The church chorus is belting “Hallelujah, hallelujah!”. You know why? It is because the DC Extended Universe finally managed to make a film that has care, humor, and heart after making such an okay visual spectacle last year with “Aquaman”. David F. Sandberg might be one of the main reasons why this happened because his track record has been fantastic ever since he debuted with 2016’s “Lights Out” (based on his own short film).
Billy Batson (played by Asher Angel), a foster kid, is desperately trying to search for his birth mother ever since he got lost in a carnival in a packed crowd trying to find her at that time. Meanwhile, a social worker places Billy in a group home run by the Vasquez’s because he is obviously parent-less.
At school, Billy develops a friendship with his foster roommate Freddy Freeman (played by “It”‘s Jack Dylan Grazer). After Billy gets chased by bullies, he ends himself up into a subway train where he is abruptly recognized by the wizard, Shazam (played by Djimon Hounsou).
Billy gets transported to a magical temple called the Rock of Eternity, where Shazam searches for new champions who are pure of heart. Eventually, a man named Thaddeus Sivana (played by the villainous Mark Strong) went into the Rock of Eternity as a child back in the early 1970’s. He was noted as evil and unworthy as he unleashed the Seven Deadly sins upon the temple.
In the exact opposite of unworthy, Shazam declares Billy Batson as a champion where he has to only say one word: Shazam! That means Billy can change himself from being a young buck to an adult with big guns (played by Zachary Levi).
Along with his roommate Freddy, Billy discovers his adult super powers around the city of Philadelphia. He soon learns that the unworthy champion, Sivana, is pursuing for his own powers. Billy Batson must take his greatest responsibility that his abilities are special and meaningful towards the ruthless Sivana.
If you think both of the films “Big” and “Superman”, then you have got one of the best and kind of original superhero films in a very long time. “Shazam!” is basically the better replica film of “Captain Marvel” since they are both about the same character.
David F. Sandberg perfectly bends genres of comedy and drama whenever it feels appropriate. There is also genuine love and care for Asher Angel’s amazing debut performance as Billy Batson, who is a foster child that deeply cares about the theme of family.
Jack Dylan Grazer’s performance of foster child Freddy Freeman showcases his inner humor he showcased in “It” and blends an important assistance to Billy making great chemistry together.
Mark Strong’s performance as Sivana is surprisingly ruthless where he does not come off like a live-action cartoon nor a one-dimensional character. It feels like he has a true motivation than just like a “I am going to destroy the world” motivation.
In his first lead performance in a very long time, Zachary Levi as the adult superhero Shazam absolutely cracked me up more than Deadpool in “Deadpool 2” that I can take notes on how many jokes Levi said in the film. The writing of his character is genius and truly represents the switching of an adult superhero to a teenager.
The greatest thing I can for sure hug this movie for is that it relies on a heavy, heavy theme on family. Billy Batson’s character arc on searching for his mother is shown very strong and perfectly blends in as a major plot point to the film. There are also little flashbacks of Billy as a little boy finding his mother at a carnival and they aren’t forced nor contrived whatsoever.
However, there are some faults I can say about this film.
The very first 20-35 minutes of the film despite having strong heart may suffer from really slow pacing issues to develop the action and adventure of the film.
When the bullies first show up in the film, I kind of cringed. Although not highly noticeable in this film, Hollywood has a strong reputation of portraying bullies in the most inaccurate way possible.
No spoilers, but the third act of “Shazam!” runs way, way, way too long and could have 15-20 minutes cut out and (pun intended) “shazamed” right outta here.
With the DC Extended Universe’s track record changing from okay to amazing (especially with the new Joaquin Phoenix “Joker” film coming out later this year), a film like “Shazam!” really showcases DCEU’s great side of film making since “Wonder Woman”. It is also along with “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” as one of the best non-Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films to come out in a very long time.
Grade: 8.5/10
