Shazam! (2019)

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Jump to "Now Playing" Review for 'Shazam!: Fury of the Gods'

The DC Extended Universe is basically at a stopping point now and getting a makeover with the help of 'Guardians' mastermind James Gunn, largely due to too many ups and downs within the universe. I will say that audiences met most of the DCEU films with poor results. Still, in my mind, there were always two very big stand-outs that were solid, 'Wonder Woman' and 'Shazam!,' and it's kinda too bad things didn't work out for either of them, especially considering their weaker sequels.

Lucky for us, they can stand alone in both cases, as 'Wonder Woman' essentially takes place in the past, and 'Shazam!' doesn't cross over with anything else, which is part of what makes it so good. There's mention of both Superman and Batman, but that's as far as it goes. Since its release, 'Shazam!' has been my favourite DCEU movie, not just for the reasons I mentioned, but it's easily the most fun someone can have with a DCEU movie without taking anything seriously. It's far lighter than most DCEU movies.

We meet a foster kid named Billy Batson (Asher Angel), who gets placed in a group home after some trouble with the law while searching for his birth mother. Here, we meet his new family: Mother and Father figures Rosa (Marta Milans) and Victor (Cooper Andrews) Vasquez; Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), who becomes Billy's close friend; and new brothers and sisters, Darla (Faithe Herman), Mary (Grace Caroline Currey), Pedro (Jovan Armand) and Eugine (Ian Chen).

One day, after helping Freddy out with a bully problem, Billy gets chased into a subway where he is randomly transported to a strange realm by an ancient wizard named Shazam (Djimon Hounsou), who has been on the search for someone pure of heart for centuries to pass his powers to. Billy is chosen as a last resort to stop a man named Sivana (Mark Strong), who feels that Shazam has wronged him in the past and has chosen a darker path, invoking the seven deadly sins for personal power and revenge.

With the wizard passing on his powers, Billy becomes a form of his full potential, grown-up (and portrayed by Zachary Levi) with the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury, which are mostly seen through hero testing done by Billy and Freddy, which is also the funniest part of the film. Imagine what you would do if you were 14 and suddenly obtained superpowers. Levi does an excellent job keeping the character a 14-year-old kid who doesn't take on true responsibility until things start to go south with Sivana and his "sin" powers.

Comparatively, this is less of a usual, dark DCEU flick and much more of a fun time like 'Kick-Ass,' where it's more of a comedy than anything, but it's not without moments of good action and drama. At the time, this felt like a gigantic step forward for DC movies, but this was still at a point where no one knew what was gonna happen with DC movies, and I have to give the filmmakers credit for their willingness to break away from the dark-to-a-fault DC movies we've gotten used to. It was a gamble that genuinely paid off.

Sure, the film gets silly sometimes, but it eventually gets surprisingly dramatic towards the end, even if some of that drama is still punctuated by comedy. It throws you for a loop, and before you know it, you're sitting back, routing for Billy. It's a refreshing blend of totally silly and respectably thoughtful, and I agree with most that it's probably one of the better titles DC has cranked out. Even with whatever other direction DC goes with their films, it's good to know this can remain a solid go-to that could fit with any DC universe that gets thrown at us now.

4/5

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