Written by Corey Osborne
Shazam!, directed by David F. Sandberg and starring Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Mark Strong, is the newest hero to enter the DC Extended Universe and is by far the best film that it has offered.
Shazam! is a joy to watch; it’s a well-paced and exceptionally charming film. The film is cohesively edited and competently shot throughout its 132-minute runtime. I cannot stress the importance of editing enough. If a movie is not edited proficiently the story will not make sense. Poor editing has plagued recent DC films such as Suicide Squad (2016) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). I can happily report that this film is nearly perfect in those regards. The smooth filmmaking translates to a masterful narrative.
Shazam! tells the coming-of-age tale of 14-year-old Billy Batson (Angel), an orphan boy who constantly runs away from every foster home that he finds himself in. Billy learns how to navigate his life with a new foster family and a brand new set of bullies. As Batson goes through this he finds himself whisked into a world of heroism when a desperate wizard appears to him and grants him the various superpowers of Shazam!
The wizard is on a quest to find a human who is pure of heart. When he comes across Billy he sees something in him because Billy tells him that finding someone pure of heart is a fool’s errand because no one is truly pure of heart. The wizard is impressed with Batson due to his transparency. Although the wizard knows Billy is not pure of heart, he knows that Billy is his last hope to defeat the Seven Deadly Sins. When Billy calls upon the name of Shazam! he transforms into an adult and fully-fledged superhero.
Levi captures the childlike joy of a boy being transformed into a mighty hero. The film has a relatable and wonderful story to tell. It’s exactly what we need when most of the films in this genre have to do with half of the world’s population getting decimated by an oddly-Josh-Brolin-looking alien, and two men in spandex asking each other if they bleed. All jokes aside Shazam! is a movie about finding your family and it’s a wonderful change of pace.
Billy’s new foster family is the heart and soul of this film. Their chemistry is so vibrant and special and their family unit adds a layer of relatability to the film. All of the children are talented, but Jack Dylan Grazer’s Freddy Freeman is the standout. Freddy is Billy’s superhero-worshiping foster brother. He’s the comedic backbone of the film, and as the story unfolds, seeing these brothers grow together is a delight.
When Billy gets the powers of the wizard Shazam, he turns to Freddy to teach him how to hone his abilities. They do what most 14-year-olds would do in such a monumental situation – they buy beer, immediately spit it out, get into a horde of shenanigans, and film all of it like Youtube vloggers. Unfortunately, the boys are blissfully unaware of the imminent danger headed their way.
Strong’s Sivana is the baddie of this film; his jealous rage is a force to reckon with. Sivana is imbued with the power of the Seven Deadly Sins and also believes that he’s worthy of the abilities that Billy possesses. This jealousy drives him to do heinous acts merely in the pursuit of power. There’s no ambiguity to his sinister nature. He’s straight-up evil and Billy needs to defeat him.
There’s a fascinating dichotomy between Billy and Sivana. In a lot of ways, Billy could’ve become someone just like him if he didn’t have the support of his foster family. The parallelism makes it all the more effective when Billy denies that way of thinking by embracing the heroic side of him. Which means Shazam must take down the villainous Sivana.
If there’s a minor nitpick that I have with this film, it’s that the final showdown between Shazam and Sivana suffers from being too fast and CGI heavy at the end. The Seven Deadly Sins look like PlayStation 3 video game minions. Seeing these lifeless characters duke it out with our hero would’ve been a lot more pleasing if the animation was better.
Shazam! is an ode to anyone who has lacked a sense of belonging in their lives. This film tells the viewers they don’t have to be pure of heart to be a hero, they just need to do the right thing and rely on the people who will always be there for them. Shazam! is a ridiculously grand time at the movies, and I give it a 9/10.
