Review Transcript

Shazam is directed by David F. Sandberg and tells the story of young Billy Batson, played by Asher Angel, who is an orphan that goes to live with a foster family that is raising 5 other children. One weird evening, Billy is on a subway and transported to a magical world where a really old wizard gives Billy the power to transform into an adult superhero whose portrayed by Zachary Levi simply by shouting SHAZAM! One of Billy’s foster siblings, Freddy, helps Billy figure out his super powers and eventually how to stop the villain of our movie, Dr. Thadeous Sivana, portrayed by Mark Strong, from destroying the Earth.

Shazam was really funny and very different than a lot of superhero films as of lately. Where Captain Marvel is very serious and tries to be realistic, Shazam is silly, light-hearted, and comedic. It is well-aware of what it is and doesn’t try to be this heavy serious film, which allowed me to be more graceful with some of the flaws that I did have with it.

One thing that made me roll my eyes is the villain, Dr. Sivana’s motive for doing all these destructive things. It is silly and hard to believe. At the same time, I was happy it wasn’t this complex convoluted motive. It’s a simple reason but one that made me think, “Dude, get over it.”

Also because it is light-hearted and funny, there was never a tense moment. I didn’t fear for our characters lives because I knew the type of film this was.

With all of that being said, Zachary Levi as adult Shazam made this movie. He was wildly entertaining and energetic. He really felt like a kid who is freaked out over what is happening to him and the dialogue between him and his foster sibling Freddy, whose played by Jack Dylan Grazer, made the best and most interesting parts of this movie.

There’s a subplot about Billy’s mom that I enjoyed and will pull on your heartstrings and it gave Billy’s character more depth. While the film lacked emotions of tension and suspense, it did have heart and had a decent amounts of laughs.