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[RiccochetJ]

Just got back from seeing it. The beginning was kind of bad and had some bad acting, the middle was absolutely great, the end was a bit of a mess, and the post credit scene made me giddy. The problem with the movie was the kid. He was annoying and quite frankly brought down the movie every time he was a focal point.

Overall, I enjoyed it more Thor: Love and Thunder and thought it was about the same as Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

 

[Blade2.0]

Just got back from seeing it. The beginning was kind of bad and had some bad acting, the middle was absolutely great, the end was a bit of a mess, and the post credit scene made me giddy. The problem with the movie was the kid. He was annoying and quite frankly brought down the movie every time he was a focal point.

Overall, I enjoyed it more Thor: Love and Thunder and thought it was about the same as Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

Spoil this for me, but was Shazam anywhere mentioned?

 

[RiccochetJ]

Spoil this for me, but was Shazam anywhere mentioned?

Spoiler

The wizards and the word, yes. The hero and the group was not.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

Just got back from seeing it. The beginning was kind of bad and had some bad acting, the middle was absolutely great, the end was a bit of a mess, and the post credit scene made me giddy. The problem with the movie was the kid. He was annoying and quite frankly brought down the movie every time he was a focal point.

Overall, I enjoyed it more Thor: Love and Thunder and thought it was about the same as Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

That fucking kid. I hope and pray to God they keep that fucking kid out of any potential sequels. Can't believe how annoying that little shit was.

 

[Lukaku's First Touch]

omg, I can't believe they had another shithead kid in a blockbuster movie. Whyyyyyyyyy

 

[Shh]

Reviewers not liking it means I’ll probably enjoy it. Most film reviewers are absolute shit and have been for like 20 years.

Some of my favorite movies have absolute horrible ratings.

 

[GymWolf]

Excited to never see this one.

 

[SJRB]

Some of my favorite movies have absolute horrible ratings.

Same! Movie scores usually are way too subjective anyway. Man of Steel has 56% on Rotten Tomatoes and that movie has some god-tier superhero moments in it.

 

[Spaceman292]

Excited to never see this one.

True. I didn't see it last night and I had a great time.

 

[Shh]

Same! Movie scores usually are way too subjective anyway. Man of Steel has 56% on Rotten Tomatoes and that movie has some god-tier superhero moments in it.

That was the first Superman movie where I felt like some of his actual Dragonball Z level superpowers were being displayed on the big screen. They usually keep him so incredibly reserved for absolutely no reason. Dude's god-tier. Do god-tier things. I'm hoping one day I'll get to see the golden Superman Prime.

 

[FunkMiller]

True. I didn't see it last night and I had a great time.

Me too. Absolutely agree. 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

 

[chromhound]

that ending must have pissed Walter Hamada lol

 

[Alcibiades]

Saw it yesterday in Dolby Cinema and enjoyed it. It was cool to see some lesser known DC characters. I had no idea who the JSA was but it was a nice surprise to see another team of superheros and then google more info about them afterwards.

The whole Shazam! connection is a little confusing but oh well. Also, there did seem to be a lot of long moments where Black Adam himself was not around, it almost seemed a bit too focused on JSA but I didn't think that was a bad thing necessarily.

 

[Blade2.0]

Saw it yesterday in Dolby Cinema and enjoyed it. It was cool to see some lesser known DC characters. I had no idea which JSA was but it was a nice surprise to see another team of superheros and then google more info about them afterwards.

The whole Shazam! connection is a little confusing but ob well. Also, there did seem to be a lot of long moments where Black Adam himself was not around, it almost seemed a bit too focused on JSA but I didn't think k that was a bad thing necessarily.

For the comics, Black Adam was Captain Marvel's arch nemesis who got his powers 5,000 years before he did, but never said the word after getting his powers, so remained powered up and immortal. After a time he became more of an anti-hero/frenemy of Captain Marvel's (Shazam).

 

[OZ9000]

That fucking kid. I hope and pray to God they keep that fucking kid out of any potential sequels. Can't believe how annoying that little shit was.

Little shitheads always ruin movies for me.

Deadpool 2 sucked because of the cunt.

 

[jason10mm]

For the comics, Black Adam was Captain Marvel's arch nemesis who got his powers 5,000 years before he did, but never said the word after getting his powers, so remained powered up and immortal. After a time he became more of an anti-hero/frenemy of Captain Marvel's (Shazam).

