shazam! - Movie Review

By
Kathy Graves
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10

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shazam!

Did the DCEU actually get something right? Yes, I’m just as shocked. With a string of stinker after a stinker, I was beginning to lose hope for the franchise. Granted, Wonder Woman and Aquaman weren’t that bad, maybe even good, but it wasn’t looking hopeful as a whole for the franchise.

But the point is Shazam! is actually good. Maybe even close to very good. It was a little predictable, but most superhero films are. What made it as good as it was is that it didn’t struggle to find itself. That sounds lame and pseudo-artsy, but I mean it.

Most films from the DCEU seem to have too many cooks in the kitchen, each adding their own flair till the final product is vomit inducing. But Shazam! seemed to know what story it was trying to say, and it told it well. It also nailed what diversity in stories should be like.

In these times it seems like everything has a diverse story-point to tell, and most miss the mark because they interject the diversity as a theme on its own when the content is not tackling, resulting in an out of place incoherency to the plot. Shazam! on the other hand, seemed to get it right.

https://revyou.com/uploads/thumbnail-960/1602674774908shazam-2.webp shazam! - Movie Review

The cast was diverse, because kids in a foster home would be. And they didn’t all come together because that’s ‘just what’s right’ but more so because the story allowed them to act as a cohesive unit.

It was beautiful to say the least. The humor in the film was very good, not necessarily in the laugh out loud moments, of which there were plenty, but in the balance of funny to serious.

The movie is about a young boy who becomes a superhero, if they didn’t make it light heart and goofy it would’ve come out gimmicky. The film nailed the hero’s journey – a story as old as storytelling.

Young kid gets power, and in turn, responsibility thrust upon him, and initially abuses/dismisses it. He grows and learns to use his new-found powers to protect those he loves. Cliché? Yes. Bad? No. The movie did what it needed; it introduced a hero to the universe and set the stage for his future.

Special effects were chill, but the super-suit looked a little off, not sure if they were padding Zachary Levi or if it was CGI. Nothing stood out too much about the filmmaking elements, but there’s a lot of potentials. I’ll gladly watch the sequel.