So I grinned my way through the latest DC superhero flick Shazam! That wasn’t an excited sentence, the ! is in the title (Shazam!). And that’s pretty apt since the movie sometimes feels like a overexcited puppy… and other times like Cujo (to make a reference to the also just released Pet Semetary.
So I don’t know much about the character Shazam besides the super basic idea that he’s a kid who, when he shouts Shazam, turns into a muscle-bound adult superhero. I know I watched the (no-doubt terrible) 70s tv show when I was a kid and I know there’s an ocean of confusing history behind the character that’s worth reading about. I have no idea how accurate or otherwise the film is to the character.
But that’s fine – a novice should be able to enjoy this peppy, brightly-colored bit of superhero confection just fine. The movie is basically just an amusingly comic book film. Almost an outright comedy at times… but one with a severe case of tone shifting.
While most everything involving the flashy superhero is fun, almost everything about the villain is surprisingly dark. There’s a lot murder in the film and creepy, gross creatures. And, on top of that fantastical darkness, there’s also an underlying tone of anger and sadness regarding the main character – a kid in the foster care system who is looking for his mom. The movie takes this very seriously and offers some of the best, nuanced acting in the film.
Zachary Levi plays the adult Shazam! and he’s pretty good, but not perfect. He’s kind of playing what an adult thinks a child acts like and that performance doesn’t really match the kid version of the main character. He more closely seems to be emulating his goofier kid sidekick instead. Not that it’s a bad performance and is often very fun… most people probably won’t notice or care.
The overall story of the film is fine. Pretty much just a superhero origin story. There are a handful of surprises in the film that were shockingly not spoiled in the trailers (not sure how they kept this stuff secret). But basically the movie is about the kid learning how to be a superhero and the villain wanting to take away his powers. Nothing amazing and certainly nothing BIG. It’s a surprisingly small superhero film where the world is technically at risk, but most people wouldn’t notice (nothing wrong with that).
So, yeah, this is 70% a light and fizzy fun bit of superhero camp mixed with some dark imagery and surprising pathos. I grinned my way through most of it and recommend it. I have nothing particularly negative to say about it. It’s genuinely a good superhero action flick.
Score: 84