DC-WooHoo - Shazam!

With The New Mutants actually having coming out last week, I decided to do some variety of superhero review. Then I remembered my odd relationships with the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), and so I decided to review a good movie and a bad movie from it. There are plenty of both to choose from at this point. And for the good, let’s Shazam!

Directed by David F. Sandberg and written by Henry Gayden, Shazam! adapts the DC superhero with the most convoluted publishing history ever. Billy Batson, a foster kid from Philadelphia, is summoned by a mysterious wizard-like figure and becomes Shazam, a god in human form who can fly and shoot lightning. Initially going for online fame, he soon must face manifestations of the Seven Deadly Sins, lead by the evil Dr. Sivana (Mark Strong). Hilarious antics follow in what is the best DCEU movie to date.

So if you read my review last week of the Spider-Man films, you’ll remember how I described them as an inherently ridiculous idea expressed in a realistic manner in order to get maximum relatability from the audience. That pretty much defines Shazam! – an insane idea with the same presentation as a regular movie. And it works in spades.

It’s true that from a cinematography and production standpoint, Shazam! is the least visually impressive out of all of the DCEU movies. But that’s kind of the point – it’s trying to be a low-scale, relatable story about maturity and youth. Much of the movie is shot not with the intention of creating something grand, but with creating a grounded world which allows the actors and story to flow realistically and spontaneously, like the MCU Spider-Man/Ant-Man movies.

Shazam! goes above and beyond when it comes to comedy and writing. The comedy of this movie never resorts to cheap jokes and always comes at a constant frequency, providing plenty of laughs while also progressing the story at the same pace. It also goes for a bit of metahumour about superheroes and social media, but thankfully never tries to do it in a mocking or condescending way (which I’ll get to in the other DCEU review this week).

And I love how director David F. Sandberg is always keeping the scenes energetically moving and varied in tone and impact. It’s never a single-style-or-tone movie like Batman v Superman, ensuring that the movie and therefore the audience reception as well is developing as the movie goes from A to B. That way, the movie makes a lot more impact and bores much less than some of the other DCEU films on the list.

In terms of casting, this movie mostly excels. Zachary Levi is pretty much perfection as a child transformed into magic Superman, nailing all of the little quirks and silliness that you would see in a child on the street. And all of the child actors give such good performances, especially Jack Dylan Grazer as Billy’s sardonic foster brother Freddy. Even director Sandberg shows up in two excellent cameos in the movie as a dapper crocodile and a telepathic worm.

There are two annoyances in the casting for me, however. The first is Djimon Hounsou as the original Shazam who gives Billy his powers, because although I love Hounsou as an actor, he has nothing to do in this movie except wear an awful fake beard and deliver exposition. Meanwhile, Mark Strong, normally an excellent villainous actor, gives a bland and surprisingly boring performance as the villain Thaddeus Sivana, with the only saving grace of Sivana being the giant CGI monsters surrounding him.

Shazam's surprisingly disappointing villain.

Shazam! also works really well on an emotional level as well. Writer Henry Gayden is always finding new ways for at least the protagonists to continue to develop on an emotional level, much in the same way that Sandberg is continually varying his direction of different scenes. It clearly shows that there was a lot of motivation and love going into this project.

Guys, I love Shazam!. I had so much fun watching it, and I think it’s the best DCEU movie so far, with only a few gripes with the villain and casting keeping it from excellence. It’s also a great Christmas movie, if you’re into that kind of thing.

I’m going to give it an A-.

What in your opinion, is the best and worst film in the DCEU? Leave your answers in the comments below.