It seems unreal that only 3 short years ago, DC couldn't seem to figure out how to launch an answer to the MARVEL Cinematic Universe with two of the biggest superheroes of all time. Now, after the DCEU that stumbled out the gate with Batman v Superman has morphed into something completely different in the wake of Wonder Woman and Aquaman's success, the comics titan has taken one of their more off-beat and weird properties and delivered what is somehow both a familiar throwback while also being singular in the genre and helping to carve out a new space in the superhero sandbox, while also completely re-contextualizing what "a DC movie" can be.
Shazam! - based on the comics of the same name that used to be called "Captain Marvel," (no, not that one - comics are weird) - is a film that colors inside familiar lines but really makes its mark in the finer details. The concept of a down-on-his-luck foster kid who gets magic powers from a wizard and can turn into an adult superhero simply by saying a magic word is about as potent a concept as you get, partly because it's so brilliantly on-the-nose as a summation of the power fantasy that draws people to these stories in the first place. But the comics of Captain Marvel/Shazam are also full of a lot of dense, fluid mythology packed with aliens and magic and oddities from multiple iterations of the character and even multiple publishing companies. So, how did the filmmakers reconcile this into a workable narrative?
By duct-taping Rocky and Deadpool together and throwing them at Superman. Obviously.
At its heart, Shazam! is the story about how children can be broken or reborn by familial trauma, and how that cycle can perpetuate. The "dark version of the hero" is an easy mold for villains in this genre, but here we get to see the defining moments of both Thaddeus Sivana and Billy Batson dramatized meaningfully and followed up on confidently by the film's narrative. Director David F. Sandberg may have cut his teeth on horror (and, when the film calls for an edge, it shows - beautifully), but his primary tool here is empathy for the lost children that fill the story. As a boy, Sivana was offered power, but had magic stripped away from him when he showed his susceptibility to temptation, but still grew up with wealth and a family. Billy lost his mother and has been searching for her ever since, bouncing around foster homes, refusing the offer of any "made" family when he feels compelled to find his way back to flesh and blood.
This drive is the secret sauce to making Billy a well of empathy instead of a jerk that the audience wants to smack upside the head. His first scene is him conning a pair of police officers, but he's doing it to get access to their database to look for his mother. Asher Angel plays Billy with a very clear vulnerability that he's never able to conceal with a quick barb or an easy joke, and he just can't stop himself from doing the right thing. It's for this reason that he comes to the attention of the Wizard Shazam (Djimon Honsou, 2 for 2 on Captain Marvel movies this year), magical protector of Earth and guardian against the Seven Deadly Sins. Desperate to find a new champion, he imbues Billy with the Wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury (get it?) any time Billy says the magic word.
And, being a teenage, the first thing Billy does is use his powers to become a viral video star, drink beer, and visit strips clubs. One of the ways this film feels different is how its tied to both the city of Philadelphia and the every day experience of working class hard-luck families. The foster home that Billy has landed in is multi-ethnic and bilingual and feels comfortable, but in the way that feels scraped together and packed in rather than luxuriant. The kids all have odd little quirks (Jack Dylan Glazer being a standout as Freddy Freeman, who Billy bonds with almost against his will) that make them feel like the sort of family you'd roll your eyes at but would absolutely fight for. Angel has to both pull off being a bit of a shit about this while also showing that he's invested in this home even before he knows it, and he nails it. The kid has to do some major dramatic heavy lifting in the third act that gives the movie the kind of emotional core this genre usually struggles to find.
It's also FUNNY AS HELL. Zachary Levi as Adult Billy/Shazam is a "kid in a grown-up body" turn to equal Tom Hanks in BIG, and is having a lot of fun both with the satirical "yeah, that's absolutely would happen if you turned a teenager into Superman" material in the 2nd act, but also acts as both a solid comedic and dramatic foil for Mark Strong's Sivana. Strong is a veteran villain of the big screen at this point, but he finds both the kernel of the broken kid to reveal from time to time as well as throwing himself down whenever the film needs to take his legs out from under him while still exuding genuine threat and menace. There's been plenty of talk about this film feeling like an Amblin joint - and it's absolutely the post-E.T. '80s genre convention of "kids are basically superheroes" taken to its literal extreme - but nowhere is that more apt than how the film will revel in a genuinely puckish nastiness when called for. . . only to turn on a dime and offer a huge crowd-pleasing moment.
