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Rating
Synopsis
Young Billy Batson (Asher Angel) has been bouncing around between foster families while searching for his long-lost mother. He ends up moving into a new foster home, where he meets Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), a superhero fan. After defending Freddy from some bullies, Billy gets chased down and eventually outruns them in the subway. While on the subway, Billy is teleported to an ancient realm, where he’s greeted by an old wizard (Djimon Hounsou). The wizard says he’s been searching for a champion to inherit his powers, and he chooses Billy as his champion. By saying the wizard’s name, “Shazam”, Billy is transformed into an adult superhero (Zachary Levi). Soon, Billy aka Shazam is confronted by the villainous Dr. Sivana (Mark Strong), who wants Billy’s powers. Now, Billy has to rise up and find the hero inside himself in order to save the day.
Review
Without a doubt, this is easily one of the best entries in the DCEU, somewhere between Wonder Woman and Aquaman. Zachary Levi does a great job as Shazam, exhibiting a boyish charm and feeling like a kid in a man’s body. Also, many of the younger actors, including Asher Angel and Jack Dylan Grazer, give great performances. While this is clearly a superhero movie, at its heart, this is a film about family. The scenes with Billy’s foster family are fun and heartwarming without going too overboard and feeling sappy. While Billy and Freddy are given the spotlight, the other kids in the family are given their time to shine. It’s also refreshing to see a more realistic view of what a kid would do if he were given superpowers. Seeing Freddy and Shazam goof off and have fun with his powers is enjoyable and provides plenty of laughs.
Any complaints I have here are very minimal and really don’t detract from the film overall. While Mark Strong does a great job and has an interesting backstory, the character just falls into standard villain territory. But, that might’ve been intentional as he’s more an obstacle for Billy/Shazam to overcome rather than a compelling villain. That said, this is definitely one of the better superhero movies released lately and is a fun time all around. While the fate of the DCEU is in limbo, given the latest entries, it seems things are picking up. It also helps to have a fun and lighthearted superhero movie to offset the big gamechanger, Avengers: Endgame. I apologize for not having much more to say, but when it’s this enjoyable, it’s hard to say much. Overall, Shazam! is a fun superhero adventure with tons of heart and great characters.
Buy Shazam! on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NNIMEu.
Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate link, which means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
