Black Adam - How to Fail at an Origin Movie | Anatomy of a Failure 

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We are experiencing very weird times. We have the technology to make beautifully stunning movies, yet we are experiencing a cinematic drought of good storytelling.

The rock is so obsessed with public persona. He completely changed the point of the character. His ego needed this

Just calling the main character "the Rock" is the most honest critique I've ever heard

Pierce Brosnan killed it. He took a risk and the movie may not have done well, but his scenes were fantastic.

I think the main issue the movie had is making Black Adam a hero, when he is most often a villain. His backstory was even changed from vengeful uncle to loving father. He should have been depicted as a ruthless and vengeful tyrant that also happens to be the best choice for Kahndaq, similar to Doom. It at least would have left room for a redemption story arc in a future movie rather than having him give up halfway into his first movie.

To address the elephant in the room, there's also the problem of a Super-Hero Origin movie about a character that isn't a Hero. Black Adam is a villain. There are times when he fought against other villains, but it wasn't to save anyone ... it's because their plans interfered with his own.

For me I felt that a big part of the problem was that he was too strong. It’s like bullying around characters in easy mode. It gets boring when there’s no challenge

i actually loved how they showed the power and pure speed that black adam has but what made me leave the cinema early is that there wasn't really a story and it just felt more like a power showcase, there wasn't any highstake thing that made me care, there was a massive lack in drama and just a lot of powers and action but nothing that linked them to something dramatic which lead to an empty viewing experience.

I loved the part where black Adam shouts "its time to get BLACKED" really got me in the feels

This movie was the Rock's passion project from nearly 20 years ago. I'm glad the dude finally managed to make his dream a reality but the reality is that his project came about 20 years too late.

The problem with ticket sales for this movie is: -That nobody knew what story the movie wanted to tell. -Bad trailer and Advertisment. -Previlus DCU failures. -And that is was another Shazam movie. -And that A charismatic Actor are going to play an on screen dead character when it comes to charisma.

You forgot to mention that all the characters were extremely one dimensional and that the exposition was given through word vomiting between the fight scenes without any emotional hint from the characters to show what effect the event had on them

This movie just made me miss when the Rock played villains. If allowed to be evil for a substantial part of the movie, it would've been much better. He was outstanding as villains in Doom, Get Smart, and even in Pain and Gain if you count that... AND in his wrestling career.

I didn’t know i wanted to see Pierce as a superhero, but I really liked him as Dr Fate. He and Aldis as Hawkman stole the show completely. I’d genuinely love to see a show spun off of seeing those two’s history and adventures together leading up to this movie.

Wow you put it exactly into words! I liked the movie but I felt something was missing and it was Black Adam’s motivation. There was nothing to accomplish until that demon showed up which only happens until the third act. Very well done!

this just reaffirms that Spiderman was the peak of superhero movies

I think a lot of people are also exhausted with the antihero trope at this point. It was weird to me how hard this movie’s marketing leaned into the “I’m not like other g̶i̶r̶l̶s̶ superheroes” when we’ve seen the troubled antihero thing pretty much done to death in the past ten years.

I couldn't stop laughing as soon as the rock started talking in an American accent while every other actor is actually trying and put on a "Kandaak accent".

16:41 That’s actually a really good idea. Ishmael could be like a darker version of Suzaku Kurarugi from Code Geass. Someone joining the side of Intergang to get the crown back and save his people, but wanting to burn down everything else along the way. Basically make him Suzaku with the motivation of Lelouch. Sorry, I’ve been watching a lot of Code Geass.

I love your take on how to improve the villain. Giving villains backstories and believable reasons for their actions enhances the movie so much more. Thats what has separated some of the great Marvel movies (Thor 3) from the bad ones (Thor 2).

I am honestly worried about the state of Pierce Brosnan's back after he carried the Rock's movie for him.

Seeing Pierce Brosnan playing Dr. Fate was not something I knew I needed

I never realized that till you compared all the shots they literally just took a piece from every movie and combined it in one and thought nobody would catch on lmao Like you said it's not bad it's just all been done before to death an nothing 2 make it stand out on its own basically playing it safe

well technically both Hawkman and Doctor Fate were created earlier than the Falcon and Doctor Strange... in the comics

Weird. This ‘The Rock’ isn’t in the jungle.

The special part of Black Adam’s character is that he’s singular focused in leading Khandaq his way. No humor, no negotiating he just does it his way. You can’t really make that a thing in his own origin movie because Hollywood doesn’t believe in villain driven stories

As I watched it I found myself subtly wishing for it to end, starting to glaze over and think of other things. Not what you want your audience to feel i’d imagine

The ending quote fits very well. The lack of JSA and not vibranium in previous movies of the DCEU makes the world building felt like just an excuse to fight black adam.

