It has been 5,000 years since Teth Adam (Dwayne Johnson) became a demi-god and was imprisoned for misusing his powers. When Adrianna (Sarah Shahi) frees him from his tomb, the anti-hero must learn how to cooperate with the good guys if it means saving the world.

What worked for me here was Johnson’s performance as our protagonist – or antagonist – ? I thought he was perfect for the role. He had the look and the right attitude, though I wish we could have seen him grow more throughout the course of the film. Origin stories never give us enough time for that. I also liked the inclusion of the Justice Society. The casting for Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan) and Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) were genius, however, Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) and Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) were very one dimensional and didn’t get nearly enough screen time. It was as if their characters were an afterthought more than anything else.

I must admit that for once the CGI effects were impressive. This franchise is notorious for having struggled in that department in the past so I am glad that they are getting better. Not only that, but I really liked the soundtrack choices too.

Unfortunately that’s about it as far as my enjoyment goes. In true DC style, it seemed like the story took ages to get going. I didn’t find the script to be particularly groundbreaking and the scenes that didn’t involve any action were pretty lacklustre. Plus, the jokes, few as they were, did not make me laugh at all.

I heard many claim this was a turning point for the DC universe. While I want to agree with them, I still think that a lot of work needs to be done. Was it the worst I’ve seen out of the bunch? No, it wasn’t. And while I have always and will continue to defend DC to my dying day, there was that spark missing for me with Black Adam that had me yearning for more.

Rating: ♥♥.5