Review of Shazam! (2019) by Player2-Water — 20 Apr 2019

E-Value: 9.

Acting: 9.

Plot: 9.

Formerly known by his original name, Captain Marvel before he was officially renamed in 2011, Shazam is making his return to the big screen since 1941 in his solo movie as the seventh instalment in DC Extended Universe after many years of development hell that originated since the 2000s.

Billy Batson (Angel) is a fourteen years old teenager and an orphan who has ran away from many orphanages in six counties to search for his biological mother until he was arrested by the police. He is later place under the care of Victor and Rosa Vazquez, whom they also took in five other foster children in their house.

One of the foster children, Freddy Freeman, befriends Billy and shares his love for superheroes with him. At Sivana Industries, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong) found a way to return to the Rock of Eternity where he first met Shazam the Wizard when he was a child. Feeling angry that he was rejected by the wizard in the past, he steals the Eye of Sin and takes control of The Seven Deadly Sins.

At school, Billy beats up the bullies to save Freddy. When he manages to escape from them by boarding the train in the subway, he is transported to the Rock of Eternity where he meets the wizard. He chooses Billy to be his champion by telling him to say his name so that he can pass on his power to him. Billy calls out his name and he transform into an adult superhero called Shazam (Levi). After the wizard died, Billy seeks Freddy’s help to explore his newfound powers. All is fun and games for both of them until Billy comes face-to-face with Dr. Sivana, who wants his power.

Looks like DC hits another home run for this franchise. This movie is quite awesome next to Wonder Woman and Aquaman. It is also one of the best movies in this franchise and much better than Marvel’s Captain Marvel. I am very impressed with David F. Sandberg’s direction for this movie. Although he had two horror movies in his résumé, he manages to pull off a light-hearted and very fun superhero film. I had doubts at first but he proved me wrong.

The plot of the movie is nothing too cliché and it is full of comedy which I really enjoyed and laughed so many times. Zachary Levi, Asher Angel and Jack Dylan Grazer gave their best performances and they are one of the best parts of the movie. Mark Strong also gave his best performance as a supervillain since 2011’s Green Lantern which he portrayed Sinestro. I can say that his role in this movie earned himself redemption from that critically flop movie.

What makes the movie even more fun besides comedy is it has many Easter Eggs and references to the past instalments including a special cameo which I will not spoil it here. You can certainly enjoy spotting them while watching. The central theme of the movie, family, is very well executed and it is very relatable and connected to many people especially to those who are or were orphans in their life. For a low budget superhero movie, the CGIs were very impressively made and not looking too fake.

Let’s hope that DC and Warner Bros. keep up with the momentum and continue with this trend for all upcoming instalments. I will continue to look forward for the next instalments in this franchise. Before you leave the cinema, there is a mid-credits scene and a post credits scene you would not want to miss them.