Shazam (2019)

Shazam Review

 After much consideration whether I should descend from my Marvel tower over to DC's Extended Universe, I decided to give Shazam a go. Fun Fact, this is the first ever DC film that I have watched in theater, the rest of DCEU that I have watched is only from the streaming services such as Amazon Prime and Netflix.

The State Of The DCEU

The DC films aren't really regarded as top cinema,most people like to hate on DC since it is easier to do so compared to Marvel but not us (props if you got that reference). The previous DC film, which was James Wan's Aquaman, starring the always hot Jason Mamoa, was alright. I didn't especially consider it to be a very good film, definitely not as good as James Wan's previous works, but then again he can't be blamed for the horrible dialog and script that was provided. Aquaman was one too many odd song choices and script away from being a pretty good comeback for the struggling DC universe (atleast critically). At the end Jaosn Mamo's movie stint as Aquaman was a huge commercial success and a somewhat acceptable movie critically. Compared to Justice league it was adored by the DC fans.

For me, I was looking forward to Shazam/DC's Captain Marvel, because of two reasons;

1.The trailers looked quite fun 

2.The movie was directed by David Sandberg (the guy behind Anabelle Creations and Lights Out) and it starred the always hilarious Zachary Levi (the guy who was in Chuck and also Tangled, also Thor 2 and Ragnarok)

So, the bar was pretty low and the anticipation was pretty high, and how does Shazam handle the pressure??

Spectacularly.

The Story 

The basic plot of the movie is so; Billy Batson, a 14 year old kid who has been known to escape from several foster homes after losing touch with his mother when he was 3, is given some super powers by this wizard named Shazam, since he considers Billy to be pure of heart.Billy now has the ability to become an adult superhero by just saying a single word "Shazam!". There are a lot of shenanigans that follow mostly superhero cliche but done in a manner that it feels fresh.

Now, the movie does start a bit slow and the beginning of the first act was kind of intriguing, I felt I was watching a kind of reverse Harry Potter film since (a bit of spoiler alert) the movie starts with Thad (who will eventually become the main villain of this film). It starts with huge bold white letters exclaiming the year to be 1974 or so. Thad is also, much like Billy, invited to the Wizard's "Lair" where he is tested to be pure of heart. Thad fails to pass the test and then is pushed back into the real world, where he starts to become obsessed with this wizard and strange encounter with these seven deadly sins creatures (the ones who distracted him by telling him that he will be rewarded with power if he chooses the eye). It is funny cause it is kind of like a reverse Harry Potter.

Moving on with the story, the story mainly revolves around  Freddie and Billy, also about Billy living with this new foster home which Freddie is a part of, their friendship of sorts with other foster kids in the foster group home, Billy discovering the fact that he has the ability to become a superhero at the utterance of a single word and the idea of how a teenager would behave if he becomes a superhero. We are then plunged into various interesting scenarios and montages of Freddie and Billy testing the powers and becoming internet famous. I won't ruin the special moments in the movies, the foster children are quite well acted and fun to watch and there was a good amount of fun scenes and equally balanced emotional value of the film by stating the underlining message of family. You'll see how the Thad villain comes into the story later on.

The story of the movie is pretty well rounded and the script was kept authentic to the way most teenagers talk and behave, not the way that most adults think how teenagers talk and behave. The underlying theme of family was given quite importance and the pay off was worth it (talking about the end scenes)

I think the tone was kept light purposely (obviously) since the previous DC movies have started to become a joke for either being too dark or just plain bad light in tone. This movie is able to balance the dark and light tones and give you a comedic superflick which has plenty of laughs and jokes sprinkled in along with a lot of emotions.

I think that one of the foster kids, named Darla who is given quite a lot of funny and comedic scenes, is a lot like that Lavender from 1996's Matilda if you do remember that character. They look so similar aswell.

