Newest among the DC Superhero crew is Teth-Adam, an Egyptian slave-cum-immortal who is even angrier all the time than Batman.  Summoned back into action after a five thousand year nap, Teth-Adam bends the rules about being a superhero and finds himself pursued by members of the Justice League.  Mayhem ensues.

Jaume Collet-Serra’s film is visually vibrant (unlike The Batman) and populated with characters of interest, even if all they ever talk about is how heroes should act and behave. I cannot recall another film of this sort where the characters talk, talk and talk some more about the nature of heroism.  If Warner Bros. / New Line had cut twenty minutes of this portentous dialogue we might have had an exciting movie to watch.  The convoluted plot has to do with Egyptian god powers and greedy people in the country of Khandaq, a choice that makes it of less interest to those of us who would prefer plots with contemporary meaning.  But Dwayne Johnson is muscular and virile as the title guy and the supporting cast includes Aldis Hodge, Pierce Brosnan and Sarah Shahi, so interest is fairly well maintained.  It’s too bad that the other supporting characters aren’t given much of anything to do.

As someone who just doesn’t care much about these superhero flicks I certainly did not adore this adventure.  But it is generally compelling.  I liked the manner in which Teth-Adam flies around (it looks quite natural), while the story nicely captures his gradual personality change.  I also appreciated how Teth-Adam’s background story is gradually revealed until it finally makes perfect sense why he is the way he is.  And I did love the very last scene, when Black Adam (he finally changes his name) is visited by another face we all recognize.  I was bored some of the time, but that’s just me in a superhero movie, especially a talky one, which this is.  ☆ ☆.  29 November 2022.