Shazam! mini movie review

 

Rating: A-

In some unknown realm in a hideaway lair sits the Wizard Shazam, aging, alone, desperate for an heir.  The World is on the verge of chaos and a champion must be found.  Meanwhile Billy Batson is a boy on the run, desperate for a family and a home, in and out of foster care.  After a course of events (simply stated, you know, spoilers), Billy is chosen.  A 14 year old boy who, when he shouts "SHAZAM!", becomes an adult superhero. Zachary Levi brings the fun, and seriousness, to this new Shazam, an adult kid learning to harness his powers.

In Shazam! we find ourselves watching a more lighthearted DC superhero movie mixed with a little 1988 "Big", humor, a family tale, and horror fantasy.  But don't let the movie trailers fool you, there is still a darker element to this big screen superhero telling.  It's not all jokes and fun as a boy discovers how to become a hero.  There's a real balance in tone between hero and villain, electric light facing grim envious dark.

Shazam! really is a fun movie.  A nice departure for DC who tends to take themselves seriously at times.  Unlike the other DC heroes we've gotten to know through the years, Shazam is lesser known, but equally deserving of our time and attention.  Though he wasn't in Justice League, I'm glad we got a proper introduction to his interesting origins.

And, with this being a DC film, we get to see the other side of this superhero universe from those on the outside looking in.  There's nods to all the other heroes.  Backpacks.  Memorabilia.  Souvenirs.  Newspaper clippings.  Even if you didn't know this was a DC film, there's acknowledgments here and there to Superman and Batman all over the place.

It's nice seeing a movie focus positively on family, as family is a strong thematic element.  In Shazam! we see a family made up of foster kids, which is really nice to see attention placed on some of the difficulties kids can face in the foster system, but also positive elements as well.

For those with kids, this is a PG-13 movie, and it earns its rating.  You might want to see it first and then decide if you want to take your kids, and then you'd be seeing it twice: win-win.

(PS. Stay for the very end of the end credits.  There's more than just the mid credit scene, and I'm amazed how many people left the theater and missed it!)

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action, language, and suggestive material.