Shazam!

Rating

Director

David F. Sandberg

Screenplay

Henry Gayden, Darren Lemke

Length

2h 12m

Starring

Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Adam Brody, Djimon Hounsou, Faithe Herman, Meagan Good, Grace Fulton, Michelle Borth, Ian Chen, Ross Butler, Jovan Armand, D.J. Cotrona, Marta Milans, Cooper Andrews, Ethan Pugiotto, John Glover, Landon Doak, Wayne Ward

MPAA Rating

PG-13

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Review

When the world around you is bleak and the chances of success are diminished, Shazam! comes along to enrich your life and protect you from the drudgery of the universe around you. The film is ultimately a fitting metaphor for its own placement in the Warner Bros. slate of superhero films.

The biggest difference between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is lightness. While the original Superman films were fairly lighthearted and accessible, starting with Tim Burton’s Batman in 1989, Warner has embraced the darkness inherent in the gritty crime universe of Batman. This has seeped into nearly every other subsequent DC film and has been especially commonplace in the DCEU. Even films like Wonder Woman and Aquaman have grimy elements and bleaker environments. Shazam! is the lightest film the DCEU has come up with so far and would fit perfectly into the MCU style of filmmaking.

With prior films Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation as his only influence, director David F. Sandberg’s previous style would have been a fitting addition to the existing DCEU slate, but what he’s managed to turn out with Shazam! is a sometimes-fluffy, friendly, accessible film that can please audiences of all ages and even permit them in without a parent or guardian. The concept of the film is that of an ancient mage looking to impart his knowledge into a suitable human vessel, but who is struggling to find one that is pure of heart. One of his prior trial subjects (Mark Strong in adulthood) spends his entire life searching for a way to take control of the promised magic powers that he believes he was deserving of, but which the mage denied him. After he releases the 7 deadly sins that the magician was guarding, the wizard imparts his powers in the next kid he summons: Billy Batson (Asher Angel), not a bastion of purity due to his almost petulant self-reliance.

Billy is a foster kid constantly searching for his mother who he became separated from at a carnival. Transferring from one foster family to another, he finally ends up in a house with five other foster kids of varying ages, one of whom imparts in him his knowledge of all things superhero. The training becomes even more aggressive and urgent once Billy becomes Shazam!, embodied in adult form by Tony Award nominee Zachary Levi, who rose to geekdom fame thanks to his starring role in the television pop culture sensation Chuck. Levi gives one of his best performances as a perpetually-childlike superhero who must come to terms both with his immense new powers, but also with his need to depend on others, something he’s never excelled at.

While many of the plot turns are telegraphed in advance and Strong as the moustache-twirling villain is almost laughably over the top, Shazam! is a blissfully simplistic superhero yarn. Entertaining in spades and featuring segments of spectacular wall-to-wall visual effects, the film is a must watch for anyone who felt the DCEU was getting too dark for its own good. Although he hasn’t been fully embraced by the rest of the DCEU, he’s considered a part of it and it will be nice to see an expansion of the lighthearted nature of the character into the DCEU to bring to it some much needed levity and warmth.

Review Written

August 23, 2022

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