I may have mentioned a few times here on my blog that I am a big fan of superheroes. They embody the best aspects of humanity, inspire good deeds, and encourage us all to be the best versions of ourselves we can be. Growing up with classic characters like Superman and Spider-Man, then becoming enamored with movies, I naturally enjoy the title wave of high-quality Superhero movies we have been getting for the past decade. Though, until recently, when it came to Marvel Comics vs. DC Comics in terms of decent film adaptations, Marvel had been reigning supreme while DC was running in place failing to catch up. Yet, despite a dark and sad rocky start, DC and Warner Brothers seem to have finally become on par with the likes of Marvel Studios with their latest offering, SHAZAM. This is not only a fantastic and entertaining film in its own right, but it is also a genuinely heartwarming and historic moment in Superhero movie history. While I have never really preferred what Comic Book company any given Superhero has originated from, merely being a fan of Superhero's as a whole, I have been longing for the day when these films would come from a Studio outside of Marvel. As much as I love their movies, I do not want to live in a world where they are the only ones who not only deliver a good film but care about these characters and material as much as I or any other Superhero fan does. This is a beautiful moment in cinematic history for us all. Superhero fans rejoice!
For those of you who may not be as familiar with this character as I am, or in case you need a quick refresher, I will leave a few links explaining his origins as well as the reason for his unique name at the end of this review. I assure you, this character has quite the history. Even better, this movie does him justice.
Based on characters created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck, the story follows a young orphan boy named Billy Batson (Asher Angel) surviving on the streets of Philidelphia and jumping from various foster homes as he searches for his long lost mother. He gets one last chance with a progressive and pretty damn cool family consisting of a pair of sweet yet badass guardians as well as a team of multicultural foster kids. Billy quickly becomes "friends" with one disabled boy named Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer) who is a massive fan of Superheroes. After saving Freddy from a pair of bullies, Billy is mysteriously transported to a magical realm where he is confronted by an ancient Wizard named SHAZAM (Djimon Hounsou), who informs Billy of a powerful evil force, known as The Seven Deadly Sins, who have found a host and seek to destroy all things. The Wizard instructs Billy to say his name, and in doing so, Billy becomes The Champion (Zachary Levi). An avatar of the Wizards magic so he may battle evil and fight for justice. Only one problem: Billy has no idea how to be a hero. So, he enlists the aid of Freddy to help him out. Now, Billy must learn how to harness his real potential and become a hero. That is after he finishes showing off his powers to bystanders, gaining online fame with his viral videos, and pretending to be an actual adult so he and his friends can try buying Beer at the convenient store. Then he can maybe try and save the world.
SHAZAM is a remarkable, entertaining, funny, exciting, and heartfelt movie. There is so much to love about this film that it would take too many paragraphs here to go over it all. So, for the sake of keeping this a relatively short review, I will go over a few aspects of this film that I loved the most.
What I loved best about this movie was how down-to-earth it felt. While it still succeeds in delivering the goods that you would expect from a Superhero movie (cool action scenes and so on) it chooses instead to spend most of its time developing the characters and being a fantastical journey about growth, family, love, and what being a hero is really all about. In that regard, it's very similar to Black Panther in that it is a story driven character piece first and an exiting Superhero movie second. The only real difference is that while Black Panther was more of a social & political drama, SHAZAM is more of a comedic yet earnest coming of age story. In fact, the movie I was reminded of the most was the Tom Hanks classic Big. Which, coincidentally, is the film which the makers of SHAZAM took most of their influence from when making this film...and it really shows.
The writing for this movie is smart, witty, funny, emotional, delightfully faithful to the source material, and just downright enjoyable. The characters are well rounded, the conflicts are relatable, and the themes of family, personal identity, and heroism are executed so unbeleavably well. Not to mention the jokes are incredibly funny. Make no mistake: this is not a great Superhero movie because it's funny. No. It is a great Superhero movie because it is honest and sincere. The jokes are really more of a bonus.
The entire cast, from the heroes to the villains, is outstanding. The chemistry between Zachary Levi and Jack Dylan Grazer is especially entertaining and overall joyful to watch. You get the impression that they both had a blast making this movie together.
As you have probably figured out by now, I love this movie. It was so enjoyable, so surprising, and did so much to restore my faith in Superhero movies not produced by Marvel, that I cannot recommend it enough. It made me feel like a kid again. Speaking of, when I saw this movie in the theater, the cherry on top of the whole experience was seeing a young child in the audience wearing a costume of the titular character. I was so overjoyed that I thanked the kid for doing that. It was that kind of movie. If you are a fan of this character, if you have kids who are fans of Superheroes, or if you just need a wonderful time at the movies, then you owe it to yourself to go see this one. There is a little bit of something for everyone.
For those of you who may be wondering, there are two post-credit scenes. Without spoiling anything, the first scene comes right after the initial end credits and is an important and surprising one to see. The second is after all of the other end credits and is mainly a riff on an old Superhero joke. While it is funny, it is not essential, and you will not really miss anything important. My personal recommendation is to stay for the first post-credits scene only.
Is this movie worth seeing?
Yes.
Is it worth seeing in theaters?
Yes.
Why?
It is a heartfelt, entertaining, enthralling experience the likes of which does not come around very often anymore. This must be experienced on the big screen so please don't miss it.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm, thank you fall or reading.
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