Friday’s openings: Revenge and old-school rom-com

Above : Dwayne Johnson stars as the title character of “Black Adam,” which opens Friday. (Photo/Warner Bros.)

Among Friday’s movie openings, a schedule that isn’t yet finalized for local theaters, two releases stand out: “Black Adam” and “Ticket to Paradise.”

And they couldn’t be any more different. The former features a character from DC comics played by Dwayne Johnson , and the other is a romantic comedy featuring ex-marrieds played by Julia Roberts and George Clooney .

“Black Adam” : Johnson stars as the title character, a man with superpowers who is freed into the modern world after 5,000 years on imprisonment and has come looking for a bit of revenge. Only the Justice Society of America stands in his way.

Full reviews of the film, directed by Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra , aren’t yet available. But a number of critics tweeted their reactions.

Courtney Howard of Variety: “The Rock is terrific in ‘Black Adam,’ which includes a hearty amount of real world touchstones (most affecting is it reinforces the need for heroes in bleak times). Director Juame Collet-Serra lays out building blocks for a larger, grand universe. Action is lively & BIG in scale.”

Germain Lussier of Gizmodo: “ ‘Black Adam’ is a worthy new piece of the DC puzzle, but not the savior it promised. A surprising compressed timeline keeps the action exciting & pace propulsive, but also turns its many (many) themes, plots, & characters into fancy window dressing. It’s messy in a watchable way.”

“Ticket to Paradise” : When their daughter gets ready to marry, a divorced couple (Clooney, Roberts) attend the Bali ceremony intent on stopping what they see as a big mistake – the same one they made 25 years before.

A number of critics have posted full reviews, most of which are complimentary of the rom-com directed and co-written by Ol Parker .

Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, “It’s a foolhardy plan to craft a film almost entirely around the onscreen chemistry between two movie stars and hope for the best. But when those stars are George Clooney and Julia Roberts, the combustive power of their pairing will go a long-ish way.”

Ella Kemp of IndieWire wrote, “Although the golden age of the romantic comedy might be behind us, the single greatest joy of ‘Ticket to Paradise’ comes from the unwavering belief that a happy future still is possible.”

I’ll update as the week progresses.