So if you tricked him into saying "SHAZAM" (or whatever his power word was) would he turn into a normal kid/man and then age into dust? If they can do it to Mister Mxyzptlk on a regular basis the Black Adam shouldn't be a challenge

 

[AJUMP23]

I’m going to spoil this below. Thoughts about this film

Spoiler

what a dumb film. Most of the issues in this film could have been solved if people just had a conversation.
I thought pierce brosnon was great. He was the most interesting character. This movie also feels like there are about 3 or 4 setup movies missing. But I didn’t mind that it just drops you in the middle of everything.
The action is just there for the action and the slow motion is over used. Far too many times.
Hawkamm is good, but he is utterly stupid in how he approaches the situation. I can’t believe the writers thought these were good ideas.

I have a lot more thoughts on this movie. But man who read and wrote that script and said cool .

 

[Blade2.0]

So if you tricked him into saying "SHAZAM" (or whatever his power word was) would he turn into a normal kid/man and then age into dust? If they can do it to Mister Mxyzptlk on a regular basis the Black Adam shouldn't be a challenge

That has happened before but he didn't turn to dust they changed his word from Shazam and he reverted back to his original form until he guessed the word again

 

[AJUMP23]

So many people Shazamming all over the world.

 

[JCK75]

Just got back from seeing it, honestly, I really like it a lot.. I thought it was one of the best things we've gotten from DC in a long time

 

[DragoonWalker]

Same! Movie scores usually are way too subjective anyway. Man of Steel has 56% on Rotten Tomatoes and that movie has some god-tier superhero moments in it.

The action is exciting on its own but it's also reckless and destructive, which to me isn't what Superman is about. Sure Snyder can have his own vision of Supes and I know a lot of people like it, but I wish there was some way to bring back the sincere and optimistic Superman. Dark and gritty? That's what Batman is for, and I love Batman. Angsty Supes just isn't interesting to me. No, and I don't like Marvel's quippy, smarmy assholes either.

 

[DeafTourette]

The action is exciting on its own but it's also reckless and destructive, which to me isn't what Superman is about. Sure Snyder can have his own vision of Supes and I know a lot of people like it, but I wish there was some way to bring back the sincere and optimistic Superman. Dark and gritty? That's what Batman is for, and I love Batman. Angsty Supes just isn't interesting to me. No, and I don't like Marvel's quippy, smarmy assholes either.

You also have to look at Man of Steel in context... He was Superman for like a day BEFORE Zod and company come ... He hasn't trained to fight people as strong as him. He hasn't trained, PERIOD! And even if he tried to direct the fight elsewhere, Zod was hell bent on killing people... Clark's weakness. Clark had no other choice but to fight Zod in the city and he DID try to mitigate the damage. That was the beginning of Superman. He wasn't a finished product yet.

Superman: The Movie... Clark spent YEARS training with Holo-Zor-El at the fortress of solitude. Man of Steel Clark was only there for a day or so.

 

[jason10mm]

Just got back from seeing it, honestly, I really like it a lot.. I thought it was one of the best things we've gotten from DC in a long time

How scary is it? Compared to Shazam?

My boy watched Shazam but was not down for the horror elements. Any of that in BA?

 

[Alcibiades]

How scary is it? Compared to Shazam?

My boy watched Shazam but was not down for the horror elements. Any of that in BA?

It's more violent than scary. It's a dark movie in it's own right, but more due to the themes, characters, and violence. It doesn't have the same "creepy" tone that Shazam and many 80's kids movies do.

 

[FunkMiller]

Right, well this settles it…




Not going to help WoM or its legs into second week. 400 million total box office?

 

[DKehoe]

Ugh “movies are art” why can’t they just consume content?

 

[FunkMiller]

Ugh “movies are art” why can’t they just consume content?

These are the smooth brains who keep Hollywood the way it is.

 

[Big Baller]

Could be just me but has the rock achieved anything close to action stars like Arnie or Sly? I mean yes, some of his movies make tonnes at the box office but honestly, where is his Rocky? His Rambo First Blood? His Terminator/T2? His Total Recall? Somehow though he is a massive box office draw basically starring in very average to below average films...

