RATING: C
- RATED PG13 for language, intense sequences of action and suggestive material
- RELEASED: April 15, 2019
- RUNTIME: 2 hr. 12 min.
- WRITTEN BY: Henry Gayden
- DIRECTED BY: David E. Sandberg
- STARRING: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer, Djimon Hounsou
‘Shazam!’ is the newest film in the DC Universe, based on the titular character. Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is a teenage foster kid escaping from home, after home, in search of his real mother. On his way home from school one day, his train stops at a mysterious cave where he meets the ancient wizard, Shazam, who passes on his powers to Billy by having him say, ‘Shazam!’. Now, whenever Billy wants, he can morph into an adult body (Zachary Levi) that can fly, zap thunder and a slew of other superhero things.
For a while, Billy has fun exploring his powers with his superhero-obsessed foster brother, Freddy Freeman, (Jack Dylan Grazer) until they meet the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sirana (Mark Strong), who wants Billy’s powers for himself. I was really looking forward to ‘Shazam!’; he was one of my favorite comic books to read growing up, and the trailers made it look like a fun, colorful, superhero blast. Unfortunately, in my book, this is another disappointment from D.C.
It certainly has its upsides, though. Zachary Levi is great as Shazam! He’s very entertaining and likable. This movie shows why he should be cast more often. Jack Dylan Grazer from ‘It’ is also a lot of fun to watch. His character is very funny, and innocent and it’s interesting to see him talking about Batman, Superman, and Aquaman. He’s so obsessed that he has collected a bullet that was shot at superman and a replica Baterang. There are also some ok scenes, and a fun surprise at the end, but for me, the film fell flat. For one thing, although Asher Angel gives a fine performance, Bill Batson isn’t entirely likable. There is some emotion since he’s afraid of having trust in his new foster family, and since he’s looking for his mother, but he does some annoying and inexplicably rude things from time to time.
The villain, Dr. Sirana, is also wasted. They try to create a sympathetic back-story for him, but it doesn’t work. He goes from someone who you could almost connect with, to the average villain letting creatures known as “The seven deadly sins” jump out of his eye. Those creatures and Sirana’s cliché motives make Shazam! Become a very cliché movie which is my biggest problem with it.
There isn’t much that sets this movie apart from others in the superhero genre, which makes it forgettable in the end. So, besides some good performances, two likeable characters, some decent action, and a cool surprise ‘Shazam!’ is just lacking in originality, and it has an underdeveloped story making it hard to become invested in it.