amusing.
It was, outside of the above, well done. They combined the stage, animated, and back stage process together. So we saw how the animation was done, along with how they handled the staging, costumes of the stage version, and the songs along with the story-boarding. I was impressed with it. Along with the stellar cast chosen to perform it.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-18 05:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-18 04:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-18 04:18 pm (UTC)I'd heard good things about Black Adam from Twitter - but failed to notice the folks squeeing over it were only watching it for the five minute cameo of Henry Cavil as Superman at the end. Apparently the Rock fought for that - in order to make his film relevant in the DC verse and get a sequel. Unfortunately he failed to foresee the change in leadership and direction. As did Cavil, who assumed he was reprising Superman.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-18 05:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-20 09:36 pm (UTC)