These wrestlers will never get that recognitision

 

[Oof85]

That fucking kid. I hope and pray to God they keep that fucking kid out of any potential sequels. Can't believe how annoying that little shit was.

I don't understand why they forced him in there.

Marvel hasn't really fell back on this cliche barring IM3 so why would they reinvent the wheel and put him in?

It's crazy, almost all the low points in the flick include the kid.

 

[jason10mm]

I don't understand why they forced him in there.

Marvel hasn't really fell back on this cliche barring IM3 so why would they reinvent the wheel and put him in?

You forget the kids in Thor L+T?

 

[Doom85]

Right, well this settles it…




Not going to help WoM or its legs into second week. 400 million total box office?

All those films deserve the same rating in general audience’s eyes? No difference in filmmaking quality between any of them?

 

[Azurro]

Could be just me but has the rock achieved anything close to action stars like Arnie or Sly? I mean yes, some of his movies make tonnes at the box office but honestly, where is his Rocky? His Rambo First Blood? His Terminator/T2? His Total Recall? Somehow though he is a massive box office draw basically starring in very average to below average films...

He makes an ensemble cast much stronger, but I don't think he's enough of a draw by himself.

 

[FunkMiller]

All those films deserve the same rating in general audience’s eyes? No difference in filmmaking quality between any of them?

Every film gets a cinema score. And B+ ain’t great. Don’t know what else to tell you. Indicates word of mouth won’t be all that strong, hence me thinking it’ll struggle to get up to the half billion dollar mark. That is far below expectations for such an important film for WBD.

 

[Doom85]

Every film gets a cinema score. And B+ ain’t great. Don’t know what else to tell you. Indicates word of mouth won’t be all that strong, hence me thinking it’ll struggle to get up to the half billion dollar mark. That is far below expectations for such an important film for WBD.

B+ isn‘t great? The hell kind of grading system are they using? Is Michael Bluth running the website?

(kudos to those who instantly know which Arrested Development episode I’m referencing)

 

[jason10mm]

Every film gets a cinema score. And B+ ain’t great. Don’t know what else to tell you. Indicates word of mouth won’t be all that strong, hence me thinking it’ll struggle to get up to the half billion dollar mark. That is far below expectations for such an important film for WBD.

B+ and half a billion BO seems like a TOTAL WIN for a new character for the DCEU. If they expect more than that then it's just insanity time over there. BA will probably do fairly well in whatever is left of the rental market and will be a nice catch for HBOmax. It gives them a nice POC headliner that, along with Mamoa and Gadot, gives DC a very strong defense to and twitter mob that will decry any straight white male cast in ANYTHING, so they can comfortably keep Supes and Batman traditional. Shazam has a nice organic diverse cast as well. All they really got to do is get over this Flash hurdle and they are back in business as far as I'm concerned. WW84 was trash but it's easy to see why and not do that again.

I'm waiting on Green Lantern. How the hell they keep sleeping on this, with Jon Stewart RIGHT THERE to be the core of any new JL, still baffles me.

 

[FunkMiller]

B+ and half a billion BO seems like a TOTAL WIN for a new character for the DCEU. If they expect more than that then it's just insanity time over there. BA will probably do fairly well in whatever is left of the rental market and will be a nice catch for HBOmax. It gives them a nice POC headliner that, along with Mamoa and Gadot, gives DC a very strong defense to and twitter mob that will decry any straight white male cast in ANYTHING, so they can comfortably keep Supes and Batman traditional. Shazam has a nice organic diverse cast as well. All they really got to do is get over this Flash hurdle and they are back in business as far as I'm concerned. WW84 was trash but it's easy to see why and not do that again.

I'm waiting on Green Lantern. How the hell they keep sleeping on this, with Jon Stewart RIGHT THERE to be the core of any new JL, still baffles me.

Oh no. Half a billion is a disappointment. The film reportedly cost 200 million, with another 100 million for marketing. If it makes 500 million, they get half. That would mean the film lost 50 million.

If it loses money, WBD will be rethinking their plans (yet again).

Saturday looks to be decent for it though, so it may surprise with better legs than expected. If it can cross 600 million (not likely, but if it tracks like Venom you never know) it’ll be regarded a modest success.

