Shazam!
/“Billy Batson, I choose you as champion.”
Filmology Rating: 3.25 out of 4
A month ago Marvel’s Captain Marvel graced the silver screen, and while the film was inspired, as it showed us that Marvel Studios could make a great movie with a female lead, but it lacked the usual grin inducing humor that other Marvel films carry. The most surprising aspect of the latest DC film is how often you will have that grin on your face with Shazam and how it will simply melt your frozen heart.
Billy Batson, played by Asher Angel, has been moving from foster home to foster home. He is always on the run hoping to find where his mother went, hoping to try to be a family again. Billy’s life gets a little more complicated when a wizard gives him superhuman strength. Then with the utterance of the word “Shazam”, Billy is turned into the hero Shazam, played by Zachary Levi, who is to protect our world from the Seven Deadly Sins.
The blending of mythology and religion, which some might call slight, in the film was interesting to see a big budget film tackle. While this isn’t exactly new material for superhero films to tackle, Superman has been a metaphor for Jesus Christ for generations, and this has probably been explored for years in the comics; as a novice when it comes to Shazam, or as he used to be called in the comics Captain Marvel, I found it to be a rather intriguing element. Having the Seven Deadly Sins as the villains of the film did offer some slight thought provoking ideas but they sadly aren’t given much to do, they are simply giving the true villain of the film his powers. This is the only faully of the film, to have such a rich villainous and captivating concept for Shazam to fight against, but they seem to be incredibly thin and should have more dimension to them.
While Mark Strong as Sivana is good as the scene chewing megalomaniac, it would be more beneficial to see him in more performances where he doesn’t play the villain. When looking over his filmography he has played a villain numerous times over the past few years, even in other comic book adaptations, it would be more beneficial to not see him consistently playing the over the top bad guy. I must stress that I don’t feel he does the film a disservice, on the contrary he helps bring in shades of grey to a character who has little dynamic to his character but it’s that huminazation the Strong brings to the role that makes me say he deserves a better character to play.
The charm of the film cannot be understated and is the real hero of the film. Shazam is a complete game changer for Warner Brothers when it comes to how they will handle superhero films. For ten years they were convinced, wrongly so, that all of their films had to be gritty and down to earth but that backfired horribly with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad making many fans of the genre question how a studio could so poorly understand the characters that they have owned for years. While some might call Shazam slight because it’s basically big mixed with superheroes, which I would argue sounds like a grand-slam concept to most people. I would be willing to take a bet that more people are enjoying the current films coming from DC than the then dull Zack Snyder films that a small vocal minority champion as the second coming. Most people go to films with these costumed heroes to feel a sense of hope and if you leave Shazam feeling worse about the world than when you walked in, you simply walked into the wrong theater.
The sincerity and charm that Shazam has could only happen with the outstanding cast the film features. For those who watched the television show Chuck you will already know that Zachary Levi has enough charisma and charm to fill an entire football stadium. While at first glance Levi might look ridiculous in the muscle padded suit, it’s the charm and chemistry that he has with every other actor that help you look past how Levi looks in the firetruck colored suit. Levi isn’t the only standout actor in the film either - the other actors most notably Asher Angel who plays Billy Batson and Jack Dylan Grazer who plays Freddy Freeman. Shazam is the first major film that Angel has starred in and it should put him on the road for great success. He brings a relatable sense of longing that every teeneager feels and you cannot help but want to reach out to him to tell him that it’s all going to be alright. As for Grazer, he starred in It two years ago and was one of the many scene stealing kids who were part of the Losers Club. Grazer is charismatic and believable at the fanboy of all things superhero. The charismatic charm and enthusiasm of all three actors help Shazam reach heights that most superhero films can only dream of.
Shazam is the superhero film that every DC fan has been hoping to see for years; it’s charming and fun, it offers hope to a world in chaos, it’s well paced and phenomenally acted; to say that Shazam is one of the best films of the year wouldn’t be an understatement. Shazam is the second best DC film only to be behind The Dark Knight which is one of the best films to ever grace the silver screen. If you are looking for a film that is filled with heart, will make you nearly cry from laughing, and just to have an enthusiastic fun time at the movies, then Shazam is the film for you.
Rating: See It
-Jonny G
Shazam isn't miserable and depressing and stars Zachary Levi, previously in Marvel films, as Shazam! When a young boy is asked by an old wizard to firmly grip is staff and say his name, Billy turns into a superhero! But it isn't as easy as he may think. Mark Strong plays a video game character who also has the ability to disappear for half of the film and conveniently show up at the end.
Keep in mind that this film is in the same universe as Superman snapping someone's neck and Batman murdering people. But this film easily leaped over the bar of low expectations that Zack Snyder set.
One of the film's major issues is pacing. The first twenty minutes takes a while to settle into because Zachary Levi has not appeared yet. Billy (later turns into Shazam) is sent to a group home where he begins to bond with a boy named Freddy. It's all very basic and straightforward until he turns into Shazam. The film then immediately is stricken alive.
Zachary Levi is perfect casting for this part. He reminds me of what Richard Dreyfuss was like in the 70s which was an adult who embodied a child. And Levi is playing a young kid in the body of a thirty year old. So it's wonderful to see a hero be excited about his powers for once. Whenever Levi wasn't on screen, the film was boring. Not that the other actors weren't good, it's just that Levi is so fun to watch that the film suffered without him. And the constant back and forth between Billy and Shazam made for an up and down ride.
Mark Strong plays the villain, who does get sufficient sympathy, but disappears in the middle of the film because the film wanted to focus on Zachary Levi. Strong is a great actor, but he serves the purpose of "bad guy" to the minimalist level.
This is a very funny film with most of the humor stemming from Zachary Levi. However, near the end, Shazam became a little annoying. That can also be credited to the runtime which is twenty minutes too long with an extended action scene at the end. It feels like what Deadpool was. At first he was funny because it was so surprising, but in the sequel he'll just be annoying.
I really like the tone because it felt like David F. Sandberg took lots of inspiration from Richard Donner's "Superman." This feels like a "superhero movie." Opposed to any movie in the last few years with Batman and Superman in it, who are not superheros. They are murderers with powers. And "Shazam" understands that there is a difference between being a hero and acting like a hero. Superman and Batman are not heros. Shazam is. Shazam doesn't snap a neck while screaming barbarically and doesn't land his batmobile on civilians.
This film is also very satirical and meta. Shazam just looks so dumb and that's what's so great about him is that he looks like an idiot and it's wonderful. At some points the film is total camp, but it never really goes all in on it.
If you're sick of the granduering of superheros, then this film services as a satire on those while also being a light film that highlights the importance of family.
Rating: See It
-Nolan