Shazam! is entertaining, colorful, and action-packed. With a strong focus on family, fully fleshed out characters, and a sense of fun, Shazam! is an excellent superhero origin story and one of DC’s best films to date.
Most people know the story of Superman arriving on Earth after his home planet Krypton was destroyed and the tragic backstory of Batman witnessing the murder of his parents when he was a child. But Shazam may be a DC superhero that non-comicbook readers know little about. When the trailer for Shazam! came out last year people began to wonder if it was possible. Could DC have produced an entertaining, colorful, and action-packed origin movie? It certainly appeared so. After a few discouraging movies, people were back on DC’s team and ready to see the new hero on his opening weekend. And they (most of them at least) were not disappointed!
Shazam! is indeed entertaining, colorful, and action-packed. It offers a likeable and relatable central character, outstanding supporting characters, and a credible villain. With a strong focus on family, fully fleshed out characters, and a sense of fun, Shazam! is an excellent superhero origin story and one of DC’s best films to date.
Official Description – “Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is a streetwise 14-year-old who can magically transform into the adult Super Hero Shazam! (Zachary Levi) simply by shouting out the word. His newfound powers soon get put to the test when he squares off against the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong).”
In addition to Angel, Levi, and Strong, Shazam! also stars Jack Dylan Grazer, Grace Fulton, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Marta Milans, Cooper Andrews, John Glover, and Djimon Hounsou and runs 132 minutes.
Though it may not look like any other DC film, Shazam! is technically the seventh installment in the DCEU following films like Wonder Woman and Justice League. And speaking of the DCEU . . . after much criticism from fans and critics alike towards earlier movies, DC seems to be taking a new approach: horror directors. James Wan, director of popular horror movies like Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring, directed last year’s Aquaman. Here, David F. Sandberg goes from directing Annabelle: Creation to Shazam!. It was recently announced that It Chapters 1 and 2 director Andy Muschietti will be directing The Flash due in 2021. And why not use horror directors to lead action films? As Sandberg notes in the special features of this release, setting the tone for a movie, albeit horror or humor or any other approach, is all about manipulating an audience’s emotional state. Hiring predominately horror-based directors is an interesting trend in the DCEU, but if the popularity of Aquaman and Shazam! is any indication, it seems to be working well for them.
Back to Shazam! –
Unlike many superhero origin stories, this movie opens with the backstory of its villain, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong). Viewers are introduced to a young child who is bullied by his family. The boy is magically transported to another dimension where a wizard (Hounsou) explains that he is looking for a champion who is pure of heart to fight against the Seven Deadly Sins (Note for parents: the Seven Deadly Sins are actual characters and their appearance could be frightening to younger children – definitely a PG-13). The boy does not pass the Wizard’s test and is sent back to his own world, but the knowledge of what could have been drives him to spend his life looking for the power offered not by the wizard, but by the Sins.
In the present day, viewers are introduced to 14-year-old Billy Batson (Angel). Billy has moved from foster home to foster home, but he hasn’t given up searching for his mother. He is introduced to his latest foster parents (Milans and Andrews) and taken to the group home they run. There he meets his new foster siblings: college-bound perfectionist Mary (Fulton), gamer and techie Eugene (Chen), quiet but kind Pedro (Armand), energetic and loving Darla (Herman), and Freddy (Grazer), a disabled, superhero-obsessed nerd who is Billy’s new roommate. It’s worth noting that foster families often get a bad rap in movies and tv shows, but that’s not the case here. Each member of Billy’s new foster family goes out of his or her way to make him feel safe and welcomed, though Billy isn’t ready to accept their kindness.
The two foster siblings viewers get to know best are Darla and Freddy. Darla lives to be the world’s best sister. She greets Billy with a hug and presents him with a “Welcome Home” sign despite not having actually met him yet. Her innocence and big heart make her not only a good sister, but one of the movie’s best characters. Freddy is also welcoming of Billy and shows him around school. Though he doesn’t want to connect with his new family, Billy can’t help but defend Freddy when he gets knocked down and repeatedly kicked by the school’s bullies.
Much like the boy at the beginning of the movie, Billy is transported to another dimension while running from the bullies. The wizard, however, has run out of time to find his champion. With little other choice, the wizard explains who he is to Billy and bestows his powers to him. Simply by saying “Shazam” Billy transforms into the hero Shazam (Levi) and has all of the wizard’s power. But Dr. Sivana is ready to fight the champion, powers or not.
One of the movie’s central themes is the role and importance of family, and it introduces an interesting contrast between its hero and villain to further stress that theme. Billy, who feels alone in the world, struggles to accept the family that wants to embrace him as one of their own. Dr. Sivana, on the other hand, rejects his family and seeks power and revenge instead.
