Shazam is a 2019 superhero film starring Zachary Levi and directed by David F. Sandberg. The film follows Billy Batson (Angel Asher), an abandoned foster child desperately looking for his mom any way he can. After being placed in a new foster home, Billy runs away and stumbles upon the ancient wizard Shazam. Deeming Billy to be pure of heart, he endows him with the powers of Samson, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, and Mercury. Upon shouting “SHAZAM”, Billy finds himself with super powers and transforming into a very buff, superhuman adult (Zachary Levi).
The acting in the movie was actually really enjoyable to watch. I loved the chemistry between Billy and his foster brother Freddie Freeman (Jack Dylan Glazer). Normally, I would hate child actors cause I find them very extra but I really loved watching the boy’s friendship grow and Billy accept the foster kids as family.
Levi was also super. Knowing him as Flynn Ryder from Rapunzel made listening to his voice a little challenging. I couldn’t hear him without picturing a smolder! He does such a good job playing a kid in an adult body it made me wonder if he was this way in real life. He worked so well with Grazer that my favorite part of the film HAD to be where Freddie and Billy (transformed into Shazam) are figuring out what powers he has. I loved the idea of making the Superhero movie modern through the use of streaming and youtube.
That said, I wasn’t a fan of the plot in general. I was very unfamiliar with the concept of Shazam and the movie didn’t help. I feel like the film had too much going on. I could tell there was a lovely message about family and how family appears where you least expect it, but it was really buried within the Superhero story of Shazam and who he is. Billy spends most of the movie running away and finding his mom, yet when he succeeds the film glosses over the shock and trauma that Billy must have gone through after all that effort. It felt like a rough draft that if the writers would have gone back to polish, could have been a winner. Finally, the villain wasn’t the best. Mark Strong is a wonderful actor, and you can really tell he was giving it his all…but I hated Sivana. I really found him so dumb like. He reminded me of a Superhero Captain Hook. His motive of simply being “unworthy” was too one-dimensional in this era where we need more complex characters
Shazam was meant to be the savior of the DC franchise. After the absolute fail that was the Justice League, DC needs a revenue boost before Wonder Woman 2. Despite the plot failures, I do think this was enough to help the company, at least a little. Would I go watch a sequel? Absolutely, I loved the actors and their chemistry. However, I would really hope they take a hint and go back to the drawing board…or give that board a look or two before hitting publish. Lemme know what you thought of Shazam in the comments below.
VG
Victoria.Eli.G 