Spoiler-Free Movie Review: Shazam!
As a huge DC fan, I’ve been mildly anticipating Shazam! since it was announced. I followed the set videos and teases from the director David F. Sandberg (who is definitely worth following on social media), but I was worried that it was going to be a joke fest in the vein of many Marvel movies where they sacrifice emotional or epic beats in favor of a joke. Thankfully, that was not the case.
Shazam! nails every beat that it tries to hit. It’s a family movie in the truest sense as it follows foster kid Billy Batson (Asher Angel) as he is taken in by a new foster family including superhero geek Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer) who befriends Billy. Along the way, Billy is given the powers of the Wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) to become an adult superhero (Zachary Levi).
Angel and Levi both perfectly play Billy so seamlessly that you totally believe it’s the same person. Both of their dynamics with Freddy form the main heart of the movie and you feel for both of them as they go through both fun and difficult situations.
The rest of the foster family had larger parts than I expected and each member of the very diverse Shazamily has their own distinct personalities, goals and stand-out moments.
Mark Strong as Dr. Thaddeus Sivana joins the list of very strong DC villains. You completely get his motivations and he steals many scenes even when you root against him.
Like I said, this movie nails every beat it tries to hit. The humor is definitely there and while not every joke lands, the majority do and you will be laughing hysterically throughout the whole movie. In addition to humor, there are many great touching moments including some that are downright heartbreaking. There are also some great action scenes including a very exciting third act. It’s also a great Christmas movie with the holiday being very present in the movie. While this is definitely a movie for the whole family, there are many parts that might be to scary for some kids. If you can watch Jurassic Park and get through it, you’ll be fine here.
The music as fitting and heroic but didn’t stand out like in other DC movies. There was also some very creative shots and some great cinematography throughout the movie with some shots I’d want as a laptop background. If I had to nitpick there were some scenes that I think could’ve been trimmed down as they went on too long and the cgi was pretty iffy in some spots, but most people probably wouldn’t notice.
I’d highly recommend seeing Shazam! to anyone when it releases everywhere in April. Such a great movie that I can’t wait to see again! Rating: 9.5/10
