Ben Franklin said it best, “In this world, nothing is certain except death, taxes, and a superhero movie coming out every month.” I may have got that quote wrong, but it’s true. We live in the time of Superhero movies. And we’ll stay in this time until they no longer make money. As a long-standing fan of the superhero genre, I don’t mind the movies as long as they’re good. There have been some stinkers, but mostly they’ve been entertaining.
Superhero movies take me back to my days of being home sick from school. Like many other latchkey kids in the 80s, if I was sick, it meant being home alone. And since I was sick a lot growing up, I was home alone a lot with the TV and SpaghettiOs as my babysitter. My mom would buy me a stack of comic books to keep me company, which is where my love of all things superhero related began.
Duane “The Rock” Johnson grew up a superhero fan as well. The two of us have a lot in common. His favorite comic book was Black Adam. In the beginning, Black Adam was a villain and mostly fought Captain Marvel, who later became known as SHAZAM. Black Adam is one of the most powerful heroes/villains in the DC Universe. In most comic books, the bad guy is subdued and imprisoned. In Black Adam’s world, he kills the bad guys without remorse.
Black Adam became a passion project for The Rock and it took him over 15 years to get the movie on the big screen. If you’ve watched any of The Rock’s Instagram stories, you can see how hard he has worked to get the film made. I cared little about Black Adam when I was growing up and the character was more of a bad guy back then. When The Rock announced the movie, I still wasn’t excited. Then, after seeing one of my favorite characters, Hawkman in the trailer, I got a little excited. After watching a few more previews and seeing The Rock’s enthusiasm for the film, my anticipation rose.
Like Shazam, Black Adam gets his power by uttering the word, “Shazam!” After saying the word, he has increased strength, can fly, shoot lighting out of his hands, and is invincible. He was born a slave during a time that predates Rome and even the Pyramids in Egypt. Most heroes receive power and choose to protect. When Black Adam received his power, he used his power for revenge. He was imprisoned in a tomb by the Gods and was resurrected during modern times. An ancient power that lives within a crown is also resurrected, and that’s where the main plot of the story focuses. I’ll leave it there to not spoil the movie.
Let’s get to why you’re reading this post; Is Black Adam appropriate for Kids?
As stated earlier, Black Adam isn’t into saving everyone. He kills the bad guys at will. I estimated he kills about two to three hundred people in this movie. Some deaths are quite gruesome. There’s blood splatter and some people are cooked to death by his lightning. There’s little swearing, but the violence is where the movie gets its PG-13 rating. Even with the high body count, it’s not that much more violent than most of the recent superhero movies.
Breaking it down:
Violence: A lot.
Swearing: “Shit” and “Ass” are said a few times.
Sex: None.
Scary scenes: There is a demon-like character that some kids might find scary. There’s also a scene with zombie-like characters. (I don’t know what they’re called.)
Gore: There’s blood, people are ripped in half, arms torn off, and bad guys burned alive.
Most parents already decide if they are going to take their kids to see a Marvel or DC movie before the first reviews are in. Parents are the ultimate decider of what’s appropriate for their kids. Kids have different sensibilities, so I will not say if Black Adam is right for your kids. If they’ve seen other Marvel and DC movies, they should be fine with this movie. My 10-year-old can handle watching Black Adam, but my 7-year-old isn’t ready yet.
The movie entertained me, and it’s worth seeing on the big screen. The Rock is fantastic as Black Adam and the ensemble cast do a great job at holding their own. I’m sure we’ll see a lot more of Black Adam on the screen for years to come.
There is a mid-credit scene you’ll want to stick around for. You can head home after.