As if the man known as The Rock didn’t already look like, present himself as and have the name of a superhero, Dwayne Johnson has finally seen his near decade-long bid to portray Detective Comics’ antihero Black Adam on the big screen — twice, as a matter of fact.

Earlier this year, in Warner Bros.’s animated family film “DC League of Super-Pets,” the Rock not only voiced Superman’s trusted canine companion Krypto but also, in a post-credits scene, animated versions of Black Adam and his own dog companion, Anubis.

Now, with the actual live-action “Black Adam” out on the big screen, the general consensus is in agreement that the earlier release was the superior film. Eight years after it was announced and following three years of production turmoil interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the film as a whole is sadly not worth the wait and build-up.

For the fans of the DC comics and characters, this could be a great time at the movies with several outstanding performances and some thrilling action scenes and special effects. But with a predictable, tired and lazy script and characterizations, “Black Adam” is doing no favors in righting the DC Extended Universe ship that has been flailing aimlessly for nearly its entire existence.

In 2,600 BCE, under the tyrannical king of Kahndaq, a young slave boy attempts to stage a revolt and is given the powers of Shazam by the Council of Wizards, transforming him into Kahndaq’s heroic champion, Teth-Adam, who allegedly ends the oppression in the region.

Now, nearly 5,000 years have passed, and a team of archaeologists looking for the mythical Crown of Sabbac, unearth Teth-Adam’s tomb, releasing him from a slumber and emerging as Black Adam (Johnson), whose stories have gone from myth to legend. But now free, he plans to bring his unique form of justice, born out of rage, back to Kahndaq.

Challenged by the modern-day idea of what superheroes are a do, four Justice Society of America team members — including Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) and Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan) — must travel to Kahndaq to stop Adam from causing further destruction and help him remember his history before a new evil emerges.

With both a Black Adam origin story and an introduction to the JSA — as well as the regular people elements of the lead archeologist played by Sarah Shahi and her son Amon, played by Bodhi Sabongui, and their whole deal with organized crime syndicate Intergang occupying modern day Kahndaq — there is way more happening than fits comfortably in a two-hour movie.

Having to take shortcuts in storytelling, relying on narration and hoping the audience accepts Wikipedia page intros as backgrounds for several characters, the movie can simultaneously feel overly complicated and rather boring as the barrage of names and definitions flood out. While a three-hour cut of this story has far too much about characters few people know about, the two-hour version is rushed and underdeveloped.

Thankfully, enough of the cast is entertaining and likable to make the experience worth it. In the title role, Johnson does what he does best: portraying the public version of himself people have known and loved for 20 years. Some say he is a bad actor, but that’s not true. Johnson is a great actor who sadly keeps picking projects that range from fine to horrendous, but none of that is his fault. With a little more depth and antagonistic lore to pull from, he portrays a god-like murderer with infectious charm and solid comedic timing.

Comparatively, the JSA members have wonderful chemistry and play off each other and Black Adam pretty well when the script is in their favor. I don’t think Hodge and Brosnan have ever given a bad performance in their careers, and their differing leadership styles and fighting approaches are highly entertaining. Combine that with a few other DC cameos and the cast is great throughout.

Sadly, it’s the overall production of the film that just doesn’t land today. The individual artists and workers who both physically and virtually built this world and its elements are not to blame — they’re just doing their jobs. But the higher-ups at DC and Warner Bros. are once again their own enemies, promising a fun time at the movies that ultimately means nothing.