REVIEW: 

[Shazam and Freddy confront armed robbers in convenience store]
Shazam: Gentlemen... [robber shoots Shazam, the bullet ricochets off him]

Freddy Freeman: [filming on his phone] You have bullet immunity!

Shazam: [shocked] I'm bulletproof! [they both laugh before Shazam's expression suddenly turns serious]

Shazam: You're dead.
[robbers fly out the window in front of a couple]

Shazam: [walking out of store with junk food] Sorry about your window... but you're welcome for not getting robbed!

Freddy Freeman: Have a good night!

Shazam: [to couple] Oh hey, wassup? I'm a superhero!

One of the more popular names in superhero folklore has finally reached the big screen and is arguably the most lighthearted and fun DC film yet. My first reaction after seeing the trailers for this film was that it seemed quite silly. Then I was graciously schooled in the ways of Shazam and I learned that this is exactly what he is supposed to be, a young kid who is magically given super superhero powers out of the blue and his struggle with dealing with this gift in a mature way results in a silly, immature superhero. That is exactly what we get in this movie. Disclaimer, I’m not a big comic book guy but based on what I learned I would have to say that this presentation of Shazam is true to the comics. So yeah, we get the silly, we get lots of fun, and lots of funny too, some seriousness of course, a formidable villain, a sufficiently interesting origin story, and a very well developed focus on family and all its shapes and sizes. Family is the strong underlying story in this film and a driving force for a large part of the plot. It can be a heart-breaking letdown, an abusive prison, nothing more than a roof over our heads and a meal on a plate, or it can be a place of hope and unconditional love. Sometimes a family scenario can be the source of traumatic life experiences which can shape a person’s character for the rest of their lives. We get all this flavor in this one film.


So who can possibly play the role of a kid who is transformed into one of the most powerful superheroes? It has to be someone who is big and bulky to fill the physique of a superhero yet have a boyish face and childish demeanor that can believably be a young immature kid inside who acts unsurprisingly silly most of the time. May I present Zachary Levi who fills those shoes quite well. I’ve got to say that the casting for this film is one of the best aspects of it. Zachary did a great job with his title role and Mark Strong, well come on, it’s Mark Strong. I don’t think he has ever let me down with any role. I love Djimon Hounsou but I must admit this role was a little awkward for him. All the kids were great with special mention of Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy who was superbly witty and sharp, and Faithe Herman as Darla who is just the cutest thing, you’re going to want to give her a great big hug right back. Other than the casting, the special effects were pretty cool too. They kept up with all the goings on throughout the film, and there are a lot of goings on. Considering that this is only Director David F. Sandberg’s third mainstream film, two of which were horror flicks, he did a pretty good job of bringing Shazam to the big screen. As for the film overall, well let’s just say that I was hoping to be overwhelmed and I wasn’t, but I wasn’t underwhelmed either. The movie is good but not great, although there were some real jaw dropping moments for me personally. Most especially at the very end of the movie there is a little some some that left me like “WHAAAAT?!”