NOT QUITE A MARVEL
Movie Review – Shazam!
Review by Paul Preston
A new superhero has shown up in theaters by way of the D.C. Extended Universe. His name is Shazam. His superpower? He can remove the stick from D.C.’s ass.
A decade after Gomer Pyle made “Shazam!” a goofy phrase, Shazam! came back to TV as the adaptation of a 1930s Fawcett Comics storyline where young Billy Batson gains the power of six immortal elders, turning himself into the superhero Captain Marvel and fighting injustice.
Oh, wait. If you don’t follow superhero movies much, that last paragraph might be confusing. Yes, D.C.’s superhero was called Captain Marvel. And yes, Marvel has a character called Captain Marvel. D.C. actually sued Fawcett Comics, claiming Captain Marvel was too much like Superman. They won, so Captain Marvel went away, leaving Marvel to fire up their own Captain Marvel series. D.C. tried to revive Captain Marvel, and before they tried to create a Captain United States or Guardians of the Universe, Marvel sent D.C. a cease and desist letter. Now, D.C. has ditched Captain Marvel altogether and is going all-in on their superhero being called Shazam.
And if you’re wondering, “Why Shazam?”, his powers are derived from six elders, as we mentioned – Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury. The film has somehow managed to take a lot of time to set up the premise before they get to having fun with it, and yet, it felt like there was a bunch of information either rushed through or missing. Much of the situations of Shazam’s origin are “just ‘cause” or explained leaving me wanting to know more.
As for the plot, perhaps sensing the overall gloom-and-doom feel of the D.C. films like Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Man of Steel, D.C.’s gone Ragnarok with the story of Shazam!. Here, Billy Batson is a teen troublemaker, going in and out of foster homes, never fitting in. One day, Billy finds himself on the run from school bullies, ducking onto a subway car to escape. It’s here that Billy is transported to a magic temple and is given the powers of Shazam. Upon saying his name (Shazam!), young Billy turns into an adult superhero with invincibility, the ability to harness electricity, flight and more. Note to young Billy and kids like him: if a man proclaiming himself to be a god comes up to you on a subway and says, “Say may name and I’ll make you a man” – RUN, kid!
The light touch comes in the form of the Big-style fun Shazam has, essentially being a 14-year old boy in an adult superhero’s body, doing things like trying to buy beer and hitting a strip club. Meanwhile, a character called Dr. Sivana is harnessing the power of The Seven Deadly Sins, ancient demons that could run amok and destroy the world. These two storylines are at odds and leads to the film’s tone deafness. In one scene, Shazam is goofy and in the next there is an all-out massacre in a boardroom.
One of Shazam!’s biggest flaws is its insistence on following the D.C. mantra of overwhelming your film with noisy and unnecessary computer effects. Shazam! is perfectly charming with throwback thwarting of criminals, but when the Seven Deadly Sins come into play, they are confusing and, despite all the detail, quite standard. I don’t know which one is which. There is also a late-movie arrival of a team of new superheroes who don’t get enough introduction to know or care who they are. And their finale stand-off is fast and unorganized. It’s not surprising that The Seven Deadly Sins are not in the trailers, they’re counter to everything that’s otherwise charming about the movie. They’re rubbery, ugly CGI and are not a selling point. I have to say one more time (and with every D.C. movie) that it continues to amaze me that the DCEU doesn’t learn from its previous movies.
And here we go again – Marvel would’ve done this better. Marvel would’ve taken the time to give Billy distinct character traits that we can then see in Shazam. Instead, Shazam is all teen id, whereas Billy is actually cooler than that. Shazam feels like a vehicle for Billy to finally engage in all his young teen excesses without getting in trouble. But when Billy is Billy, there never seems to be a call for that. Billy’s a rather old soul, even more mature than his mother.
Zachary Levi seems to be having fun as Shazam, but Asher Angel out-acts him as younger Billy (part of the disconnect). Mark Strong is typically solid as Dr. Sivana. Djimon Hounsou plays the old wizard who grants Billy his powers. Both he and Levi have been in DCEU and Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. But it’s the creative team that D.C. needs to borrow.
Directed by: David F. Sandberg
Release Date: April 5, 2019
Run Time: 132 Minutes
Rated: PG-13
Country: USA
Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures
