Shazam!
[Devin Dayley]
Year Released: 2019
Director: David F. Sandberg
Stars:
Zachary Levi
Asher Angel
Mark Strong
Synopsis:
Billy Baston (Angel) is a streetsmart 14-year-old foster kid. His life changes forever when he is given the ability to become a superhero just by uttering the word shazam. Shazam (Levi) has to defeat the villain of the story, Dr. Sivana (Strong) using his newfound super powers and with the help of his fellow foster kinds.
Review:
That’s right, I, along with loads of other people across the country, got to see “Shazam” two weeks before it opens to the public, which is slated to happen on April 5. Since this film is not officially open and not a ton of people will have seen it, I am going to be very vague and cryptic as I talk about this film.
Let me just say from the get go that I LOVED it! Initially, it looked to me like somewhat of a family movie and therefore very censored, but it wasn’t. This was a family movie in that it focused on families. Families don’t necessarily have to be your birth parents and your biological siblings, and the friendships within those families that last throughout life. I loved the emphasis on family that this movie had.
Oh, yeah. I would classify this as a movie and a film. I did learn things about mankind, but on the surface, this was a movie that was meant to entertain. Anyway, back to family, movies now-a-days don’t emphasize families. They seem to emphasize romance, friendship, love for yourself, etc. Smaller relationships. Movies back in the day, like “Goonies,” “Home Alone,” etc. emphasized whole families more and I appreciated that this movie did kind of a “nod” to those older films.
Zachary Levi did a great job in the title role of Shazam. I am a big fan of him anyway, because he has been in the world of Broadway. Regardless, he captures a real child-like nature within his acting so you really believe he is a 14-year-old kid at heart. Asher Angel, who plays young Shazam or Shazams “alter ego,” if you will, took me a minute to start to like him. I eventually got there, but he didn’t really seem believable as the character he was portraying. The rest of the cast, though, was great. I really enjoyed every one of them.
Mark Strong. Oh, how I think Mark Strong is superb! I love his part in every movie he is in. He is, what I think, the quintessential villain. He is no different in this movie. He is great as Dr. Thaddeus Sivana. He is able to portray his evil disposition in his face, which I think is what I love about him.
I worry about movies being too reliant on the action and not reliant enough on a gripping story. Movies, like how the Transformers movies evolved, sometimes seem like they are just one two-hour fight sequence and I don’t like that. Yeah, that may be an easy way to make a large profit but I like, and I’d say a lot of other audience members also like, when there is a story that is laid out for us in such a way that we are satisfied when the movie is over.
A lot of times, I think that people, or audiences, are dumber than people think, but, in this case, I’d say that audiences are smarter than the filmmakers think and can smell a quick grab for cash when it’s there. This movie does NOT have that problem. There is a story which is funny but at the same time grabs at your heart. There are jokes throughout the movie that let you get to know and “form a relationship” with the characters. I cannot NOT recommend that people see this movie. See it, enjoy it, learn from it, and see it again! I know I will.
I would rate this movie a 9.1/10
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