"Dude, I’m a Superhero!"
Shazam
Rating: PG-13
A strong 4 out of 5
Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is our first (and most important) introduction in this super story. From a young age, [Billy] has been placed with numerous foster families, each of whom retain the hope of fulfilling the love and care a child needs in their life. However, the street-smart teen has plans of his own to reunite with his long lost mother, in the hopes of reestablishing one of life’s strongest said bonds. In light of this seemingly noble agenda, Billy never plans on staying in any household longer than he has to, consequently skipping each prospective pair of parents, helping himself to all of the patience and generosity of these good people.
After escaping again for the very last time, Billy is assigned to live with a final foster family, before his set of petty crimes comes back to bite him. Upon arrival, his new siblings project all of the excitement and friendliness to him in the world, but Batson, with his unwavering view, assumes this will be one of his quickest departures yet.
The first day of school involves boredom and bullies as he gets into a fight with some older knucklehead kids beating on his disabled brother. A prolonged pursuit on foot leads to Billy’s smug subway evade from the angry thug boys. But what starts out as a regular metro ride, quickly morphs into a strange and speedy event, that inevitably leads him to stop in a torch lit cave. Deciding to explore the bizarre setting, he walks to an opening where finds and ancient temple, with an even older wizard is found in regal residence. The figure, grown weak, explains that he brought [Billy] there to transfer his powers to him, amidst an immensely impending evil, and in so doing making him one of the most powerful protectors of the universe. Shazam.
Billy ignorantly accepts, by speaking the sorcerer’s name—“Shazam”—and finds that he has transformed from a 15-year old boy, to an invincible, red suited powerhouse (played by Zachary Levi) with abilities of astonishing magnitude. And in an adventure filled with lighting and laughs, Billy returns home to recruit the help of his handicapped, but knowledgeably nerdy brother, Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer)to help figure out answers to questions ranging from “do you have laser vision?” to “why was I given these powers? What is so special it me?”.
Shazam was a super fun film, delivering tons of humor, while still giving a compelling narrative that kept my interest afloat. I feel like this was really the film that finally detached itself from the infamous stigmatic phrases of “oh, another DC film…”, or “I hope this isn’t as crummy as Justice League… ”. Likewise, I think the character of Billy Batson (aka Shazam) relates to audiences (especially on the younger side) better than a vengeful billionaire [Batman], an goodhearted super alien [Superman], or even a majestically powerful demigod [Wonder Woman].
Of course, these heroes each offer unique messages and tales of their own, but a teenage foster kid that is granted amazing abilities and powers overnight is a rather interesting premise, personally. Everyone goes through tough and confusing times in their adolescent years, and watching a kid in the body of a god, having to deal with these challenges, as well as decisions of heroism and newfound popularity, is hilarious, but at the same time sincere. A key factor in dealing with overcoming those difficult times is surrounding yourself with those closest to you in all of the world; who care about you the most. Your family. This is another underlying theme that is heavily proclaimed, in that family can be found anywhere, and never is that word strictly tethered to biology.
Zachary Levi was so funny, perfectly fitting that immature role with endearing ease and skill. The presence of evil in this film was also very original, and horrific, making for a worthy antagonistic force, for the most part (I’d elaborate, if not for spoilers). Eat that Steppenwolf! So, not that this film didn’t contain any errors, or cheesy lines, throughout, but over all, Shazam is a very entertaining and humorous film, which holds up in a uncharacteristically current manner (at least on the part of DC Studios) featuring many fun pop culture and trend references, portraying the true (and sometimes unconventional) meaning of family, and (not to over stress, but) just giving us a hydrated movie, as opposed to the painful anti-films of the studios past decade of filmmaking. I really appreciated the self, almost, mockery that DC gave itself throughout this film. It was as if they were saying to audiences, “Hey guys, I know the majority of out films haven’t been great, but here’s something new and awesome that we can put all our past troubles behind, and move forward with”. Now is that what they actually said? Let’s hope so, for their sake, and, God knows, for our sake. We give our praise, and wish the best as the studio hopefully moves on with this momentum. Thanks for a good one. Cheers!
