Given that this movie will very likely be swamped by the oncoming Avengers: Endgame coming out later this month, I imagine that this film is going to need all the boosts it can get. And that's a shame, really, because it most definitely deserves the praise.
Yeah, I'm not going to sugar coat it - this film is good.
Very, very good.
We enter the world of Shazam! through a flashback to the year 1974. A young Thaddeus Sivana (Ethan Pugiotto) is brought to an extradimensional space called the Rock of Eternity by its keeper, the wizard Shazam (Djimon Honsou). The wizard is weakening and needs to select a new champion upon which to bestow his power, citing the evil of the beings known as the Seven Deadly Sins as the reasons for him to do so. Unfortunately, Sivana fails the test and is booted from the Rock of Eternity, fueling a life-long quest to get back to it and steal the power he believes that he was robbed of.
Of course, Shazam couldn't have just erased his memory of ever having been there and could have saved us a great deal of trouble, but then we'd have no plot.
Shazam commits himself to seeking out someone pure-hearted to pass his power onto, and that person eventually comes to him in the form of young Billy Batson (Asher Angel). Billy is a foster child who has bounced from home to home as he has tried to search for his mother, who he was separated from at a carnival several years ago. He comes into the care of Victor (Cooper Andrews) and Rosa Vasquez (Marta Milans), and finds himself with four new siblings - Darla (Faithe Herman), Mary Bromfield (Grace Fulton), Eugene Choi (Ian Chen), Pedro Peña (Jovan Armand), and Freddie (Jack Dylan Grazer).
Almost immediately, Billy and Freddie form a bond, particularly after Billy receives his powers from the wizard Shazam, which turns him into an adult version of himself (Zachary Levi) and needs Freddie (who is a big superhero fanboy) to help him understand his abilities. And Billy will definitely need the help when an adult Sivana (Mark Strong) comes calling to attempt to take the power in the name of the Seven Deadly Sins.
This film is exactly what you'd think of it as from the trailers - an absolute joyful romp. Shazam, or Captain Marvel as he was originally (and - no matter what Marvel thinks - still should be) known, is the ultimate power fantasy for a kid learning to be a superhero. Instead of the kid who was an even bigger Boy Scout than Clark Kent, this Billy Batson is a little more real for lack of a better term. It is clear that he is a good person and wants to do good, but he does get a little caught up in the power. Billy is also, early on, more concerned with taking care of himself and trying not to form connections to others. He distances himself from his foster family and tries not to get involved...at least at first.
Billy makes mistakes, genuinely feels bad about them, and does what he can to set things right.
His journey through the film is to find his mother. But, like any hero's journey, what he seeks is not always what he finds...and, more often that not, they find something greater than that. I won't spoil it for you here, but the theme of family and learning to trust in others is a big part of his character arc.
The action is good. The CGI is definitely put to use well and I applaud the production team for actually having a separate actor for both the kid and the adult versions of Billy. It helps the transitions seem a little more seamless, and both Angel and Levi do a fantastic job as both versions. The same can be said of Freddie and the other foster kids as well, each of them are very distinct and have their own likable traits...even if some of them get a little more focus and development than others.
Freddie in particular was a favorite of mine. They even hang a big lampshade on it, but he really is that one kind who you just know is always up to something. Mischievous, but good-hearted and a kid who very clearly believes in superheroes and the good they can do big time. Something that's been sorely lacking from a lot of the DCEU - optimism. So it's very, very nice to see it here almost personified. Freddie also is the person who gets Billy back on the right track when he starts to stray off of it, which is definitely a good thing as well.
Mark Strong plays a very imposing bad guy, though he's honestly a bit too one-note for me. Out of the Sins, the one he's most in line with is envy. He envies his father and his older brother for being largely successful in their lives (and berating him throughout his childhood for what they viewed as him being worthless), he envies the power of the wizard Shazam, and eventually of Billy himself. But...that's really it. He seems to be on a kick of "I want to take over the world with magic", and has spent several years of research and funding to get to a point where he could find a way to return to the Rock of Eternity...but there doesn't seem to be an end goal.
Then again, it's entirely probable that he was driven crazy in the forty-five years between Shazam booting him out and him figuring out a way to get back in.
But this film balances the light and the heavy moments very well. The moments that need to be emotional are there and they are strong, but otherwise fun is the watchword here. The theme of family runs strong, and Billy takes his place as a hero in the DCEU...but not necessarily alone, which I most definitely like.
As I said, no spoilers.
I will definitely say that you should see this movie. It's got good comedy that doesn't feel overdone (and feels organic to the world, rather than forced), it has likeable characters from all across the melanin spectrum that don't feel forced or thrown in to fill a quota, and has good emotional moments and good action.
So, see it! Especially if you're going to see Endgame later this month. Why? Because you might need just a little bit of light and joy to take in with you for that, just to remind you that superhero films don't have to uber-intense epics in order to be fun. A lesson that the comic book industry itself could stand to learn.
Hint hint.
Shazam! is now in theaters from DC Films and New Line Cinema.
For the latest from the MadCapMunchkin, be sure to follow him on Twitter @MadCapMunchkin.
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