Being in the shadow of Marvel has not been
easy for DC for the past few years. While films like Wonder Woman did a great job of putting DC in the right direction,
the rest of the line-up have been on a spotty track record. Whether it be the
misguided yet slightly ambitious Batman
vs. Superman, the entertaining yet standard Aquaman or the mess that was Suicide
Squad, it’s clear that DC could be in a better place than they are.
Fortunately, a new hero has come to save DC in the form of Shazam, a light hearted and incredibly fun Superhero movie that is unbelievably
charming. With its wit, characters and simplicity, Shazam is exactly the kind of movie DC needs to elevate their films
to a higher level.
A
New Meaning to the Term Kid at Heart
Shazam
is
about a boy named Billy Baston, an orphan who has been struggling to find a
proper home for him, and hesitant about being a part of a new family that has
adopted him. Things take a weird turn when he stumbles upon by a Wizard
granting him the powers of a Superhero, where every time he says the name
“Shazam” he turns into an older man with fantastical powers. When a new evil
threat comes to take over his world, Billy has to learn to become a true hero.
The surface level premise of this film is very simple and the film fortunately
knows that with it not trying to over complicate things at all in the script
department. Though one issue with the script is even though it isn’t convoluted
with its story elements, there does seem to be a little too much going on in
the film. There is a lot of stuff to establish and resolve throughout the film,
and by the end of it, you realize that certain plot points that were brought up
in the beginning and being resolved now and rather suddenly. It’s not to a
point where you can’t tell what’s going on, but it’s enough to notice that the
film is kind of long and feels rather sudden that certain plot elements are
being resolved at the time they occur. Yet, that is one of the few issues the
film has in regards to plot, because the rest of the film is very charming. It
is definitely a lighter hearted movie than other DC films, but it’s not overtly
cheesy or force when it comes to its entertainment factor. The humor in the
film is genuinely funny and downright hilarious at point because the script
knows not to linger too long on a joke and still have its serious moments take
some time to have some impact. The drama in the film is relatively well done
not just because of that but also the film discusses an important issue of
family, one that has been seen before in other films, but still poignant. It’s
a movie that discusses that family shouldn’t necessarily be about how one is
connected to a person, but more so how family should be more about who truly
cares about you. It may have been done before in other movies, but the way the
film does it here barely sugar coats anything due to how great these characters
and their dynamic is. It’s an element that truly makes the story of this film
genuine and worthwhile.
The
Funniest Portrayal of a Superhero in DC
As mentioned, this
story would not have the impact it once had without a good cast of characters
and Shazam nails that big time. The
lead of the film, Billy Batson is fantastic, as he starts out as typical
trouble maker, but the film gives him a backstory that has some layers to it on
both what actually happened to him during his past and also why he is the way
he is. Asher Angel helps this character become believable as despite being a
child actor, gives it his all when it comes to emotions and personality. While
Batson himself is enjoyable, none can compare to his alter ego, Shazam played
by Zachery Levi. Levi is absolutely perfect as Shazam, not only is the
character given a witty script with so many funny moments and rarely goes into
cringe-worthy category, but Levi performs this character with such good comedic
timing. Everything from the way he delivers lines, the timing of the slapstick
he endures and the facial expressions he makes creates for easily the funniest
character in the DC Cinematic Universe. Not only his Shazam himself fantastic
and is easily the most likable superhero of the DC Universe yet, but his
supporting cast is also fantastic. Batson’s foster parents are caring and
supportive without being too overbearing, his other foster siblings are all
unique and diverse from one another and his foster brother played by Jack
Grazer is also another element that makes this film hilarious. Grazer’s
performance as Freddie serves as the main comedic relief in an already very
funny movie and it works because not only does he give insight and great
pop-culture references to DC as a whole, he also has a great dynamic with both
Billy and Shazam in the film. Grazer and Angel feel like genuine friends when
the two plays off one another in Shazam
while Grazer and Levi’s dynamic is more about reacting to the powers of Shazam and it creates for some humorous
moments of Grazer’s superhero knowledge to help Billy understand the powers of
Shazam. The only other character that should be mentioned in the film is the
main antagonist, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana played by Mark Strong. This character ends
up being the weakest link to this film as while he does have a backstory and
motivation behind his character, it comes across as a bit cliché. His character
is a basic evil villain with nothing too much special as a character and
whenever the movie solely focuses on him, it does tend to drag. Not to say the
character is all bad, because Strong while again being typed cast as a villain,
plays it with enough camp value to at least have his moments be relatively
entertaining. Outside of an average villain, Shazam ends up being easily one of DC best
movies from a character standpoint alone due to how genuine these characters
all feel.
Average
Effects Forgiven by Lower Budget
With such a fun and
energetic tone and characters, it sounds like Shazam is a perfect movie; however that isn’t quite the case. Shazam’s one major fault is that from a
visual perspective, it is far from the most impressive film as there are a few
moments of special effects that don’t work quite as well. Mainly are some of
the creature effects which look like standard CGI Monsters we’ve seen in other
movies before, and Shazam’s suit which looks great practically but when it’s
CGI, it looks kind of fake. Though what gets this movie a slight pass more than
other DC movies with mediocre effects is that Shazam has a much lower budget than the previous DC movies. The CGI
was done on a budget of under $100 million dollars, so it’s to be somewhat
expected that the effects aren’t quite on the level of a good looking Marvel
movie. Fortunately, the film doesn’t rely on effects as much as other superhero
films like Aquaman, as the effects only
come during certain action sequences which are still impressive and fun despite
the subpar effects. It’s a film that is more focused on characters and story
than anything else, so the special effects are forgiven just because they’re
not a priority in the case of this film. The film is more about the development
of Billy Batson and how he becomes Shazam and the film works perfectly because
of it. Add into some visually fun moments here and there, and you get a film
that may not impressive on a special effects level but it’s okay because it
knows where to put its focus on.
As cliché as it is for
people complaining about how DC is “Too Serious” and “Not Fun” like comic book
movies are supposed to be, Shazam does
an amazing job giving fans an enjoyable comic book movie experience. It is far
from an effects heavy film and it knows that because it provides fans and
audiences with a great comic book movie about one of DC’s less popular heroes.
With the helped of a great script, good amount of characters and an excellent
performance by Zachery Levi, Shazam might end up getting a huge boost in
popularity after this film. All the more deserved because DC has a movie that
is proof they know how to have a good time.
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