 

[TonyK]

It's not a good movie, don't get me wrong, but I enjoyed it from the instant Dwayne Johnson appears on screen until the end. It's like Terminator 2 for kids. My kid loved it. In my opinion it's more entertaining than the last Marvel movies.

 

[BadBurger]

I got out of the theater from seeing this shortly ago. Without giving it too much thought:

- They actually portrayed Adam's abilities as they are in the comics, such as his being able to move faster than human perception. I was figuring they'd depower him to make him somewhat defeatable, as they typically do with many superhero films. He really just destroys human beings and shit like he did in JSA and 52. I loved it

- The Rock is as charismatic as a brutal anti-hero can be, I guess. He did fine. I believed him as Adam after a few minutes of dialog

- Narratively some of the conflicts between characters just don't make sense

- It focused a bit too much on characters aside from Adam, and didn't lean into any of the geopolitical topics it hints at. Typical comic book movie fare in that regards, u it felt like they could have really been onto something here. It feels like the writers read JSA and 52, but didn't realize just how important these things were to Khandaq

- It looks great, no complaints there

- Really weird musical choices for the character

- The kid who plays Amon really cannot act, he can't even narrate dialog well, and he brings down the film whenever he's on screen. The director seems to have grown up in the 90's and really took a liking to the whole teenage boys being hip and radical and skateboarding archetype

- The comic relief does not land. The guy who plays Adrianna's brother is supposed to fill this niche, but he is just awful and completely unfunny

- It's a lot better than what many critics are claiming IMO, but many of the minor criticisms are definitely deserved. This is not some kind of thinker, it's pure popcorn comic book stuff with a darker edge than we're used to seeing. Not since Blade 2 has a comic book movie been nearly this dark IMO

- I wish they hadn't changed the dynamics and makeup of the Tomaz family. The changes lent nothing to the story. In fact it detracts from the spirit of the story from 52

I give it a tepid 2.5 / 5. Could have easily been a 3/5 if they had chosen a better actor for the kid, the comedy landed, and overall the story was just more solid, closer to the source. If you like cape stuff it should entertain.


Edit: thinking about it more, the lightness and humor from Atom Smasher was actually pretty good. The actors who played him and Cyclone had instant chemistry. They tried to make a kind of tutor / goofy student relationship between Atom and Hawkman, and it sort of worked, only we didn't get to see any real character growth from either to justify it.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

I got out of the theater from seeing this shortly ago. Without giving it too much thought:

- They actually portrayed Adam's abilities as they are in the comics, such as his being able to move faster than human perception. I was figuring they'd depower him to make him somewhat defeatable, as they typically do with many superhero films. He really just destroys human beings and shit like he did in JSA and 52. I loved it

- The Rock is as charismatic as a brutal anti-hero can be, I guess. He did fine. I believed him as Adam after a few minutes of dialog

- Narratively some of the conflicts between characters just don't make sense

- It focused a bit too much on characters aside from Adam, and didn't lean into any of the geopolitical topics it hints at. Typical comic book movie fare in that regards, u it felt like they could have really been onto something here. It feels like the writers read JSA and 52, but didn't realize just how important these things were to Khandaq

- It looks great, no complaints there

- Really weird musical choices for the character

- The kid who plays Amon really cannot act, he can't even narrate dialog well, and he brings down the film whenever he's on screen. The director seems to have grown up in the 90's and really took a liking to the whole teenage boys being hip and radical and skateboarding archetype

- The comic relief does not land. The guy who plays Adrianna's brother is supposed to fill this niche, but he is just awful and completely unfunny

- It's a lot better than what many critics are claiming IMO, but many of the minor criticisms are definitely deserved. This is not some kind of thinker, it's pure popcorn comic book stuff with a darker edge than we're used to seeing. Not since Blade 2 has a comic book movie been nearly this dark IMO

- I wish they hadn't changed the dynamics and makeup of the Tomaz family. The changes lent nothing to the story. In fact it detracts from the spirit of the story from 52

I give it a tepid 2.5 / 5. Could have easily been a 3/5 if they had chosen a better actor for the kid, the comedy landed, and overall the story was just more solid, closer to the source. If you like cape stuff it should entertain.

This is spot on.

 

[levyjl1988]

I just saw it in IMAX today. I enjoyed it.
It’s not on the emotional level of Spider-Man No Way Home, but it was an enjoyable movie that you can expect from Dwayne Johnson films.