And speaking of Billy’s foster family, each member is fully developed and fleshed out. On paper, this might sound like too much time spent on characters that aren’t the movie’s leads, but it doesn’t come across that way on screen. There is chemistry between the characters and their actors, and each member of Billy’s new foster family has a role to play in Billy’s story. Given the movie’s emphasis on the role of the family and the ability we have to choose “our family,” it’s fantastic that the movie spends as much time developing the foster family as it does.
The movie, though often dark at times, always comes back to its lighthearted and fun nature. Unlike a lot of superheroes, Billy is not begrudging or unwilling. He’s thrilled with his newfound powers and abilities, and, now in the body of an adult, Billy does what a lot of teenagers would do with that power. He buys beer, visits a strip club, raids vending machines, and skips school. Freddy, his superhero mentor, puts him through a hilarious series of tests to determine what his super powers actually are. Levi excels at playing a teenager struggling to pretend to be an adult, and the transition between Levi and Angel is flawless. Excellent casting across the board!
Overall, Shazam! is an entertaining and memorable movie. It’s a strong origin story for Shazam, but it introduces viewers to many other characters that they’ll want to see again and again. Though the story has a dark tone in many scenes, the movie always returns to the humor to keep everything balanced. Shazam! is a fun film and a strong entry in the DCEU catalogue.
Is There a Scene After the Credits?
As with most superhero movies these days, there are scenes after the credits start. A mid-credits scene introduces a new villain, and a humorous scene after the credits shows Shazam doing a new power test and throwing some shade at another popular DC hero.
Special Features –
The Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital combo comes in a special slip cover that features a holographic, two-in-one image. Look one way and see 14-year-old Billy Batson, but look the other way and you’ll see Shazam! It’s a nice feature.
As always, watch the movie before you check out the special features to avoid any spoilers.
The Blu-ray combo includes:
- SUPERHERO HOOKY (4:05) – This is an animated motion comicbook made for the movie in which Shazam attempts to explain to the school why he and his siblings had to miss class.
- The Magical World of Shazam! (27:09) – This unofficial mini-documentary looks at the direction, storyboarding, casting process, costuming, shooting, and special effects used for the movie.
- Super Fun Zac (3:19) – Due to his enthusiasm and childlike behavior, it turns out Zachary Levi might have been having more fun than anyone else on set. He also worked in a lot of dancing between scenes!
- Gag Reel (3:16)
- Who is Shazam? (5:42) – This feature talks about the comicbook origins of Shazam and his arch-nemesis Dr. Thaddeus Sivana.
- Carnival Scene Study (10:23) – The cast and crew provide a look at the making of the movie’s big climactic, chaotic final battle.
- Shazmily Values (6:06) – This feature looks at the characters of Billy and his adoptive siblings, and the cast talk about feeling like a family on set.
- Deleted and Alternative Scenes (37:27) – Sixteen deleted and alternative scenes
- Deleted and Alternative Scenes With Director’s Intro(37:27) – The same sixteen deleted and alternative scenes are individually introduced by commentary from Director David F. Sandberg.
- “Wizard’s Prologue”
- “Alternate Opening”
- “Billy on the Subway”
- “Alternate Intro to Group House”
- “Alternate Dr. Crosby and Dr. Sivana Interviews”
- “Billy Sneaks Out”
- “New School With Darla”
- “Sivana Christmas Party”
- “Shazam and Darla Tea Party”
- “Alternate Lighting With My Hands”
- “Additional Montage Beats”
- “Freddy Hung From Locker”
- “Alternate Carnival Fight”
- “Freddy Flies By Airplane”
- “Family On Thrones”
- ”Alternate Ending Family Beats”
This is a great mixture of special features! “The Magical World of Shazam!” gives some nice additional information about the making of the movie. It’s also the only time viewers get to see actors Asher Angel and Zachary Levi on screen together. The feature also talks about the role of improvisation, the design of the Seven Deadly Sins, and the problems of shooting outdoors in Toronto during the winter. “Carnival Scene Study” gives insight on some of the movie’s biggest stunts. Viewers hear from stunt coordinator Kyle Gardiner (who was also the stunt coordinator for Aquaman). The director commentary on the deleted and alternative scenes is also quite informative and entertaining. Though cut because they didn’t fit well in the overall narrative, it would have been nice to see the scenes “Billy on the Subway” and “Shazam and Darla Tea Party” kept in the final cut. The subway scene would have helped to inform the kindness in Billy’s character earlier in the film, and the tea party scene just further adds to the cuteness and “good-sisterness” of Darla’s character. All in all, an excellent set of special features!
Takeaway
Shazam! is entertaining, colorful, and action-packed. It offers a likeable and relatable central character, outstanding supporting characters, and a credible villain. With a strong focus on family, fully fleshed out characters, and a sense of fun, Shazam! is an excellent superhero origin story and one of DC’s best films to date.
