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BLACK ADAM

Name: BLACK ADAM
Item: BLACK ADAM
Author: Gaby Gaduh

"Heroic Conflicts"

Content: -2 Extreme caution for older teenagers and adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

BLACK ADAM stars Dwayne Johnson in the title role. Thousands of years ago, a council of wizards gave Teth Adam mighty powers to stop an evil king from obtaining demonic magic and oppressing the people of Kahndaq. However, Adam used his powers for revenge, so the council imprisoned him. Now, 5,000 years later, he’s been freed, but the Justice Society considers him a threat to world peace and stability. Adam refuses to surrender to four superheroes from the Society, led by Hawkman and Dr. Fate. However, when a criminal tries to obtain the crown that would have given the ancient evil king demonic powers, Adam joins the superheroes to stop him.

BLACK ADAM has exciting action scenes and is filled with jeopardy. Dwayne Johnson delivers a strong performance as the title character. However, a few of the supporting characters and players are not as strong. Also, BLACK ADAM has mixed positive and negative worldview content with mixed pagan, moral, occult, redemptive messages. It also has lots of intense action violence and about 15 “h” and “s” obscenities. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises strong caution.

Content:

(PaPa, FR, OO, BB, PP, C, LL, VV, N, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Strong mixed pagan worldview with several polytheistic references to “gods” and talk about Fate, some stronger references to magic that include a “council of wizards” who imbue superpowers to chosen human “heroes” in history using the magical word “Shazam!” (which is the name of the main wizard), and there’s a superhero named “Dr. Fate” who has mystical powers through using a magical helmet (though he doesn’t cast any “spells” in the movie like the character does in the comic books), mixed with some strong positive moral elements regarding protecting human life, fighting demonic evil (the “heroes” are trying to find and hide an evil crown made from “Eternium” jewels that gives the wearer the power of six demons), strong mother-son and father-son themes, and strong content promoting freedom (a song during the end credits has lyrics about fighting to take back your freedom “or die in vain,” (a phrase that may remind some of the American Founding Father Patrick Henry’s great line, “Give me liberty or give me death”), plus there are two or three redemptive examples of sacrifice, one of which is similar to Jesus Christ’s aphorism that there’s no greater love than someone who sacrifices himself for his friends

Foul Language:

21 obscenities (including some “s” and “h” words, two a** words, and one “d” word) but no profanities

Violence:

Strong, sometimes intense, action violence such as villain stabs a man in the stomach, lots of fighting and punching between heroes and villains, villains shoot guns and missiles at superheroes, an evil king threatens to kill a boy for standing up to him, small army of mercenary soldiers tries to kill a being with superpowers, but they are pretty powerless against him, and he destroys them with their own weapons and by tossing around their vehicles and flying machines like toys, lots of explosions, title character hits other characters with lightning bolt charges, people fall and their bodies crash into walls and other objects, villain points gun at teenager’s head

Sex:

No sex

Nudity:

Upper male nudity in scenes of ancient slavery in a fictional country

Alcohol Use:

No alcohol use

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Villain kidnaps boy and threatens to kill him if the boy’s mother doesn’t hand over a bejeweled crown with evil demonic powers.

More Detail:

BLACK ADAM stars Dwayne Johnson as a man with superpowers given to him by a council of wizards, who’s released after 5,000 years of being imprisoned in a fictional country, and who reluctantly joins a group of four superheroes from the Justice Society to stop a criminal from wielding a 5,000-year-old magical crown with demonic powers. BLACK ADAM has exciting action scenes, is filled with jeopardy and includes strong performances by Dwayne Johnson, Pierce Brosnan and Aldis Hodge, but a few of the supporting players and characters are lackluster, and the movie has mixed positive and negative worldview content, lots of action violence and about 15 “h” and “s” obscenities.

The movie opens 5,000 years ago in the fictional Middle Eastern kingdom of Kahndaq. The evil king has enslaved the people, making them mine for jewels of Eternium. The king wants to fashion a magical crown of such jewels to obtain the power of six demons. However, an ancient council of wizards grants a rebellious slave named Teth Adam the almighty powers of Shazam, the Wisdom of Solomon, the Strength of Hercules, the Stamina of Atlas, the Power of Zeus, the Courage of Achilles, and the Speed of the god Mercury. However, Adam used his powers for revenge, so the council imprisoned him in the “Rock of Eternity.”

Cut to 5,000 years later. Kahndaq is now ruled by a global criminal group called Intergang. They’re searching for the demonic crown, but a patriotic archeologist named Adriana thinks she’s found the key to the crown’s location. She wants to find the crown before Intergang does and hide it so no one can use it.

However, some Intergang mercenaries follow Adriana to the crown’s underground mountain location. Just when she and her friend, Ishmael, find the crown, the mercenaries attack them. Adriana is able to evade them for a minute or two, but they close in on her, and she reads an inscription on the floor that releases Teth Adam from his prison. The mercenaries start to fire on Adam, but he proceeds to smash them as well as a small Intergang army that shows up outside.

During the fight, however, a weapon made from Eternium knocks Teth Adam unconscious. The next thing he knows, he wakes up lying on a bed with Adriana’s son, Amon, staring at him. Smashing through the bedroom wall, Adam wants to know where he is. Adriana tells him and says he’s the hero their people have been wanting. “I’m no hero,” he replies.

Meanwhile, the world is awash with the news of Black Adam’s re-emergence. Carter Hall, aka Hawkman, summons three members of the Justice Society, Dr. Fate, Cyclone and Atom Smasher, to travel to Kahndaq and restore peace by capturing Adam. Adam refuses to surrender, however, and he has the support of Adriana and the people. The four superheroes decide to trick Adam into saying the magical word, “Shazam.” A fight ensues, but it attracts the attention of Intergang’s forces.

[SPOILERS FOLLOW] Eventually, Adriana’s friend, Ishmael, turns out to be a bad guy. He kidnaps her son, to force her to give him the evil crown with demonic superpowers. Black Adam joins the four Justice Society superheroes to help Adriana and stop Ishmael.

BLACK ADAM has lots of exciting action scenes and is filled with jeopardy. Dwayne Johnson delivers a strong performance as the title character. He’s strongly supported by Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate, Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Sarah Shahi as Adriana, and Bodhi Sabongui as her son. A few of the other characters and players, however, are not so strong.

BLACK ADAM has a mixed pagan worldview with mixed messages. This causes some confusion over the values and lessons the movie is promoting. For example, the movie has some false religion and occultism. Thus, there are several references to gods, some talk about Fate and references to magic. The character of Dr. Fate has mystical powers derived from a magical helmet. In the DC comic books, he’s similar to Marvel’s occult Dr. Strange character and can cast spells. However, the good news is his character casts no spells in this movie.

On the positive side, BLACK ADAM has some strong moral content. For example, the heroes team up to fight a villain who wants to use demonic powers. They never want to take the evil crown for their own use. Also, during the movie, Hawkman repeatedly tries to convince Black Adam not to kill the villain’s henchmen. Adam agrees – for a while. BLACK ADAM also has a strong theme promoting freedom. The people of Khandaq want freedom, and they think Black Adam can help them take back their freedom. Finally, there’s an overt theme of sacrifice in BLACK ADAM. In fact, the plot has two or three redemptive examples of sacrifice. This theme of sacrifice gives Black Adam and Hawkman a third way to look at what makes a hero.

In addition to its mixed philosophical, spiritual and moral content, BLACK ADAM has lots of intense action violence and about 20 obscenities. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises strong caution.

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What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.