It’s Waaay better than Eternals, that movie made me fall asleep in the theatre.

 

[BadBurger]

The whole Shazam! connection is a little confusing but oh well. Also, there did seem to be a lot of long moments where Black Adam himself was not around, it almost seemed a bit too focused on JSA but I didn't think that was a bad thing necessarily.

In the comics, 5,000 or so years ago the wizard Shazam chose Teth-Adam as his first champion after seeing how noble of a person he was. He connected him to the pantheon of Egyptian gods, rather than the Greek pantheon like Captain Marvel / Shazam. Teth did a bunch of good and protected Khandaq, but became darker when his enemies murdered his family while he was away. He began murdering his enemies, and eventually decided that the king / pharaoh of Khandaq was too weak willed so he took the throne.

Shazam realized he chose a poor, flawed champion, and (* post retcon) locked him away inside a jeweled scarab for what was supposed to be an eternity. The people of Khandaq believed him to be dead, so they named him "Khem-Adam" in memory, which translates to Black Adam.

* In the earliest comics the wizard transported him into deep, deep space. Adam spent five thousand years flying back to earth at the speed of light where he eventually confronts the modern world and Captain Marvel, or Billy Batson.

 

[jason10mm]

Rewatching Shazam, it's Black Adam the wizard refers to in the beginning, right? His "mistake" that now makes him super cautious?

And that little scene at the end of League of Super Pets....just awesome. Gonna have to go see this.

 

[BadBurger]

Rewatching Shazam, it's Black Adam the wizard refers to in the beginning, right? His "mistake" that now makes him super cautious?

Yes, it should be. But that was written long before this. Perhaps Shazam does still consider his granting of power previously as a mistake, just not in that way (it's spoilers, you have to watch the movie to understand).

 

[Dynomite]

Saw the movie earlier today. I really enjoyed it. Not the most captivating story but it was a spectacle to see.
The nastiness of some critics seems unfounded. It’s definitely not the worst movie I have ever seen. It’s middle ground for some and better depending on what kind of superhero movie you want to see. I hope it does well enough to keep things progressing.

 

[Oof85]

You forget the kids in Thor L+T?

Haven't watched it yet so I was unaware.

It's based off the Gorr arc so I didn't expect there to be children with big parts tbh.

 

[trikster40]

I really enjoyed it. Is it a great movie? No, of course not. Is it fun? Yup. Aside from WAY too much slow-no and a couple of poorly edited scenes, was a fun watch.

Nice credits scene too. Makes me excited for the DCEU moving forward!

 

[Sleepwalker]

I just got home from watching it.i really liked it, they didn't shy away from the nastiness of adam and some of the kills were great. I liked that they didnt nerf him, he was far and away the strongest person in the movie.

The kid was not great and the plot couldve been better. Overall for me its a 7.5/10 and hopefully a succesful character introduction into tbe DCEU (god knows they need it)

 

[Roufianos]

Saw it yesterday, it was dumb fun. Never really a dull moment. Stupid as fuck though.

 

[BadBurger]

More thoughts:

Hawkman is really good in this. That character has undergone some pretty severe retcons over the years so it's hard to keep up, but the writers really chose the best bits of his superficial story to make a cool character. Kind of DCEU's Iron Man in some ways, minus the flawless intellect of Batman. The actor (Aldis Hodge) walks a fine line between techno debonair and warrior that resorts to brute strength and melee. If he sticks around I really look forward to seeing what they do with him.

The actress for Cyclone I have no previous knowledge of but she is instantly likeable. She nailed that role with what little she was given.

Pierce Brosnan steals most of the scenes he's in. Can't say more without spoilers.

In the end this movie, while perfectly fine but not great, could have been so much better with just a few tweaks to the story and recasting Amon. I hope it has legs at the box office because this truly is the same kind of positive injection the DCEU needed ala Aquaman - a film that takes a little known character and elevates them and their supporting cast (Amber Heard aside).

 

[Cocksman]

That kid might be the worst actor I’ve ever seen in anything.

Movie was a pretty fun watch . Definitely enjoyed it more than the last few marvel outings .

I’m down to watch Black Adam and Superman have a DBZ battle .