Shazam isn’t your typical superhero origin story. While it does show how the hero came about, it’s also a touching story about family and acceptance.
The film centres around Billy Batson (Asher Angel), a kid in foster care who’s moved from home to home – not because he’s not wanted but because he can’t settle as he’s looking for his birth mother.
After his last runaway attempt, Billy is brought to a group home where his outlook on life will change forever thanks to family and superpowers.
The movie is part-superhero action movie and part high school drama. Billy struggles to fit in at home and school and this is even more difficult after the a Wizard bestows magical powers on Billy.
Luckily fellow Foster kid Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) is there to lend a hand and help Billy get a handle on his powers which involves several unscientific tests such as asking a robber to shoot him in the face and setting fire to a cardboard box Billy’s sitting in (to test his teleportation skills).
Freddy acts as Shazam’s manager and half the film is spent trying to come up with a suitable name for the new hero (Thundercrack is a particular favourite of mine) – fun fact: In the comics one of Shazam’s original names was Captain Marvel! Freddy also serves as the hero’s publicist, putting up amusing videos of his antics on YouTube
The film takes a lighthearted look at the evolution of a superhero and how you’d discover what powers you had and this makes the film very watchable. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and is all the more enjoyable for it.
Now we all know that every superhero needs a villain and Shazam (Zachary Levi ) has that in Doctor Sivana, played by Mark Strong. Strong really gets his teeth into the character of a man who has spent his whole life wondering why he wasn’t worthy of Shazam’s powers and turns down a dark path in order to prove himself to his father and the world.
Dr Sivana could have been a very flat and cartoonish villain but Strong brings an intensity and vulnerability to the character which helps flesh him out and makes him a believable (and almost sympathetic) character.
The directing is good and the editing helps move the story along rapidly meaning the film passed the watch test – it was over an hour before I checked my watch and that was only to see how much more story I thought they could pack into the remaining time.
The film did suffer a little in the special effects department with a couple of dodgy sequences and, as usual, a lot of the action takes place at night so it’s difficult to see what exactly is going on. However there are a couple of interesting twists that play on the superhero genre that well make up for this.
While we do seem to be flooded with superhero movies at the moment, Shazam is well worth watching just for it’s refreshing take on the genre.
Watch this is you need cheering up after re-watching Avengers: Infinity War in preparation for Endgame and you’re upset at everyone turning to dust.
