It's a really cute movie. I am not a DC fan, I didn't watch Shazam! on the big screen. I saw that it was available to stream for free and thought why not? It should be entertaining at least, and it was.
Also, despite the very immature humor of this movie it is a very much PG13 movie. I mean there are monsters in this movie that do not appear in this trailer that actually have a really scary design. And it has some violent moments that could be considered a little over the PG13 line. That's not very surprising when you consider that the director David F. Sandberg, directed Lights Out and Annabelle 2. But the humor feels like it was meant for little children. It's an odd contrast.
The movie follows Billy Batson, played by Asher Angel, as he gets placed in foster care. Again. After he run away from the previous family. The movie was marketed as the superhero version of Big, but it actually has really sad and grim aspects to it. Especially when you consider the biological families in this movie. After helping his new adopted brother, Batson is chosen by the Wizard Shazam to have him powers. Now whenever Batson says "Shazam" he turns into an adult superhero played by Zachary Levi, who basically plays himself in this movie. Batson's adopted brother, Freddy (played brilliantly by Jack Dylan Grazer), helps him learn all about that superhero life, because he is a superhero fan. That's where we get all the small references to other DCEU movies.
Mark Strong plays the evil Dr. Sivana who covets Shazams powers and will stop at nothing to gain them. He is actually a pretty good villain. He doesn't have any big plan, he is just evil because that how life's circumstances in combination with something that was there all along made him. He doesn't have any master plan other than gain more power. And the performance is great.
This movie has darkness, heart, charm, brilliant references outside of the DCEU and an ok plot with childish humor. You will probably enjoy this movie and then forget you saw it. But it's still fun.
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