Filmento puts his money where his mouth is. While talking about bad writing, he explains what good writing is and uses those tools for good writing to seamlessly transition to an ad for manscaped. Film perfection

As soon as I saw the movie, I knew Filmento was gonna criticise how Black Adam was a passive character that tagged along and pushed the plot. I've clearly learned a lot on your videos.

Hey I really enjoyed that, and as an aspiring writer, I found this very instructive. Started watching for the humor - stayed for the wisdom. Thanks for this!

It's basically a video game movie of black adam but with the Rock but even then some video games tell some of the craziest legendary stories!

There's a lot of really good bits and pieces in Black Adam, but you're right that the villain was extremely weak. The final fight scene where the possessed Ishmael is trying to sit on the ancient throne of Khandaq is kinda goofy because they never set up why he had to sit on the throne, or what would happen if he did. It's just "Hey, don't let him reach the chair because reasons!"

From all the "Failed" movies on this channel this year, black adam definetly was the best one. I actually enjoyed it but it could have been way more

The most interesting thing in this movie for me was 4:54. Wondering who all the other creatures were that needed such high tech prisons

Your product placements are the best I have ever seen in any content creator. I live for them.

For your consideration: the main villain of the Black Adam origin should have been the wizard(s). Black Adam would be a tragic hero who, initially started out good, winning the wizards’ favor, but then becoming corrupt with power, force the wizards to fight him. He manages to kill most of them before the lone wizard (who would eventually be the one who picks Billy) manages to seal him away. JUST LIKE IT SAID IN THE SHAZAM MOVIE!!! You can keep the scenes of loss of family as it parallels Billy’s struggle but shows what he COULD have been had he used his powers for evil. Finally, movie would end with him being awakened in modern day. So kinda like the first Capt America movie. Heck, the movie we got should have been the second Black Adam movie! Starting off with him being reawakened and how he grows to be solely Kandaq’s protector. Then bring out Superman at the end when everyone thinks it’ll be Shazam or something. So yeah, BA 1 should have established him as Billy’s dark potential. BA 2 would have shown him rediscovering his heart for his people and becoming a protector.

They could've made this as a villain movie for Black Adam instead of reluctant Hero. Or Anti-hero. Black Adam is actually quite motived to protect his kingdom. They really should've stuck with that.

Scenes with Dr. Fate were the only scenes which invloved acting and were watchable. Everything else felt like a mashup of different movies.

most seamless transition into an ad ive ever seen in my life props to you

I didn’t hate Black Adam, if anything, I thought it was good in a way. Better than current Marvel movies if you ask me

Black Adam is oddly super fast paced. Things happen because they were supposed to happen and I'm just starring at the movie and asking myself WTF is going on? 🤣

Integrating Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker/Spiderman randomly in the video including the sponsorship made the video extra good lol.

There was an animated DC movie with Superman and Shazam (Captain Marvel) against Black Adam, and despite that fact that it was pretty much all fight, it was actually pretty good.

in the trailer they say "I was a slave until I died. My son died to save me" but throughout the movie you dont hear about a son until near the end of the film and I was so very confused xD the trailer made me expect something totally different

Filmento, not sure if you’ll see this but thank you so much for making these videos. As an aspiring movie writer, your videos have helped so much with a script I’ve written for a Film & Media class i’m in: I’ve learned what to do with Film Perfection and just as much with Anatomy of a Failure. Your comedy is also gold and that’s what lead me to your channel in the first place. If it wasn’t for these videos, I might not have developed such a passion for writing for film. Thank you.

Your setups for your ad-placements are beyond masterful.

😂😂😂this was funny as hell and the editing is amazing subscribed

I think they really needed to keep us in the dark about what happened to his kid since they literally kept showing his death in the trailers and yet the movie kept trying to make it out to be a hidden twist.

It’s so unfortunate that this movie didn’t do better because even with a few things in it that I hated, I really had a lot of fun watching it

That transition into the ad was so seamless that I didn't even see it coming until it became solely about the trimmer

I love how subtle you were at sneaking another sponsorship moment in the middle of the video, took me like 15 seconds in to notice.

If there's marvel fatigue. There's also The Rock fatigue.

It would be more accurate to call Dr. Strange a copy of Dr. Fate. Dr. Fate first appeared in 1940. Dr. Strange debuted in 1963.

He ALWAYS gets me with these seamless ad transitions.

