With the DC ending the absolute dumpster fire that was their Extended Universe, the direction of their films has become very unpredictable. In a way, it is sort of freeing to have characters operate in a loose universe without the restrictions of being forcibly tied together. On the other hand, being the spoiled Marvel fan that I am, I believe that when connecting films in a franchise is done well, it adds a sense of personal attachment to the characters, stories, and films. Shazam! is now given this chance to succeed on its own operation. I dragged my feet to go see this in the theater, but in fact, I was pleasantly surprised.
Shazam! follows the story of Billy Batson, a child separated from his family. Billy has become a part of the foster care system, and has constantly rebelled. He is eventually moved into a home with several other foster children. Billy then stumbles upon a wizard who grants him the powers to be an adult superhero. he has to navigate what it means to be a hero, while still possessing the mind of a child.
Shazam! takes obvious inspiration and pays homage to Big (1988). This is depicted by the use of the famous piano from Big within the movie The coming of age story is literally about the separation between childhood and adulthood. The film shows the absolute cynicism that can prevail so much in the live of children who are not raised properly. Their adulthood can come so early when trouble rages in important stages of development. The best thing about Shazam! is the amount of personal consequence. Many superhero films are about saving the world. When the consequence is always the same, it loses meaning. Shazam! instead makes the potential losses of its hero all the more troubling by making it smaller and more dire to Batson. Zachary Levi was an inspired choice to play the title hero. Using his unique brand of juvenile comedy makes the film all the more fun and witty. Jack Dylan Grazer proves he is a wonderful youth talent after brilliant turns in IT and Beautiful Boy.
The things I did not like about the film were the rushed origin story of the villain. For some reason, Mark Strong's Dr. Sivana was not a menacing villain to me. His crew of lackluster CGI characters felt somewhat lamebrained and visually unappealing. The one thing I think the film struggled with as well was tone. The film's selling point is the infantile timbre, yet some of of the scene were down right startling and horrific. Knowing that many children would see the film, I felt the PG-13 rating might have been too light, yet an R-Rating would have been overdone.
It is a shame that DC films are simply judged by their ability to be cohesive, yet that it where I found myself judging them. Shazam! is the best modern film that DC has produced. It's wit, charm, and heart make it a unique turn on superhero films. It's themes of family and belonging never feel hackneyed throughout the film. However, it is welcome. Here's hoping DC makes more standalone entries such as this in the near future.
(Grade: 7.5)
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