There are places I absolutely never expected Shazam! to go, but not only does it go there with a shocking confidence, but once the film arrives at its requisite Act 3 Dust-up, the dramatic inevitability of what the movie has taken the time to set up gives everything from one-off comments about carnival prizes to superpower "training" to even archetypal encounters with school bullies the extra weight needed to land a haymaker of a finale. Kids of a certain age are going to absolutely lose their fool minds for this, and most older audiences may find themselves wondering why it took so long for someone to crack this concept. This is a movie that could have batted a solid double and it would have been "enough," but it cares enough to put in the work and go the extra mile to be something special.
Which, honestly, is what you have to do with all kids - magic or not.
By duct-taping Rocky and Deadpool together and throwing them at Superman. Obviously.
At its heart, Shazam! is the story about how children can be broken or reborn by familial trauma, and how that cycle can perpetuate. The "dark version of the hero" is an easy mold for villains in this genre, but here we get to see the defining moments of both Thaddeus Sivana and Billy Batson dramatized meaningfully and followed up on confidently by the film's narrative. Director David F. Sandberg may have cut his teeth on horror (and, when the film calls for an edge, it shows - beautifully), but his primary tool here is empathy for the lost children that fill the story. As a boy, Sivana was offered power, but had magic stripped away from him when he showed his susceptibility to temptation, but still grew up with wealth and a family. Billy lost his mother and has been searching for her ever since, bouncing around foster homes, refusing the offer of any "made" family when he feels compelled to find his way back to flesh and blood.
This drive is the secret sauce to making Billy a well of empathy instead of a jerk that the audience wants to smack upside the head. His first scene is him conning a pair of police officers, but he's doing it to get access to their database to look for his mother. Asher Angel plays Billy with a very clear vulnerability that he's never able to conceal with a quick barb or an easy joke, and he just can't stop himself from doing the right thing. It's for this reason that he comes to the attention of the Wizard Shazam (Djimon Honsou, 2 for 2 on Captain Marvel movies this year), magical protector of Earth and guardian against the Seven Deadly Sins. Desperate to find a new champion, he imbues Billy with the Wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury (get it?) any time Billy says the magic word.
And, being a teenage, the first thing Billy does is use his powers to become a viral video star, drink beer, and visit strips clubs. One of the ways this film feels different is how its tied to both the city of Philadelphia and the every day experience of working class hard-luck families. The foster home that Billy has landed in is multi-ethnic and bilingual and feels comfortable, but in the way that feels scraped together and packed in rather than luxuriant. The kids all have odd little quirks (Jack Dylan Glazer being a standout as Freddy Freeman, who Billy bonds with almost against his will) that make them feel like the sort of family you'd roll your eyes at but would absolutely fight for. Angel has to both pull off being a bit of a shit about this while also showing that he's invested in this home even before he knows it, and he nails it. The kid has to do some major dramatic heavy lifting in the third act that gives the movie the kind of emotional core this genre usually struggles to find.
It's also FUNNY AS HELL. Zachary Levi as Adult Billy/Shazam is a "kid in a grown-up body" turn to equal Tom Hanks in BIG, and is having a lot of fun both with the satirical "yeah, that's absolutely would happen if you turned a teenager into Superman" material in the 2nd act, but also acts as both a solid comedic and dramatic foil for Mark Strong's Sivana. Strong is a veteran villain of the big screen at this point, but he finds both the kernel of the broken kid to reveal from time to time as well as throwing himself down whenever the film needs to take his legs out from under him while still exuding genuine threat and menace. There's been plenty of talk about this film feeling like an Amblin joint - and it's absolutely the post-E.T. '80s genre convention of "kids are basically superheroes" taken to its literal extreme - but nowhere is that more apt than how the film will revel in a genuinely puckish nastiness when called for. . . only to turn on a dime and offer a huge crowd-pleasing moment.
There are places I absolutely never expected Shazam! to go, but not only does it go there with a shocking confidence, but once the film arrives at its requisite Act 3 Dust-up, the dramatic inevitability of what the movie has taken the time to set up gives everything from one-off comments about carnival prizes to superpower "training" to even archetypal encounters with school bullies the extra weight needed to land a haymaker of a finale. Kids of a certain age are going to absolutely lose their fool minds for this, and most older audiences may find themselves wondering why it took so long for someone to crack this concept. This is a movie that could have batted a solid double and it would have been "enough," but it cares enough to put in the work and go the extra mile to be something special.
Which, honestly, is what you have to do with all kids - magic or not.
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