I always thought that the villain was underutilized. Like his story as you said could have been so much more. Maybe after decades of subjugation the people of kandaq developed a strong feeling of camaraderie, forgetting a past long gone and some youngsters even started a freedom force. The villain joined the ranks immediately and throughout the years developed strong relationships with all the people of Kandaq until he discovered the truth. His people were the oppressor thousands of years ago. He suddenly became paranoid of being discovered, that all the friends he made would backstab him if they knew the truth, so he killed all the people that knew about the past and became the head of the freedom force. Years go by and they are almost kicking the inter gang out their borders but he needs something more, so they look for the tomb of the hero of Kandaq were it is rumored that a super weapon is hidden. So he calls archeologist girl and her team and they delve together in the tomb. In the tomb they see carvings in the wall and discover the true history. The villain go full paranoid mode and tries to kill all the “witnesses”, he is obviously paranoid and archeologist girl says that nobody cares anymore about what happened thousand of years ago. The villains seems to accept her words, but he also can’t let her run after she saw him kill all those people. In the last second she summons black Adam and he knows about him and his forefathers, he remembers what they did to him and his son, so black Adam goes in a rampage and kills all the freedom forces in the tomb. Now the villain’s paranoia is proven right, some people remember what his people did and they want revenge, but he also knows that if he kills all those who know he will still be the leader that almost freed Kandaq, so the villain has to kill Black Adam because he is a vestige of a past long gone and Black Adam wants to commit a holocaust and kill all the descendants of that king.

Black Adam is the perfect example of when you go all in on visuals and half ass the actual story.

I actually really enjoyed Black Adam, though it felt more to me like a product than a movie. Still, a pretty passable product

Quality video with an even more quality ad. You got my subscription friend lol

A point that I've never seen brought up. How the hell did NotNickFury know Black Adumb was awakened? It's like she told Hawk Man to assemble a team to be ready for him as soon as he awoke. I dunno. I thought maybe her goal was to get the crown and the team was there in case BA was accidentally activated.

Just found your channel while looking up reviews for Black Adam. I love the fact you are able to articulate what so many feel but don't know how to put into words.

This just reminds me we need a take on Zatanna and how she has her dad "borrowed" to become doctor fate forever. That was one of the most emotional parts of DC for me, where she says goodbye to her dad and is only allowed to speak to him once a year. Sounds like a job for Pierce.

Got literal GOOSEBUMPS at 3:41 when "Electrifying" came on. 🔥🔥🔥

I love the shade Filmento constantly throws at the Synder fans.

Black Adam's theme (music) is pretty good. Probably could be a more iconic hero theme if the movie actually made people care about him

The Rock is not an actor. He is always just "The Rock" is every movie he's in.

0:55 okay why did the rap verse slap so hard with that scene

First time to this channel. That was a very well put together breakdown of why the film was lacking. That last part about the audience knowing it was fake really resonated

Hoping James Gunn would fix this mess of a franchise born out of reckless decisions, overspent money, and obvious source material divergences for the sake of obvious shock value.

It's astonishing how organically you fit the ad into the point you're making into these videos lmao Great stuff

I was listening to this in the background and is it just me or was the transition to the ad so smooth ya forgot?

I was SO sad this movie did not do as well as I thought it would, how could this movie ever go wrong, right? You explained it perfectly, well done.

Movies like these give me the confidence to keep going with my graphic novels, knowing that I can probably come up with better stories than these Hollywood writers.

You killed me with that dr strange vs dr fate , I still can't beleived they killed off fates character that was a huge L

Your videos are always are fun to watch

This the only channel I watch where I suddenly realize that Im in the middle of an ad read! Good job sir!

I wonder if it is possible to write a passive main character but still have the story be about them, unlike the Great Gatsby where the "main character" is passive but only a spectator to someone else's story.

DC still struggling to get their Cinematic Universe off the ground is just sad. FFS even Sonic the Hedgehog has it figured out. Here's what you do. You make a few solid humble solo movies. Keep doing that. Then when you're three to four movies in, have a team up movie as a payoff. Or go all in with the lore if you want like how Sonic is doing by bringing in Shadow. It's simple. It's called a slow burn. Everyone wants what Marvel Studios has, but no one other than Paramount, is willing to do what Marvel did.

Smooth ad here. I wasn't looking at the screen while listening, and I didn't realize exactly when the ad started.

Excellent points

I think he missed the mark a bit with the fact that the clueless nature of Black Adam is intentional. He's a man from a long passed time adjusting to modern society, and also holds depth in relation to his powers and being. *S P O I L E R* He's a god only from a transfer of power from his son who was granted that power before. He sees himself as a hollow failure in the shadow of his son, who was the champion and savior of his people in Kandaq. He eventually gains purpose in fulfilling that mantle as protector through the side characters he interacts with.

