I liked Zachary Levi in Chuck, but I never expected him to play a superhero - at least not a straight-laced powerhouse like Shazam(/Captain Marvel?). But after watching the trailers and seeing what they were going for, I got it. And to be honest it made sense.Well, at least if you ignore the whole "Wisdom of Solomon" part of his powers, which the movie pretty much did. But hey, "wisdom" can be a difficult thing to write around; I can accept that, just as it takes a hero time to get used to their powers, it could take a child time to learn to listen to the wisdom that is ostensibly part of those powers.
At any rate, I was just glad to see DC moving away from the dark and gloomy atmosphere of BvS; something a little lighter and more upbeat, more colourful, was exactly what I was hoping for. Plus I have a bit of a soft spot for
I did like the movie. It had it's flaws though, and perhaps the one that took away the most from the movie for me was that the dramatic final conflict felt far too messy and drawn out; it felt like it was spinning it's wheels to pad out the runtime. But more about that in the spoilers section.
Perhaps the more imporant problem was Billy Batson. He's... just too big of a selfish jerk, at least at the start. I did feel sympathy for him by the end, but I really feel they could have gotten me on board much sooner if they made him less of a jerk and gave him more redeeming features earlier on. I get that there's something to be said for taking a character who is initially somewhat unlikeable and then allowing the audience to start to care about him as they learn more about why he acts the way he does. But there's also something to be said for not making me dislike your protagonist for most of your movie's runtime!
It didn't really help that Billy Batson and Shazam had COMPLETELY different mannerisms and personalities. At no point did they feel like the same person. Which is really bizarre; it really feels like that's the sort of thing someone should have thought about.
Speaking of split personalities, for most of the runtime this felt like a family-friendly movie, something you can take your kids to. But there is a scene with monsters murdering people that I think some parents might not want their kids to see. The actual killing is mostly off-screen, but it's still a bit heavy as you can see a suggestion of what's happening, with the monsters roaring and the victims screaming. Obviously it didn't bother me personally, but it somehow felt tonally out-of-place and I think it's something parents should be aware of.
Having said all that, I think the movie did a really good job of crafting a compelling story for Billy Batson. I guess I'd say the movie has heart. The humor worked pretty well too I thought. I didn't think the action was particularly satisfying, but the VFX were good, and some of the magical elements were pretty cool.
Other than the issue with Billy and Shazam coming across as completely different people, the acting was good, with Asher Angel doing a great job as the angry and troubled Billy, and Zachary Levi putting in a fun performance as the awkward man-child Shazam. Of course Mark Strong and Djimon Hounsou were great. Freddy might have been a bit of an annoying character, but I certainly can't fault Jack Dylan Grazer's acting, nor that of the rest of the supporting cast.
Overall I found it engaging and entertaining. I'm giving it a 7/10: it's fun, and with just a few changes it could have easily been an 8.
Let's start by discussing the big pacing issue with the finale I mentioned earlier. When Shazam meets Dr. Sivana, the movie just takes too long to resolve the battle. It feels almost like padding: they fight a bit, then Shazam runs away, Sivana takes his family hostage, Shazam surrenders, Sivana lets his guard down and Shazam un-surrenders (which bothers me a little, but that's a big discussion that I'm not in the mood for), Shazam runs away, Sizana takes his family hostage, Shazam surrenders, Sivana lets his guard down and Shazam un-surrenders, they fight a bit... it literally goes in circles, and relies heavily on Sivana repeatedly allowing himself to be tricked.
It's actually quite weird considering in the comics Sivana is supposed to be one of those "evil genius" characters. It's really not a very faithful adaptation. Plus it suffers from being just another instance of the "bad guy has the same powers as the good guy" trope that is practically omnipresent in superhero movies these days.
Which... is also kind of weird. Why DOES Sivana have the same abilities as Shazam? His power comes from the Deadly Sins doesn't it? It's not the power of the wizard, I don't really see why it works out to be the same as Shazam's. Also I didn't get a sense that his power level changed depending on how many of the Sins were inside his eye? Which it feels like maybe it should have, seeing as we know the Sins WERE the source of his power: he lost his power when the last Sin left his eye.
Speaking of the Seven Deadly Sins, I really feel they were a missed opportunity. They really were just a bunch of generic monsters; there was practically nothing differentiating them, and nothing "sins-themed" about their behaviour or powers. I guess at the end Shazam took advantage of Envy's envy, in theory at least, but that was pretty much it really. Also I was expecting a more... creative solution to the problem with their ability to turn intagible at will.
Shazam never uses his super-speed against Sivana, or tries to shoot lightning bolts at him. Which is especially weird when the lightning bolts were the first power Shazam learned to use, and the one he used most during the movie.
Shazam randomly letting out an accidental lightning bolt in the middle of an argument, and then it hits a bus and forces it off a bridge? That's... pretty random, and feels quite contrived as a way to move things forwards.
The Wizard couldn't find anyone worthy to bear the powers even after decades or more of searching? That's a fairly pessimistic view of humanity, especially considering the fact that in other ways the movie was not particularly cynical. Billy's adoptive parents are great, his foster siblings seem nice; there seem to be good people in this world. Was the Wizard just REALLY bad at finding people?
Billy, Freddy, and Shazam - the three main characters - were all kind of unlikeable, at least for a large portion of the runtime. I mean, even the Wizard was kind of a jerk; I can understand him being strict, but it went beyond that. I do get that Billy has had a rough time, but he seemed to take great pleasure from insulting and stealing from the police, and he's completely cold to his foster family even though they treat him well; I guess I can understand some of it at least, but it wasn't a good way to make him a sympathetic character. I think they could have made him cold and distant; afraid to get close to anyone, without making him an actual jerk. You would have basically the same character development, the same emotional arc, but he would be more relateable and sypmathetic to the audience earlier on. Well, that would make sense to me anyway.
I feel like Freddy was extremely irresponsible; doing things like setting Shazam on fire and getting him shot in the head to test his powers. For a guy who makes a big deal about reading comics and knowing about powers and stuff, he sure doesn't seem to understand the importance of keeping a secret identity a secret. He tells Shazam off for being selfish and not doing more heroic stuff, while he's upset that Shazam didn't show up at school to satisfy Freddy's own selfish desire to look important?
I'm not a huge fan of movies changing character races, but I thought it made sense for Billy's adoptive family; America is a big melting pot right? I'm not sure it made as much sense for the Wizard Shazam, but it didn't feel too out of place to me. I guess it's easier to forgive when it's supporting characters.
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