Shazam! is my favorite DC Universe movie and possibly my favorite superhero movie since Logan. However, this is about as far from Logan as a superhero movie can get. I have heard many people say that this just looks like a kid’s movie. Well, yeah. That’s what this character should be. Not every character is freaking Batman, and I’m glad that DC is finally learning that lesson. This reminds me of a kid’s movie from when I was growing up. It’s lighthearted, but not stupid. It’s funny, but knows when it needs to be serious. And, overall, it’s just a hell of a lot of fun.
A quick history lesson is needed because I will be referring to this character as Captain Marvel because that’s what I know him as and that’s his actual fucking name. Shazam is the name of the wizard and the word that the kid says to draw upon the powers of six elders/gods (Shazam is an acronym for Solomon-Hercules-Atlas-Zeus-Achilles-Mercury), not the name of the hero himself. Captain Marvel first appeared way back in Whiz Comics #2, published in 1939 by Fawcett Comics. The character was incredibly popular, becoming the #1 selling comic book in the 1940s and he was even the first superhero to appear on film in the 1941 serialized film Adventures of Captain Marvel. However, DC Comics sued on the grounds that the character was too similar to Superman. It was settled out of court and Fawcett agreed to stop publishing the character. Ironically, DC purchased the character in 1972 and reintroduced him. Only problem was that Marvel Comics had emerged by that point and introduced their own Captain Marvel (no, still not that one; the original Marvel version of Captain Marvel was an alien named Mar-Vell). So, DC agreed to start naming and marketing the character’s comics under the name Shazam to avoid confusion, even though the character himself was still named Captain Marvel. That’s why there is a running joke in this movie that nobody knows what to call the character.
Moving on. The plot of the film is basically a superhero version of Big, which is exactly how the comics work. The wizard Shazam is growing weak and looking for a human champion to receive his powers. He eventually summons a 14-year-old orphan named Billy Batson, who proves to be pure of heart and receives the ability to transform into a hero by saying the magic word. He has to learn how to use his new powers while adjusting to life with his new foster family and must contend with the emergence of his first supervillain: Dr. Sivana. Sivana failed the wizard’s test as a kid and is now all grown up and possessed by the physical embodiment of the seven deadly sins.
My biggest concern going into Shazam! was the tone, but this movie nails it. Captain Marvel is a humorous and somewhat goofy character, and this movie embraces that. It isn’t ironic about it. It isn’t self-aware about it. It just is what it is, which is the perfect antidote to the cynical, meta bullshit that I sit through so much these days. This is basically a kid’s adventure film and is surprisingly funny. I laughed out loud several times, which is impressive for a cranky bastard like me. But, like an old-school kid’s movie like The Goonies or The Monster Squad or Flight of the Navigator, it knows when it needs to be serious. The villain does not joke around and people do die in this. The lack of pandering in that regard is refreshing. It’s also a surprisingly heartfelt film with both sad and uplifting scenes as Billy learns to trust his new foster family. At the end, it’s really a film about the value of family, whether by blood or not, and somewhat reminded me of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in that sense.
Zachary Levi is great as the adult Captain Marvel, effectively capturing the idea that this is a kid in a grown man’s body. His reactions to adult things, like drinking beer and talking to women, are among the funniest moments in the film. His young counterpart is also played perfectly by Asher Angel, and it’s really the chemistry between him and the other foster children that carries the heart of the movie. I won’t rundown all of the other kids, but they are all good and inject unique personalities into what ultimately becomes the Marvel Family (though I’m guessing they won’t be called that in the sequel). Mark Strong is a favorite of mine and injects just the right level of gravitas and danger into the film as Dr. Sivana. Similar to Michael Keaton in Spiderman: Homecoming, Strong is acting like he is in a completely different movie than everyone else. However, I found that dichotomy to be much more effective here because I consider the rest of the characters here to be far more endearing than in Spidey’s last outing.
If I have a nitpick, though, it is about Dr. Sivana. Not about the performance, but the character himself in the film. In the comics, Sivana is simply a mad scientist, similar to the Batman villain Professor Hugo Strange. He’s not a superpowered maniac that’s possessed by demons. It works purely in the context of the film and won’t bother you if you aren’t a comic nerd (like me), but this version of the character is Dr. Sivana in name only.
I highly recommend Shazam!, even for those that don’t usually like superhero movies. Frankly, I’m burned out on comic book movies and relieved to finally see one that does something different. If you have any of those child things around your house, they will probably like it too. Just don’t go into this expecting The Dark Knight or Logan. You will be disappointed. Go into it expecting a mix of a superhero movie, a comedy and an 80s kid’s movie and you should have a good time. If you don’t have a good time, then you might be visited by three spirits this Christmas. Tell them I said hi.
Image By: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shazam!_(film)#/media/File:Shazam!_theatrical_poster.jpg