Lavender from 1996's Matilda

Darla from Shazam

Not something that Important but quite jarring nonetheless. Just a fun fact if that's how you wanna take it.

Another really charming aspect of the movie was the references, I mean seeing Batman being hurled at Thad while Billy exclaims "Get him Batman!" was very funny. Also, the ending scene/cameo will leave your jaw dropped, I personally have mixed feelings about it since, I know it isn't the actor that portrays that specific character but it was still exciting to see it.

The Direction

This movie is directed by David Sandberg of Lights out and Annabelle Creations' fame. I think he did a really fantastic job with this particular film, his previous movies have been exclusively horror films and the fact that he was not only able to switch genres but do it so well is kind of admirable to say the least. The starting of this film as mentioned earlier does feel like a horror film and then when the movie shifts to present day Philadelphia, it turns on the light (basically a lighter tone). David really does handle this movie with care and passion, since there are so many references that I don't even wanna count. The camera work is quite solid as well, the small things like the camera strutting when a car door gets slammed in is quite appreciable.

I also like a lot of shots which centered Billy in focus and the jokes are handled pretty well so that most of them actually land and don't fall flat, like in Justice League.

I think the fact that this movie was given freedom from the Warner Bros to do its thing and the fact that David had a vision to make a tonally focused film all contribute to this movie's critical success. 

Overall the direction was solid and Sandberg is known to deliver creatively done movies with focused tones (especially in the latter department).

The Acting and Characters

Zachary Levi as Shazam/Captain Sparklefingers/Red Cyclone/Zap-tain America really does pull off a convincing 14 year-old in the body of an adult in his 20s or 30s. He has this really good energy and almost all the jokes he does land pretty well.

I think Freddy played by Jack Dylan who was also in IT(2017) is also kind of the star of the show, he is this character who is really crazy about superheroes, knows everything about them, has plenty of collectibles ranging from superman impaled bullet to a fake batarang.  He really did steal the show throughout the movie with the most funny and charming dialog and commentary on what Billy should do or not do. He at one point begins to upload videos of Billy testing out himself and his powers. He also does this thing, where he makes a checklist of what superpowers Billy has and what superpowers he doesn't.

The one flaw I think with this movie is that in the beginning, I didn't feel that normal teen Billy and Shazam Billy were even the same entity. Billy Batson, the kid is pretty dull and angsty but Shazam Billy is stupid and funny and is much more charming. I don't think it had anything to do with the actors, since the actor playing Teen Billy does really well during the more grounded and sadder scenes of the movie. I think just a bit of miss over there and fine otherwise.

Other than that all the characters, like the foster family consisting of some of the best foster parents ever in cinema along with the other children, like Pedro (who isn't given much to work with but apparently lifts weights), Darla (the crazy, cute over talkative little sister), Eugene (the asian kid with the smart stereotype who plays lots of video games and probably swears a lot) and Mary ( the older sister getting into college) all do really good jobs and actually belonged in the story. Made it more enjoyable than ever.

The Cameo and what It Means For the Future Of The DCEU

Now, I knew there was going to be as Superman cameo but I didn't really know how and in what case. But when the cameo happens you will have a huge smile on your face.

 It is pretty clear that DC is trying to do something different with its cinematic universe, there is an upcoming Joker Movie which is not at all connected to DC's suicide squad joker played by Leto. There is also another Suicide Squad film coming starring Idris Elba and directed by James Gunn which somehow also isn't related to the previous Suicide Squad. 

So, I think DC is trying to make a cinematic universe which is not connected but instead in a multiverse of sorts, like the comics with different worlds and series.

I think its kinda fun and I'd like to see where they are headed.

Conclusion; 4/5 (totally a must watch film)

Way better than the previous DCEU films, probably the best one out of all the ones so far present in the DCEU. Hopefully more such movies can be expected from DC and hopefully there can also be an adaptation of Batman who doesn't kill anyone. (im begging Warner Bros)

Hopefully this film does well at the box office