“Let’s end this,” says Black Adam.

I couldn’t agree more as the end approached of 2 hours and five minutes of computer-generated mayhem in the movie, “Black Adam.”

“Black Adam,” latest installment in the DC Extended Universe, stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Black Adam.

The movie returns Johnson, a Freedom High School, Bethlehem Area School District, product (as the term is often used by newspaper sports scribes) where he was a standout high school football player, to his roots, that of World Wrestling League (WWE) champion.

Make no mistake, “Black Adam” is nothing if not product.

In’ “Black Adam,” as in the WWE, Johnson plays the heel (the bad guy) with mostly monosyllabic utterances, not unlike Clint Eastwood in “Dirty Harry” (1971).

“Make my DC Extended Universe.”

The parallel is made to Clint Eastwood’s role as The Man With No Name in the spaghetti western, “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” (1966), with the Mexican standoff scene shown briefly in “Black Adam” and the “TGTBATU” score by Ennio Morricone heard briefly in “Black Adam.” A scene in “Black Adam” replicates the iconic Eastwood “TGTBATU” standoff scene.

As Black Adam, Johnson’s acting is as monosyllabic as his dialogue. In “Black Adam,” Johnson has a near-pervasive expression of haughty peevishness. He’s so, ahem, rock solid, he doesn’t even raise his trademark eyebrow, from what I could see.

I am not going to attempt to recite the plot of “Black Adam.” The Internet Movie Database states, about Teth-Adam, or Black Adam: “Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the Egyptian gods, and imprisoned just as quickly, Black Adam is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.”

I found myself not caring where Black Adam came from, what he was doing nor where he was going. “Black Adam” is an example of one of the worst origin stories of a movie character in the genre of superhero action movies.

Credit, or discredit, the usual suspects, the screenwriting team: Adam (No relation to Black Adam. Just kidding.) Sztykiel (screenwriter, “Scoob!,” 2020; “Rampage,” 2018, which starred Dwayne Johnson; “Due Date,” 2010; “Made of Honor,” 2008), and Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani (screenwriters, “The Mauritanian,” 2021) based on DC Comics characters created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck.

“Black Adam,” despite its box office success, is an artistic disappointment for fans of Johnson, of whom I am one. Johnson has an impressive and likable screen presence. He’s an executive producer of “Black Adam” with his Seven Bucks Productions listed prominently. I presume Johnson, as they say in TV commercials for politicians, “approved this message” of “Black Adam.”

The supporting cast includes DC Justice League characters: Hawkman-Carter Hall (Aldis Hodge), Dr. Fate-Kent Nelson (Pierce Brosnan, Atom Smasher-Al Rothstein (Noah Centineo) and Cyclone-Maxine Hunkel (Quintessa Swindell).

The less said about their superpowers, depictions and dialogue the better.

Sarah Shahi, playing Adrianna Tomaz); Bodhi Sabongui, playing her son, Amon, and Mohammed Amer, playing her brother, Karim, make an impression as the most charismatic characters in “Black Adam.” There’s a silly cameo by Henry Winkler (Uncle Al).

Jaume Collet-Serra (director, “Jungle Cruise,” 2021; “The Commuter,“ 2018; “Run All Night,” 2015; “Non-Stop,” 2014; “Unknown,” 2011; “Orphan,” 2009; “House of Wax,” 2005) has been a go-to guy for transforming Liam Neeson, who turned 70 on June 7, 2022, into an AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) action hero with “The Commuter,” “Run All Night,” “Non-Stop” and “Unknown.”

Johnson, who turned 50 on May 2, 2022, needs no help from Collet-Serra or anybody else in superhero roles even if Johnson is eligible for his AARP card and magazine cover.

Johnson is Hollywood’s No. 1 box office star. As a lead actor in 27 films, he’s grossed more than $5 billion alone (among them: “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” 2017; “Jumanji: The Next Level,” 2019; “Maui” (lead voice character), 2016; “Furious 7,” 2015).

“Black Adam,” which grossed $67 million its opening weekend, is Johnson’s biggest-grossing live-action opening in which he’s a headliner since “The Mummy Returns” (2001), which opened with $68.1 million.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson must be doing something right. I look forward to his next movie. I just hope it’s not a “Black Adam” sequel.

“Black Adam,”

MPAA Rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. Parents are urged to be cautious. Some material may be inappropriate for pre-teenagers.) for sequences of strong violence, intense action and some language.; Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy; Run time: 2 hours, five minutes. Distributed by Warner Bros.

Credit Readers Anonymous:

Stay for the “Black Adam” end credits for a scene between Black Adam, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) and Superman (Henry Cavill) for a clue to the new direction of the DC Extended Universe. The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” (1966) is heard on the “Black Adam” soundtrack. Of course, it is.

At The Movies:

“Black Adam” was seen in the Dolby Theatre at AMC Center Valley 16. The recliner seat rumbled so much it was like sitting in a massage chair.

Theatrical Movie Domestic Box Office,

Oct. 28 - 30: “Black Adam,” starring Freedom High School, Bethlehem Area School District graduate Dwayne Johnson, continued at No. 1 with $27.7 million, in 4,402 theaters, $111.1 million, two weeks.

“Ticket to Paradise” continued at No. 2 with $10 million, in 3,692 theaters, $33.7 million, two weeks.

“Prey for the Devil” opened at No. 3 with $7 million, in 2,980 theaters.

4. “Smile” dropped one place, $5 million, in 3,221 theaters, $92.3 million, five weeks. 5. “Halloween Ends” dropped one place, $3.8 million, in 3,419 theaters, $60.3 million, three weeks. 6. “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” dropped one place, $2.8 million, in 3,135 theaters, $32.5 million, four weeks. 7. “Till” moved up six places, $2.8 million, in 2,058 theaters, $3.6 million, three weeks. 8. “Terrifier 2” dropped one place, $1.8 million, in 1,550 theaters, $7.6 million, four weeks. 9. “The Woman King” dropped three places, $1.1 million, in 1,446 theaters, $64.5 million, seven weeks. 10. “Tár” moved up two places, $1 million, in 1,087 theaters, $2.4 million, four weeks.

Movie box office information from Box Office Mojo as of Oct. 30 is subject to change.

Unreel,

Nov. 4:

“Armageddon Time,”

MPAA rated R: James Gray directs Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Jeremy Strong and Anthony Hopkins in the Drama. It’s a coming-of-age story about a family and the American Dream.

“A Magical Christmas Village,”

No MPAA rating: Jason Furukawa directs Luke Macfarlane and Marlo Thomas in the Comedy Romance. A miniature Christmas village comes to life.

Movie opening dates from Internet Movie Database as of Oct. 30 are subject to change.

Two Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes