Shazam!
Year: 2019
Director: David F. Sandberg
Starring: Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Zachary Levi & Mark Strong
Runtime: 132 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 21/09/21
Director: David F. Sandberg
Starring: Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Zachary Levi & Mark Strong
Runtime: 132 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 21/09/21
I’m not as familiar with the DC heroes as I am with Marvel’s, and even then, I’m not particularly well versed outside of the obvious heavy hitters. So, it should come as no surprise that I had never heard of Shazam (or DC’s Captain Marvel as I also understand they go by) until the film was announced as part of the DC Extended Universe. But looking at Warner Bros. track record with the DCEU, I was also not waiting with anticipation to find out whether they had finally made another good movie to stand alongside Wonder Woman as the outliers of the DCEU’s otherwise muddy line-up.
Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is a fourteen-year-old orphan who is regularly in trouble with the authorities as he causes trouble looking for information on the whereabouts of his birth mother. Following his latest run-in with the law, Billy is placed into care with a new family where he rooms with Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer), a boy of a similar age who has a passion for superheroes.
One day Billy is transported to a mystical place where he is granted superpowers by the wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou), transforming him into the new Shazam (Zachary Levi). With help from Freddy, Billy learns what it means to be a superhero, and how to master his newfound powers.
Meanwhile Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) has spent the last forty years investigating reports of people being transported to a strange place by a wizard named Shazam, after he was turned away by the wizard for not being pure of heart. This leads him to harness the power of the seven deadly sins, and search for Billy/Shazam to try and take the powers he believes are rightfully his.
Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is a fourteen-year-old orphan who is regularly in trouble with the authorities as he causes trouble looking for information on the whereabouts of his birth mother. Following his latest run-in with the law, Billy is placed into care with a new family where he rooms with Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer), a boy of a similar age who has a passion for superheroes.
One day Billy is transported to a mystical place where he is granted superpowers by the wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou), transforming him into the new Shazam (Zachary Levi). With help from Freddy, Billy learns what it means to be a superhero, and how to master his newfound powers.
Meanwhile Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) has spent the last forty years investigating reports of people being transported to a strange place by a wizard named Shazam, after he was turned away by the wizard for not being pure of heart. This leads him to harness the power of the seven deadly sins, and search for Billy/Shazam to try and take the powers he believes are rightfully his.
I won’t lie, Shazam is a very fun film. In fact, I’d say in terms of quality it does about match Wonder Woman, but it does so in an entirely different way. Where most of the DCEU so far has been kind of dark and gloomy, even with attempts by Justice League and Aquaman to lighten the mood a little, but Shazam is an outright comedy. Seeing Billy try to grapple with not only being suddenly gifted superpowers, but also just the ability to turn into an adult on command is great. Zachary Levi as well does an excellent impression of a teenage boy who’s discovered something awesome but also kind of terrifying.
This is also backed up by the first properly strong villain in the DCEU. Whilst Orm in Aquaman was ok, I wasn’t keen on the casting choice of Patrick Wilson. Mark Strong as Sivana though is awesome. He’s imposing, commands attention whenever he’s on screen, and on top of that he’s given a decent amount of time to flesh out his story. You kind of feel for the guy, I mean he’s definitely not good, but you can see how a series of bad situations led him to becoming evil and you can sympathise with that.
Shazam is actually kind of light on action, and it’s the most typical ‘origin’ story of the DCEU so far with a character getting powers and learning how to use them. Whilst Man of Steel had elements of that, it was kind of glazed over to get to the good stuff; with Shazam that’s literally all you get. There are maybe two actual fight scenes in the whole film, the initial confrontation between Shazam and Sivana, and then the final battle. Everything in between is Billy learning how to be a better person, looking for him mother, and getting to know his new siblings.
It also strikes the right balance in terms of length and pacing, which is probably a first for a DCEU film. It utilises the runtime well, without ever feeling like stuff could have been trimmed back or removed entirely.
Shazam is, alongside Wonder Woman, the template for what a good DCEU film should be. It still doesn’t match up to the majority of Marvel’s MCU output, but I’d say it’s of a similar quality to Ant-Man. It’s good fun that’s not to heavy, packed with comedy, and has some fantastic performances to boot. Could this signal the turning point for the DC Extended Universe?
This is also backed up by the first properly strong villain in the DCEU. Whilst Orm in Aquaman was ok, I wasn’t keen on the casting choice of Patrick Wilson. Mark Strong as Sivana though is awesome. He’s imposing, commands attention whenever he’s on screen, and on top of that he’s given a decent amount of time to flesh out his story. You kind of feel for the guy, I mean he’s definitely not good, but you can see how a series of bad situations led him to becoming evil and you can sympathise with that.
Shazam is actually kind of light on action, and it’s the most typical ‘origin’ story of the DCEU so far with a character getting powers and learning how to use them. Whilst Man of Steel had elements of that, it was kind of glazed over to get to the good stuff; with Shazam that’s literally all you get. There are maybe two actual fight scenes in the whole film, the initial confrontation between Shazam and Sivana, and then the final battle. Everything in between is Billy learning how to be a better person, looking for him mother, and getting to know his new siblings.
It also strikes the right balance in terms of length and pacing, which is probably a first for a DCEU film. It utilises the runtime well, without ever feeling like stuff could have been trimmed back or removed entirely.
Shazam is, alongside Wonder Woman, the template for what a good DCEU film should be. It still doesn’t match up to the majority of Marvel’s MCU output, but I’d say it’s of a similar quality to Ant-Man. It’s good fun that’s not to heavy, packed with comedy, and has some fantastic performances to boot. Could this signal the turning point for the DC Extended Universe?