Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson’s Black Adam has recorded a 90% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is DC's best outing since Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Night trilogy at 94%.
Black Adam’s critics gave the movie mixed reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the DCEU film was applauded by audiences who were taken with Johnson’s performance, along with the fight sequences and visual effects. As a result, Black Adam is enjoying a 90% aggregate rating from more than 2,500 verified audience members. However, critics gave it a meager 41% rating, which is the lowest Rotten Tomatoes rating for a DC movie since Joss Whedon's Justice League film.
Black Adam’s positive audience reviews came in various forms. While some praised the movie for being a fun DC film, some enjoyed the theme of conquering evil with force rather than good. Some other fans simply enjoyed seeing Black Adam on the big screen despite the many flaws the movie’s critics mentioned.
Johnson took to his social media to appreciate the fans’ love for his film and their rating. He tweeted, "This phenomenal 90% AUDIENCE SCORE for Black Adam is so gratifying for so many reasons. 15 years. THANK YOU for all so much for all the love and support. In the end, the only thing that matters to me is sending the people home happy. And that’s what I’ll always fight for."
This phenomenal 90% AUDIENCE SCORE for #BlackAdam is so gratifying for so many reasons.
15 years
THANK YOU for all so much for all the love and support 🙏🏾🌎🖤
In the end, the only thing that matters to me is sending the people home happy.
And that’s what I’ll always fight for.
⚡️ pic.twitter.com/3fm0GrVSQU— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) October 23, 2022
Audience and critic scores have differed several times in the past, but Black Adam is still an anomaly as it represents the largest disparity between the two ratings in DCEU history. For comparison, Suicide Squad is DC’s worst critic-rated film at 26% rating, then Batman vs Superman at 29%, and Justice League at 39%. The audience scores for these movies were 58%, 63%, and 68% respectively. These movies have large disparities between audience and critics ratings. However, they are nowhere near the disparity that Black Adam boasts.
For what it's worth, Black Adam has been a commercial success. The Johnson-led superhero film opened to $26.8 million domestically at the Box Office on its opening day. This figure is the biggest opening day gross for a Johnson-helmed movie. Black Adam closed its first weekend with an estimated $67 million domestically and more than $140 million globally.
Johnson has confirmed that Black Adam will return in a response to fans on Twitter. In addition, the 50-year-old title character promised that Pierce Brosnan’s Dr. Fate will return in future movies. Many fans loved the character, with some going as far as saying he stole the show. Johnson has also teased run-ins with other superheroes in the DCEU, including Shazam and Superman.
When all of these are taken into account, it's clear there is a bright future for Black Adam.
Thank you so much.
We’re working on “what’s next” as I type this 👊🏾
Exciting times.
Stay tuned. #BLACKADAM https://t.co/d5CinrvF1p— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) October 23, 2022
Black Adam was released in theaters on October 21 and is on track to be DC's best outing this year. More importantly, the latest DCEU film brought back Henry Cavill as Superman in a move that should guarantee a brighter future ahead for Warner Bros. Discovery's struggling cinematic universe.
