Shazam!
4 out of 5
It would appear the people at DC have finally found their stride. With this winter’s big hit in Aquaman, and now Shazam! — they have put together two films in a row that will have made big money AND pleased audiences. Something they had only really accomplished with 2017’s Wonder Woman.
In this film, Zachary Levi stars alongside Mark Strong, Djimon Hounsou, and Jack Dylan Grazer, as a superhero who is gifted with powers to turn from a 14-year-old boy, to someone who rivals the great Superman.
The difference with this movie compared to DC’s earlier iterations (minus Aquaman), is that the film doesn’t take itself too seriously. Zachary Levi does a fantastic job portraying a teen who just struck the kid lottery, as he explores just what he is capable of, and unlike other superheroes, Shazam seems to enjoy the fame that comes with his superpowers. As much fun as it is watching Levi explore his powers, it’s just as much fun experiencing the whole thing with his friend, Freddy Freeman, played by Grazer (from IT) along with the biggest scene stealer since the cat from Captain Marvel, Darla, played by the adorable Faithe Herman. Freddy and Billy, along with a mix of other kids are in a foster home, and really haven’t had the best of luck in life to this point, though in their home and with their foster parents, life is definitely getting better — and the addition of a superhero to the household only makes things more interesting.
Of course, every movie of this nature needs a bad guy, and that’s where Mark Strong comes in. Again, the film isn’t as dark as previous entries into the DCEU, thus Strong’s character, though evil, almost feels as though he’s mostly there for background noise — until it’s time for the big showdown. I will say however, he does have one scene in particular where he exacts revenge on those he feels wronged by, which is as dark and evil as any villain in any superhero movie to date — Marvel or DCEU.
As mentioned earlier, Billy Batson is accompanied throughout the story by his foster siblings, and while they’re not a major part of the film — they do round out the story very nicely. I must say, it was also encouraging to see the foster child part of the story fleshed out as much as it was. I’d imagine for any child out there who is in or has been in that situation — this movie would be a shining ray of positivity in their lives.
Overall, this film is just fun. The audience I watched it with laughed so loudly, that on many occasions, I wasn’t able to hear the dialogue that followed the joke. There were also a handful of moments where loud applause was going on. Comparatively speaking, it’s a bit different than most of the origin stories we’ve seen so far — because it’s main character, and the characters that surround him are children. So much of the conversations and storytelling are from that perspective, which just lends itself to being a different movie altogether. It will be interesting to see what DCEU decides to do next…Wonder Woman 2 is due out soon, with on again, off again rumors for The Flash and Black Adam. Whatever it is — hopefully — Aquaman and now Shazam! has gotten them on the path to being more competitive with Marvel.
Shazam! is now playing and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action, language, and suggestive material.
