Based on critical reaction and box office returns, recent DC movies have been either hit or miss. Batman vs. Superman left many angry, while Wonder Woman was seen as a triumphant success that paved the way for future female led superhero movies. Justice League disappointed the masses, while Aquaman came in and surfed his way past one billion dollars at the box office. So here we are with Shazam, the seventh movie in this Warner Bros. franchise, and many are anxious to know, will this be another failure for DC or another triumphant win? As I can only speak for myself, I think that this is a huge win for DC and Warner Bros as this movie is really entertaining.
The film is about an orphan teenager named Billy Batson (who is played by Asher Angel) who spends his time searching for his mom. He moves into this foster home, and one day, while riding the train, he gets transported to another world, where a wizard gives him the ability to become an adult superhero (played by Zachary Levi) whenever he says the world Shazam. Right off the bat, I really enjoyed the concept of a teenager who turns into an adult sized superhero. Zachary Levi plays Billy in adult form, and he is hilarious throughout his entire screen time. Levi’s outlandish personality really fits for playing as a 14-year-old boy who discovers he has superpowers. Most of the humor comes from just this simple premise and I appreciated how the movie chose to keep it a smaller scale, compared to most superhero movies out there. Shazam carries the same concept as the movie Big, just with Tom Hanks given some superpowers.
The movie also surprisingly has a lot of heart to it as well. Billy was separated from his parents as a child and has since been searching for them. When he’s adopted into this foster home, you’re expecting it to be the stereotypical evil family that always bullies him and puts him down. Instead, the family is very wholesome and are accepting of Billy coming into the home. The other children were all sweet, and I enjoyed each of them as supporting cast members. They all play a role into the film’s theme of what it means to be a family, how it is not defined purely by blood.
Saying all that, I felt the movie had some issues. The first act of the movie is a bit messy, and it doesn’t start getting interesting until Billy gets his powers. For those first thirty minutes or so, none of the jokes really landed for me, and it was following a formulaic pattern for a hero origin story. I also did not care for the villain in this movie who is played by Mark Strong. I think Strong is a talented actor, but his character was mostly one note with unclear motivations. I did enjoy how violent his character was (especially for a PG-13 movie), but he did not have much depth to him.
Overall, Shazam is a really fun time at the theaters, and I would recommend it to people looking for something new and enjoyable. Once you get past the first couple of minutes it is hilarious, heartwarming, and packs a couple of sweet surprises in it that’ll keep people talking about it for a while.