I agree that I prefer movies led by characters that have agency but I thought the main objective of his character was to find his purpose so it didn't really bother me that he was on a journey from event to event trying to figure out his way.

I was halfway through the advert before I realised what you were doing. Well done.

14:10 that part got me with that Street Fighters FX 🤣

I still liked the movie but i do thing the villain was bad tho i wish he was a good villain but ultimately black Adam is how not to make a villain but for me i liked how tension was building throughout the movie by dr fate seeing the future and thinking that if they imprison black adam everything would be fine again but then ultimately seeing the same future again and him realising they are fucked without black adam

The way Filmento seamlessly puts the ad into the story as an example for the plot just gives him validity that he knows what he's talking about

I agree! I so wanted to enjoy this! I actually fell asleep halfway through in the theater and when I woke up about 20 minutes later, I was completely lost. I did, however, enjoy seeing a lot of the moves that are in Injustice 2, the game, and see them in film! As a regular player of that game, seeing that on the big screen was super awesome! Dr. Fate was perfect!!

Incredible analysis

I love when horror directors make superhero movies Jaume Collet-Serra is amazing

Man, your Willem Dafoe cut-ins make me want to watch the latest spiderman movie again. Holy smokes is Willem an amazing actor

Bravo, you nailed it. Pretty much, I've got to agree with everything you said. I feel like whomever is in charge of DC at WB are a bunch of nimrods who have only made it to their current positions because of lying, backstabbing, and general malpractice. They are by far and away the worst at "Hey! This is going to be our cashcow! I've gotten to where I am because I'm the best at what I do, and they need to hear what I've got to say." Only this sentiment gets said by like 5 different higher ups, all with conflicting ideas, and the end result is a disgusting mess. Time and time again, this has been proven. The one time they did otherwise was when they let James Gunn man his own creative vision on The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. Two amazing ideas, done very, very well. But with a movie expected to make a goldmine, they just think, "Well there's the Rock, he prints money. No way we can screw this up... and they SCREW IT UP!!" Even with the plot, the acting, and the characters in place; this could and should have been a very successful movie. I don't know why origin movies don't spend more time on the actual origin. There's always rushing to action. Just focus on the origin. If at the beginning of the movie they showed the "revelation" they came to at the end. I think it would have been a much better movie. They could have shown right away that Black Adam was wronged, and just very angry, and has every right to be. He comes from a different time when women were treated terrible. I mean, there is a LOT there to work with why he could be a complex character. And if they just kept authentic it could have worked really well. And everything you said about the end just seems way better. I'm already a fan of that, and I could tell you put ZERO effort into it. These guys had months and millions and screwed the pooch. It's amazing how "Too many cooks in the kitchen." Keeps being a problem time and time again. I think this is the only reason the Snyderverse people get so upset. They're ruining these movies. If a movie sucks, then I think we can all agree to move on (I put Shazam in that category, by the way, yet they make a sequel, another infuriating development). But let's say they destroy the Justice League, then they release a Snydercut, which is amazing (long, but amazing), well at that point just finish the vision. Not asking for much. You can let James Gunn do his own thing, nobody is saying he shouldn't. But if something is good, just do it. Not everything has to be connected. WB is trying to be Marvel. But let's face it, after End Game, it's kind of drawn out and unnecessary. Nobody needs all these movies to be connected and all these extra phases and blah blah blah. It's just too much. Whatever happened to make Batman, make Spiderman, and that's good enough. WB used to be the best at that. Now they're chasing crap from Marvel, which is already crap. Make a damn movie, and stay out of its way. Trust the people that you pay. Pretty simple. Rant over.

one of the best sponsor ads of all time

pls do Wakanda Forever failure next what a hot mass that movie was

Much respect to Dwayne Johnson for everything that he's accomplished in his career, as well as his physique but maaan...can Hollywood just stop casting him? I roll my eyes every time he's announced in a movie and we know dang well that he's just going to play The Rock for the seven hundredth time. He has the acting range for wrestling and that's it...

Imagine if Dr. Doom got an Origin Movie & it was about feeling sorry for the guy. 💀

I agree, almost every scene in Black Adam felt familiar, like I have seen this somewhere before

I love the analysis in this video! That being said, the only nitpick I have was when you said “…and we have a Dr Strange copy called Dr Fate.” Since, Doctor Fate came before 20 years before Doctor Strange.

I've enjoyed your content for a long time now and still do. I just wanna thank you for adding official subtitles! It's so helpful for people with hearing impairments and foreign speakers! 🌻

@ 3:40 there,that was epic editing.