Shazam!

“Speak my name so that my powers may flow through you!”

Shazam

DC’s recent history has been disappointing with films such as Suicide Squad and Justice League. It was especially after Justice League I was pretty much ready to call it quits with DC, but I think Warner Brothers has finally found some footing for their string of superhero films. Shazam is essentially “Big” meets Superman, and ended up being a super awesome and fun ride in the movie theater.

The film starts off with a boy being told by the wizard named Shazam that he is not good enough, and never will be, which sends him on a downward spiral for the rest of his life eventually causing him to resent the wizard and wanting all the power for himself. Later on, Billy Batson, a boy who thinks of himself unworthy, is gifted with extraordinary powers that cause him to turn from a 14 year old boy into a Superman-like figure with all the powers that go with it. With all the fairly serious superhero films we’ve had recently, it was really awesome seeing the joy and wonder of having superpowers through the eyes of a teenager.

Zachary Levi plays the adult version of the hero, so naturally this film is very funny and loaded with hilarious moments as he tries his best to portray having the mental capacity of a 14 year old. The segments where he is trying to figure out what his powers even are were some of my favorite moments of the film. As well as being goofy, this movie also gets some very heavy and serious moments that’ll hit you right in the feels. The entire younger cast also does a fabulous job, which isn’t too often when it comes to child actors. I also really enjoyed that even though there was a fairly large supporting cast, none of them felt like they didn’t belong. I do wish that they had been used a little more though, because I left not remembering most of their names.

Not too much negative to say about this one really, it was pretty solid. Fight scenes I thought were engaging and I didn’t find myself turning off my brain while watching any of it. It was funny through out, and downright goofy and fun for the in between parts, overall it was just a good time at the movies, and I’ll probably be seeing this one again in theaters. It is a shame that the DCEU didn’t work out fully, because I would have loved to have seen him react to meeting the rest of the Justice League. I’ll give Shazam a 8.5/10. And unlike the recent DC films, this one does have an end credits scene so make sure you stick around for that.