The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is a point of contention among comic book and movie fans alike. While it got off to quite a rocky start (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad), it started to pick up with Wonder Woman. Then Justice League was released and the momentum lost a bit of steam. It wasn’t until last year’s Aquaman came out that the DCEU picked up again and now with Shazam!, it seems like the DC film universe is on the right track.
Synopsis: We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s case, by shouting out one word – SHAZAM! – this streetwise fourteen-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult superhero Shazam.
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Shazam! definitely hit the ball out of the park and owes a lot of its success to its cast and crew. Just about everyone in the film did a fantastic job with their roles. Zachary Levi did great as Shazam, and had believable chemistry with Jack Dylan Grazer (playing Freddy Freeman), as did Asher Angel who played Billy Batson. The two young actors were a delight to watch in any scene they were in together. Cooper Andrews (who I enjoy on The Walking Dead) had a small role, but he was memorable and owned it. Mark Strong played the villain, Thaddeus Sivana, and did an excellent job (no surprise there) with the role given.
Humor in superhero films these days seems to be a factor that divides audiences quite a bit. Some get upset with the amount of humor in the MCU, and after the dark era of DCEU movies (Batman v Superman, Justice League), Aquaman and Shazam! have begun lighting things up and giving audiences a good chuckle, to the chagrin of some DC fans. Personally, I love comedy when it fits, and Shazam! definitely delivers on that. It’s full of goofy charm, silly jokes, and…well…flossing. I could do without the last part. With Zachary Levi in the lead role, how can you not end up with a hilarious flick that’ll make you laugh until you hurt? Nothing is forced, and that’s all I ask for.
Shazam! gave us a great origin story that did its own thing, stayed unique, and didn’t try to rely on the rest of the DCEU. The DC Universe films need to stick with the standalone films until it can establish a strong universe (like what the MCU did), and Shazam! definitely proves this point. Sure, there are some references to other DC films, but we didn’t have Wonder Woman or Aquaman show up for no real reason (à la Iron Man in Spider-Man: Homecoming). Shazam! brings the funny, but wasn’t afraid to get real for a moment and tug at our heartstrings with some emotional family drama that, thankfully, wasn’t shoehorned in.
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With all the good, comes a little bad. There were a few parts in the movie that dragged on a little too long, adding no real plot to the story and sometimes just setting up a joke later that the movie could have done without. Speaking of dragging on, Shazam! was a tad too long. With a run-time of 2 hours and 12 minutes, it’s just a little bit longer than the DCEU’s current shortest film, Justice League (2 hours). The movie could have done away with some of the filler. In comparison, Captain Marvel had a run-time of 2 hours and 5 minutes and felt like a much more condensed movie, with minimal dragging.
Lastly, and what I feel is the film’s biggest fault is boring bad guy syndrome. Thaddeus Sivana has uninspired and villain trope-y motivations and drive, (i.e. I want the good guy’s power and I want to take over the world). The Seven Deadly Sins semi-controlling Doctor Sivana is interesting and adds some dimensionality to his character. However, for the most part, he doesn’t stand out enough. Casting Mark Strong in the role saved the filmmakers from completely shooting themselves in the foot since he brings his own charisma to any role he plays. I just wish they could have had better writing for the character.
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Shazam! is ‘shockingly’ good, but there are movie-goers who will opt-out of seeing another DC movie after the Zack Snyder era. Hopefully Shazam! does well at the box office so that Warner Bros. Pictures will continue in this direction for the DCEU, and so we’ll get sequels, because I already want more Shazam!…just no more flossing.
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