Shazam!
/
asher angel
Zachary levi & Jack Dylan grazer
mark strong
[Shooting lightning bolts, to the tempo of the opening notes of “Eye Of The Tiger” from “Rocky” ]
Hands! Light-ning with my hands! Light-ning with my hands!
~ Shazam / Billy Baston
quick fox: A- | Silver
Shazam! is easily the funniest film of the DC Extended Universe, which is refreshing for a franchise that has prided itself on exaggeratedly dark and brooding characters. Not to say Billy Batson doesn’t have a tragic backstory, but this film treats it with an honesty that separates itself from what I’ve come to expect from DC. Shazam! works as a stand alone film; it’s perfect for anyone who isn’t too familiar with DC characters and entertaining to maybe convince some people to pay closer attention to DC in the future. (I’m definitely looking forward to seeing Billy Batson meet Aquaman.) Though it has several storyboarding problems and perhaps too lengthy of battle scenes, Shazam! is a pleasant surprises of 2019.
winding dragon
Our introduction to the latest DC Extended Universe superhero is teenager Billy Batson (Asher Angel) locking a pair of police officers in a store and stealing their lunch 1. Not the purest of actions, but there’s an understandable reason. Billy has spent a decade running from foster homes and social workers, still searching for his mother after he got lost at a New York carnival 2, using police scanners to hunt down addresses of women who match his mother’s name. But Billy has crossed 70 “Marilyn Bastons” off his list, and now he’s out of options. Billy is sent to a group home run by Rosa Vasquez (Marta Milans) and Victor Vasquez (Cooper Andrews), who are former foster children themselves and do their best to provide a loving home for their kids. There’s Mary (Grace Fulton), a high school senior heading off to college and served as the den mother of the group; Eugene (Ian Chen), an adolescent hacker who gets too intense with shooting games 3; Pedro (Jovan Armand), a shy kid with not much screen time; Darla (Faithe Herman), the youngest and most talkative of the band; and last but not least, Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer), a superhero enthusiast and confidant in Billy’s superhero exploits 4.
After escaping from a couple school bullies on the subway, Billy gets transported to the Rock of Eternity where a dying wizard (Djimon Hounsou), himself on a quest in search of a person pure of heart, gives Billy his powers by saying, “Shazam!” 5 Whenever Billy speaks the Ancient Wizard’s superhero name, he turns into a red-suited, yellow-caped crusader (Zachary Levi). Invigorated by being an adult with no adult responsibilities, Billy uses his powers to pose for selfies, make videos demonstrating his awesomeness, and just…showing...off. Hm. Basically, Billy has to grow up really fast 6. Unfortunately, time is not on his side. A magic-obsessed maniac named Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) has dedicated his life searching for the Rock of Eternity because once upon a time, the Ancient Wizard told young Thad that he would never be pure of heart. Naturally, Dr. Sivana decides to mind/spirit-bond with the Seven Deadly Sins (yes, literally) to enact his revenge on the world. …Maybe? 7 Anyway, when Dr. Sivana threatens Billy’s foster family, Billy’s flight or fight instincts are put to the test: choose to be part of a family or continue running for the rest of his life.
1. Stealing the policeman’s lunch was probably unnecessary. I guess it depends on what kind of fast food the policeman had. Also, I’m going to assume Billy has no allergy concerns, because it’s a bold move to steal someone’s lunch without knowing what’s inside.
2. One of the best parts about Shazam! is that it seamlessly shifts tone. Absolutely, Shazam! is first and foremost a comedy, but the DC Extended Universe’s biggest flaw thus far has been its ability to consistently provide substantial, emotional investment for its main characters. The flashback scene where we see four-year-old Billy Baston getting separated from his mother in the carnival crowd, chasing after a dropped compass, is arguably the most important moment for the audience. It provides context and balance to Billy’s flippant, rebellious personality, and sets up a really powerful character arc. The timing of the scene within the overall plot is fantastic too, because it isn’t the very first moment we see of Billy and neither is it so late in the plot that it feels trite. The scene allows the audience to breathe; even though Shazam! provides a lot of laughs, it also becomes heartfelt when it needs to be.
3. I doubt anyone else remembers this, but Eugene’s introduction where we hear him screaming “Die! Die! Die!” is straight up the same as that video game addict kid from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). At least, that’s what it reminded me of in the movie theater. (The Charlie and the Chocolate Factory scene is on YouTube if you need a refresher.)
4. The dynamic between teenage/adult Billy and foster brother Freddy is everything. I doubt Shazam! would have been very good without the chemistry between those characters, so kudos to Jack Dylan Grazer for being the perfect complement to both Asher Angel and Zachary Levi.
5. The Rule of Funny and the Rule of Cool works REAL hard with Shazam! It’s funny and entertaining enough that I forgive a lot of plot holes and weak characterizations. The most puzzling questions that aren’t ever explicitly explained in the film: What is the Rock of Eternity?Who is the Ancient Wizard? Why is he dying (at the beginning of the film — before some, er, stuff happens) when it seems like he’s supposed to be an immortal-ish being? Who decided that the powers of Shazam have to be given to a person pure of heart? How do they decided if someone is pure of heart? Why does that person HAVE to be a kid? What is the Ancient Wizard’s methodology for choosing the kids to summon to the Rock of Eternity? And why does the Ancient Wizard ignore ALL of the aforementioned rules to give his powers to BILLY BATSON when Billy is very clearly NOT pure of heart at the time he is given the powers? Also…why did the Ancient Wizard’s mother name him “Shazam?” And why does Billy have to say it in order to switch into the superhero form? In fact, why does everyone…oh wait, that’s kind of a spoiler. Never mind. *Sigh.
6. Easily my favorite scenes are Zachary Levi play a teenager turn into an adult who still acts like a teenager. It’s not as though teenage Billy doesn’t have his fair share of snarky comments, but Billy in his Shazam form is what we all paid to see. Zachary Levi is incredibly awkward as he stumbles his way through discovering the limits of his newfound powers — haphazardly shooting lightning bolts and doing an absolutely terrible job of concealing his identity — and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
7. As much as I enjoy seeing Mark Strong once again be typecast as a dead-serious, spy/villain, even he couldn’t save this role from being extremely confusing. Dr. Sivana proves the Ancient Wizard right (...wrong? I'm not really sure who proved what to whom in this scenario) by summoning the power of the Seven Deadly Sins and scheming to... Actually, I’m not sure what Dr. Sivana's endgame is. I doubt the film did either. Everything Dr. Sivana does in this story lacks focus, because the only reasons he wants Shazam’s powers are for personal vendettas, and the framing of his arc makes it seem like he wants them just to say he has them. There isn’t ever a moment where we’re told what he intends to do with those powers aside from waving them around like a trophy.