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Writer's pictureBrady Drake

"Shazam!": Playful, Dark, Silly, Grim

Updated: Aug 24, 2021

Shazam (2019) is a movie that is particularly different from its fellow DC movie predecessors. This new superhero character is unique in origin while following a common story-line. Read here how this highly comedic movie fares! Spoilers may follow.


The story-line itself is not anything new. The villain becomes bad because of a hateful family. The protagonist has some character flaws about not caring he overcomes. He must team up with people even though he prefers to be alone to overcome the antagonist. You understand. I think that characters are interesting who have certain conditions to use their powers. Traditionally, Banner becomes the Hulk and Johnny Blaze turns into the Ghost Rider for example. These people cannot just use their powers whenever. Shazam is similar in that he's a kid who has to turn into the hero.


For acting, Zachary Levi is perfect casting as the superhero. He looks and acts the part exceptionally well. The kid, Asher Angel, has some promise to be a great actor. He handles the role, and he seems to be poised for some more in the future. Mark Strong is fantastic as always as the villain. He seems to play that kind of role alot and for good reason. The seven deadly sins are always interesting to me. Making them physical demons to fight is also interesting. They are honestly terrifying at times. Kids are and should be in a couple scenes. It helps that David F. Sandberg is a horror director. I could be crazy, but the movie was marketed as a family comedy. A guy's head being bitten off on screen earns that PG-13 rating. In fact, the whole conference room scene is insane. It reminds me of the surgery room scene from Spider-Man 2 (2004) but up another level. Having no knowledge of the comics for Shazam, I thought the twist ending was pretty good (watch to find out...or google).


There are some issues. One being some jokes that don't make the cut. Any new superhero film has this problem it seems with Shazam included. I didn't particularly enjoy some of the tone at times but other times yes. Another thing is how they treated Envy as in the physical demon. He was left on the rooftop and started moving again, but it was confusing if he was actually caught or not. I cannot recall seeing seven trapped statues at the end. The foster family is just aight. It's not like they are bad acting wise, but they don't stand out either.


Overall, it's a good movie. Is it better than Aquaman or Wonder Woman? No. Does it destroy Suicide Squad and Batman versus Superman? Yes. Is it similar in quality to Man of Steel? Also, yes. My movie rating is a B.

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