This hero wears black: A review of 'Black Adam'

So let’s just say that superhero flicks should be considered the greenhouse gasses of movies. And the Marvel/DC movie version of carbon offset credits need to be a thing. For every one of these types of movies, the studio should fund two indie movies. Everyone wins.

“Black Adam” is set in the country of Kahndaq, a fictional Middle Eastern nation oppressed by a collection of mercenary goons. It’s a very shallow metaphor for exploitation and imperialism in resource rich Arab nations. In this case the resource is not oil, but a magical material called eternium. (Must… resist… temptation to make fun of silly MacGuffin in comic book movie.)

You see, this powerful metal is indestructible and imbues users with incredible powers, and sets the stage for the protagonist’s origin story. Stuff happens back at the dawn of civilization, circa 2600 B.C.E., and there is a major set-piece, er, I mean, battle between good and evil. The titular character goes into stasis as a result of the events.

Fast-forward a few millenia, and we are in modern day Kahndaq and that ancient conflict gets an update. Oppressors still keep a yoke over the nation. Adam wakes up and garners the not-so welcome attention of some superheroes called the Justice Society of America.

There are a couple of interesting, familiar-seeming characters in the JSA, including Dr. Fate who uses a unique artifact to wield magic, Atom Smasher who can grow into a giant and Hawkman, who you might surmise has the wings of a bird and can fly.

Now, this may seem a bit derivative; these heroes might feel like Amazon-brand versions of Dr. Strange, Antman (giant setting) and Falcon from the Marvel side of Geek Street. And the aforementioned eternium may or may not sound a lot like vibranium or adamantium in the periodic table of B.S. elements.

But it is my job to inform you that, in fact, the JSA actually preceded all those characters and fake metals. They first splashed onto comic books in the 1940s before Marvel was a spare thought in Stan Lee’s brain. (This PSA for JSA brought to you by “I am such a dork.”)

Under the confident direction of Jaume Collet-Serra (“Jungle Cruise”), “Black Adam” does what it’s supposed to in its compact two-hour running time. The goal is to set the stage for future installments and replace the Zach Snyder main throughline of DC Extended Universe (the movie nom de guerre of DC comics).

I’m not sure if this is a feature or a bug for you, moviegoer, but there is a significant body count generally not found in these types of movies. The PG-13 rating was definitely dancing on the R-rated border.

Credit is deserved to the better writing than a CGI spectacle deserves by Adam Sztykiel (“Scoob!”), Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani (the latter two being part of the writing team behind the critically acclaimed “The Mauritanian”).

At this point in his career, Dwayne Johnson has reached peak Tom Cruise level. You know when you go into a movie headlined by The Rock (or Tom), you’re going to be fully entertained. We’re not slapping down our $20 for the art house, indie and the self-congratulatory auteurism of Scorsese or Malick.

Johnson’s second turn as a superhero (yes, animated Superpets are superheroes, too) has been a long time coming. It’s no small wonder he’s held out for so long. This foray is good but not great, but he’ll have ample opportunities to work on improvement. Get the greenscrenes and offset credits ready.