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| Courtesy of Warner Bros. |
Wonder Woman was the first indicator that things might be turning around. Not only because it featured actors who proved they had more than one facial expression, but also because the studio hired a director who actually understood the character and what she represents. What a concept!
A similar thing happened with Aquaman. It had its problems to be sure, but it was also a fun, weird (if overlong) reminder that comic book movies work better when they’re not a grim slog through existential despair. Now that Warner Bros. is finally listening to viewers’ concerns (or, more likely, noticing they’re not handing over their wallets and purses), the studio seems to be leaving Zack Snyder’s particular brand of emo, Randian brooding in the rearview mirror. Hallelujah.
That even extends to the title of the latest DC superhero flick: Shazam! Notice the exclamation mark at the end. It practically screams, “Look! Fun! Please like us!” It also helps that the main characters are the people comic books were created for in the first place – kids.
(Before I get inundated with angry e-mails… I know, I know. Plenty of grown-ups like comics too, myself included. And there are plenty of comics designed for mature audiences. But when you try to make a mega-budget blockbuster that ignores the genre’s roots, you get Superman’s dad telling him to let a school bus full of kids drown because regular people don’t matter as much.)
Look no further than the official synopsis of Shazam! to see what I mean. I usually try to put my own spin on plot summary, but I think it’s important to stick to the text from the film’s website in this case:
We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s (Asher Angel) case, by shouting out one word – SHAZAM! – this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult superhero Shazam (Zachary Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard. Still a kid at heart – inside a ripped, godlike body – Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them!
Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands? Can he skip his social studies test? Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child. But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong).
I mean, come on. That sounds like an ad from the 1990s trying to sell me a new flavor of Mountain Dew. And I don’t mean that as a complaint – it’s an accurate representation of the movie, which is mostly a blast. Besides, I can almost picture Snyder reading those words, seething for a moment and then ripping a phone book in half. Not gonna lie, that image makes me smile.
The cast is fantastic, especially Jack Dylan Grazer, who plays Billy’s new superhero-obsessed foster brother. The young actor was a standout in 2017’s IT remake (he’ll also appear in the sequel later this year), and he plays a similar type here – only slightly less foulmouthed.
Angel is solid, carrying the first third of the film on his capable shoulders, and Levi is terrific as his adult incarnation. He’s basically playing a variation of his character from NBC’s Chuck, except as a superhero instead of a spy. He also threw in quite a bit of Tom Hanks in Big. Angel and Levi both establish a strong rapport with Grazer, and it’s amusing to watch how he changes up his performance depending on which version of Billy he’s interacting with.
For most of the movie’s running time, I kept thinking Shazam! felt like a superhero version of the early-2000s teen soap The O.C., which was also about a brooding teen who joins a nice family and befriends his new funny, motormouthed foster brother. Imagine my delight when a fun wink in the third act proved the filmmakers had a similar thought – I genuinely yelped in surprise.
Strong is clearly having a blast playing the villain, going delightfully over-the-top while also keeping the character from feeling too clichéd or one-note. However, many of his scenes prove Warner Bros. still has some kinks to work out when it comes to juggling the tone of these flicks. There’s a terrifying scene involving Strong’s character and a bunch of demons murdering a boardroom full of executives that I couldn’t believe made it into a PG-13 movie.
Parents should absolutely take the rating seriously. Just because Shazam! is about kids doesn’t mean it’s entirely kid-friendly. The language was a little coarser than I expected, and the villain’s graphic method of attack might be too much for younger viewers. Even though the movies are getting lighter, DC’s definition of PG-13 remains much different than Marvel’s.
But compared to the studio’s earlier attempts at franchise building, these are minor quibbles – especially now that the origin story is out of the way. Based on how the third act of Shazam! plays out, I wouldn’t mind spending more time with Billy, Freddy and the rest of their family.
Shazam! is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action, language, and suggestive material.
Grade: B-
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