Shazam! - Movie Review

Written by Shiggins

Is the DCEU finally starting to take flight?

As you are no doubt aware, the attempts by DC to create their own ripoff incarnation of a cinematic universe hasn't been going so well. Batman vs Superman, Suicide Squad and Justice League were all received disappointingly by both audiences and critics, but their individual movies have been doing great, to the point that Warner Bros are apparently focusing more on solo adventures from now on! Wonder Woman is the best female-led superhero film so far, Aquaman made over $1B, and now we have Shazam! here to see if lightning can strike twice in a row, which makes me wonder if this new suit is actually an unsubtle message...

Shazam! tells the story of Billy Batson, a 14 year old boy who has been adopted by a foster family. After a few situations at his new school, Billy is transported to the "Rock of Eternity", where he is given the powers of Gods by a wizard. When Billy says the word "Shazam!", he transforms into a grown man with amazing abilities, and he'll need them to face off against the villain Thaddeus Sivana, who is wielding the power of the Seven Deadly Sins to become all-powerful.

It's quite obvious to see why Shazam! hasn't had a movie adaptation before. In fact, he hasn't appeared in live-action since 1941, back when he was known as Captain Marvel (it's an odd story). Between the plot, the suit, the names and the villains, Shazam! is not someone as easily transferable to screen as Batman or Superman. Even the Rock of Eternity sounds ridiculous, which is fine because the movie is aware of that and at least embraces it. If you don't like comic book movies at all, you'll hate this. So it's lucky for Shazam! that I love them.

The cost of that suit can still go to hell though. Ridiculous.

Most people coming out of this are probably going to be talking about Zachery Levi's performance as the adult Billy, when he turns into the "Shazam! form", but I want to talk about these two kids instead. Don't get me wrong, Zachery Levi does a great job at playing the adult-man with a childlike wonder as he discovers he's bulletproof or can fly, but these kids are fantastic! And they make a perfect contrast to the kids in my Dumbo review I published earlier this week. Billy, the original version, is played by Asher Angel, while his friend/adoptive-brother Freddy is played by Jack Dylan Grazer, and they're both giving great performances. They're weird, have likes and dislikes, tell lies, hurt each other, feel guilty about it later, and they don't vomit out stupid-ass monologues about their dead parents or science or something. They talk like actual kids!

Less engaging however are, you guessed it, the villains. Once again, Mark Strong is given a forgettable role with little to chew on, and I'm sick of seeing this actor not get his due. Green Lantern, Robin Hood, John Carter, Sherlock Holmes... thank god he was great in Kick-Ass. And sadly, his allies are even less memorable. The concept of the Seven Deadly Sins is always great to exploit, but they don't use it here at all. It's just seven monsters, each with uninteresting designs, all snarling and killing when given the chance to do so. I wasn't even sure which sins half of them were!

I hate you, Fortnite.

The other enemies in this are the two bullies, who appear from time to time. And honestly, it's done like an 80s movie, which is not a good thing. They're as evil and stock as you can get, literally hitting a disabled kid with their car and beating him up because he complained about being hit by their car! They're so over-the-top and ridiculous, I admit to cringing. It probably wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't seen these exact same bullies in Spider-Man, Aquaman, every single Stephen King film, a Christmas Story, the Karate Kid, Harry Potter... and so many many many more.

Everyone else in this tend to fare better. I liked how the foster parents are genuinely nice, and there was no ridiculous twist where they turned out to be abusive monsters to all children because of reasons. Djimon Hounsou is fun, almost making me wish there was more of him to see, and there's a few neat cameos near the end. There's also one cameo that will get a laugh out of you, but it's also a huge disappointment. And if you've seen the film, you know the cameo I mean.

Eye see what you did there.

But you're not here for deep characters or complex threads. You want to know if the movie is funny and full of great action! Well my answer is... sort of. Shazam! definitely contains plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, and the action often mixes jokes with Superman-style flying about to create excitement, but plenty of the jokes didn't hit as hard as I hoped, and the third act fight takes way too long to keep me engaged. Tons of anticlimactic "is this the end of Shazam!?" moments occur during the final half hour, and I felt myself just screaming during the final uninteresting bout between hero and villain. We all know how it's going to end, and we've seen these powers in action before, so just do it already! This film could have cut out half the climax, and it would have probably been stronger for it.

The best jokes are when Billy becomes Shazam!, and Zachery Levi acts out the ultimate childhood fantasy, getting to witness his own superpowers firsthand, abuse them for personal gain, and do things with his adult body that kids can't do, like buy beer. It might not always get the biggest laugh, but these scenes are the highlight, and are utterly charming. The moment where he discovers he's bulletproof is particularly hilarious. I just wish the trailers hadn't ruined the best stuff from the film...

Finally! DC gave me a Red Hood movie!

Shazam! is a good movie, definitely, but I'm really not on the side of those who call it a five-star masterpiece, or consider it a "game-changer", as a few articles have claimed. I had fun but... really? Shazam! is a game-changer for the genre and DC? Shazam! is the movie people kept saying would be a billion times better than Captain Marvel? This is the film that everyone is making a big fuss about? I really didn't feel it, and I'm worried that the bar was set so low by DC movies that everyone is going to praise them wildly for not messing up. In all honesty, out of the three DCEU movies I actually liked (Aquaman, Wonder Woman and this), this comes third place for me.

Again, this is a good movie. A silly action-packed story with a heartfelt message about family and how it feels to be a kid, but it's not a game-changer. It's not an amazing experience, or anything else like that. It's fun. And comparing it to Captain Marvel, a film with a completely different style and genre, is just silly to be honest, like it always was (And unoriginal. Try coming up with your own jokes instead of copying memes, yeah?). They're both good, they both have massive problems, and they both won't be taking the prize for the best comic-book movie of the year.

On a final note, where the hell was Dwayne Johnson?! He was cast to join the Shazam! movie since 2014, years before a director or any other actor was even considered, and yet we don't ever get a post-credit scene of him? The mid-credit scene we do get is great, sure, but I think the Rock should have at least had a scene where he's eating shawarma or something!

Film Rating: 7/10

Best Part: Shazam! discovering his powers.

Worst Part: Seven Deadly Sighs.

Best Performance: Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy.

Man, Zac Snyder must be pissed!

Shiggins:[Admin]
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Born under the stars of the Dark Gods, Shiggins owns the power of the Great Eye and is utterly magnificent in his omniscience. If you dare to discover more about someone as great as him, then go ahead. And to all my friends and family members, YOU are wrong and I should be disappointed! Not the other way round!,. You can find out about him or ask him stuff on ask.fm/shigginsishere or go to his tumblr page http://otakugajeel.tumblr.com/