“Shazam!” is the latest DC superhero movie, starring Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, and… others. After young foster child Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is granted mythical Tom Hanks in “BIG” powers by an ancient wizard, he finds himself on a journey of self-discovery and superhero misadventures and hey, we’ve got another pretty solid entry into DC’s cinematic offering!
Honestly, “Shazam!” is the quintessential “500 Words” movie. There’s not a lot to be said about it, and whereas usually I end up editing these pieces down to 500 words - my “Us” review currently sits at over 700 and I have no idea what to trim down - I feel like I’m actually stretching this one out to make my quota. It’s one of those movies that I enjoy in the theater and proceed to immediately forget by the time my popcorn bucket hits the bottom of the trash can.
This movie is overlong, with a lot of the scenes spent with Billy Batson feeling like filler until the next lightning bolt strikes and Shazam takes the screen. Levi really excels here, doing a great job of striking that balance between the naivety of a child in a man’s body with the physicality of someone as OP as old Supes himself. However, the best drama in the movie comes from Batson, with one particular scene between him and his mother being legitimately hard to watch. I didn’t even realize how much this scene was genuinely affecting me until I caught myself playing with my fingers, fidgeting with my recliner, and doing just about anything to avoid having to get invested in the on-screen drama.
Final thoughts:
I love most of the interactions between Billy and his foster siblings; there’s a twist on this relationship that I’m not gonna spoil here.
Does this movie feature a gaggle of menacing, muck-colored CGI demons? Hell yeah, it does! But props to the visual design department for making creatures that, while a little generic, are surprisingly unsettling to look at.
Okay guys, that’s about all I’ve got for “Shazam!” I’m gonna say the word and transform back into my disaffected, apathetic college student form.
“Shazam!”
Image & Info Sources:
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Shazam! IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt0448115/?ref_=ttmi_tt
Shazam! image 1:
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