Black Adam embraces many of the worst elements of the superhero genre, resulting in a loud, discordant experience replete with fist-fights, pyrotechnics, and an overdose of CGI.

Some of the individual moments are impactful or effective at evoking nostalgia. But, as they say, the whole is less than the sum of the parts.

Cate Blanchett’s inhabitation of Lydia is complete and the movie’s presentation of her life is exacting in every detail; the result is nothing short of mesmerizing.

Although this features high wattage stars, it represents a curiously anachronistic attempt at escapist fare.

This is a reminder that horror movies have the twin goals of unsettling and upsetting - a mission statement director Parker Finn takes seriously.

It takes over an hour before "Amsterdam" decides what it wants to be and, by that time, viewers may be exasperated by the film’s quirkiness and exhausted by its meandering storyline.