I solemnly swear, no more Zack Snyder-verse comments in future reviews.
"Shazam!" follows 14 year old foster kid Billy
Batson, whom after sticking up for his new fister brother in the face of
bullies, find himself chosen to inherit the powers of the ancient wizard
Shazam, who protects humanity from malevolent mystic forces.
When the spiteful and bitter Dr. Sivana's (Mark Strong)
lifelong obsession leads him to discover Shazam's lair, releasing 7 demons that
he had imprisoned in the process, Batson has to learn to use his newfound
abilities, activated by uttering the wizard's name, to become the adult-bodied
superhero formerly known as DC's Captain Marvel, while reluctantly leaning on
assistance from his newfound family whom he debates abandoning in the pursuit
of his oddly absent mother, who he was separated from as a toddler and has
spent his entire life chasing wherever possible.
The modern superhero genre may largely exist within a
nebulous range of appropriate material roughly for middle school ages and up
but the further it has moved towards adapting to cinematic sensibilities to
tell narratives in a more contemporary fashion, that sense of wonder and
humbling vulnerability brought about by watching gods among humans fighting to
protect the mortal world surrounding them, the more core characterizations of
the genre and aspects of its history have been lost in the name of
accessibility.
Enter “Shazam!,” a movie more unapologetic of its wish fulfillment
power fanstasy roots than any movie released in the last decade with the
possible exception of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”
Director David Sandberg may be best known for his creativity
with horror premises but his skills for infectious atmosphere and striking
visual direction guide him well in a film that firmly embraces the nature of
its subject matter.
Similarly to the “X-Men” franchise’s “Deadpool,” “Shazam!”
aims for metatextual commentary on the superhero genre, which means that a lot
of its tropes, for better or worse, get played on the nose.
Existing within failed experiment of a shared narrative
informally known as the “DC Extended Universe,” the film pays a lot of lip
service to the legacy, iconography and tropes associated with DC’s most famous
cash cows. Batson’s brother Freddy drones on about the magnificence of these
heroes in a way that would imply they’ve undergone a multitude of publically
lauded, trope-tastic, larger than life, widely known adventures that falls
apart if you think about the movie Batman and Superman were actually featured
in regarding this setting.
Mark Strong really does his damndest to inject his presence
into a throw away villain role that never quite escapes being just that and despite
the charm apparent in Batson’s new foster family, the film doesn’t quite give
them all the development that would have made his adventure of accepting the
family he found rather than chasing the one he lost resonate as warmly as it
was clearly trying to.
Coupled with the above flaws is additionally a persistent
editing problem that these DCEU movies have consistently run into; “Shazam!”
clocks in at over 2 hours in length and is in desperate need of a 15 minute
trim or at the very least appropriate that time towards more character
development of the side cast.
While all of these flaws would be substantial marks on an
otherwise solidly crafted product however, they are firmly overcome by the brilliance
of the movie’s charming premise and execution.
Jack Dylan Grazer’s sincere admiration for superheroes and
earnest dorky vibe make him feel like an authentic and genuinely endearing fan
while also being a pleasant personality to be around and that charm remains
ever present among the rest of the family, whose involvement in Billy’s
adventure may feel a bit half baked but gets one hell of a pay off in one of
the best superhero movie climax’s since the heyday of these film’s being
director driven ala “Spider-Man 2” or “The Dark Knight.”
Above all else, while “Shazam!’s” antics may run a tad too
long in terms of overall runtime but the troubled but loveable Billy, portrayed
by Asher Angel and Zachary Levi in adult form, are a riot and a half to watch.
The character is consistently funny, charming, and relatable
in the way only a good natured but rambunctious teenage boy receiving the most
useful set of superpowers could possibly be but not backing away from his human
sense of selfishness and immaturity that he still has to outgrow.
The humor, heart, and energy are propelled forward by action
sequences that are limited in quantity but exciting and to the point in their
make up to present a wholesome family feature that almost feels like the sort
of inspirational genre filmmaking of a bygone era from over two and a half
decades ago.
The larger than life, continuity driven, large scale epics
were nice for a time but I couldn’t feel more refreshed after coming out of a
movie that not only accepts that it was born from power fantasy but outright
owns the identity and celebrates the need for it to grant us catharsis to be
our better selves.
8 Hand Lightning Bolts out of 10
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