SHAZAM! (2019) Review

Over the last decade, the comic book genre has dominated the box office, breaking records and shaping pop culture in an enormously impactful way. Whether that be a good or bad thing for you, there is no denying that many of these films have had some serious talent behind them. And ‘Shazam!’ is certainly no exception.

Shazam! is able to shake many of DC’s problems with all of its recent films. It’s not bleak, miserable or claustrophobic, and the characters have interesting chemistry unlike in the much anticipated ‘Justice League’. The editing, while it may lack a style to call its own, is clever enough to deserve a mention. It creates an atmosphere of true innocence: after all, watching the story of a child learning about his newly found superpowers can only make you feel nostalgic towards your own childhood.

Shazam! could have used some fine tuning, however. Early in the movie, the numerous tone shifts are abrupt and disorienting to the viewer. The main villain lacked much interesting qualities, although he wasn’t necessary to put forward the theme of the film. The main emotional story does not lie between the villain and the hero, but rather the hero and his family.

All in all, don’t let this movie be sandwiched and forgotten by Marvel’s two big releases. See it in the theatre.

My friend Clay also likes this movie.

Dace

Score: 7.8/10

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The DCEU has a big problem. Say what you will about their lineup, but a common understanding is the tremendous overcast of dark cloud and blue tint which seems to loom over every one of their features. In part due to the contrast-and-compare they so often endure when their Goliath is far more successful; the DCEU warrants a tonal shift and refiguration. This is exactly what SHAZAM! offers. With the success of WONDER WOMAN, the franchise was able to crawl marginally out of their dark pits and valued super-morals to catch a glimpse of what the world actually needs – and it’s Zachary Levi playing a feisty 14-year-old.

Billy Batson (Asher Angel) has run away from 23 different foster homes, bouncing through the system since he was very young and lost his mother at the carnival, who he has been looking for ever since. Billy gets caught running away once again, and he is sent to a foster home where he meets Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), superhero fanatic and ball of sarcasm, as well as a house of lovable and unique misfit foster children. However, when a trip on the subway goes awry, Billy acquires the powers of adulthood (Zachary Levi) and that of Shazam – a wizard gate-keeper. Troubles arise with Billy, his new identity, and his new foster home, he is forced to sort out his priorities and decide what family really means.

SHAZAM! achieves as a big yellow lightning bolt in an otherwise dark and unfunny storm. While Zack Snyder chose to take most DCEU movies into a direction that focuses on the hero in relation to the individual, David Sandberg was able to flip the script and make Billy Batson the main character, rather than his super-alter (I personally loved “ZAP-tain America”). This works insanely well, as the audience’s focus shifts between Billy’s home life and his adventures as a 20-something (maybe even 30) year old superhero seamlessly and with ease; the dialogue never feels forced or as if the characters do not believe what they are saying, which is common in the dialogue-heavy DC movies.

Even though SHAZAM! does little to break the overall superhero box-office mold, it does everything right in terms of liberty within the mold. The inability to shift between hero and villain origin story in the first act was tonally awkward and the villain story lacked in depth and was not necessarily integral to Billy’s quest. Having said all that, it is adventurously funny, in part due to the dialogue but mostly due to the performances of the two lead actors. Grazer and Levi work insanely well together, and their chemistry as brothers/best friends is unquestionable. Levi is the obvious standout; at no point did I ever question his abilities in portraying a 14-year-old boy with so many unanswered questions in his life. This is a superhero origin story, but it mainly tells the tale of a boy trying to find his place in the world – and this much, it accomplishes.

Who knew that all the DCEU needed was a quick, one-word transformation?

Jade

Score: 7.4/10

7.6/10