Review: 'Shazam' Shows That 'Wonder Woman' And 'Aquaman' Were No Flukes - Forbes

Zachary Levi, Grace Fulton, Jovan Armand, Jack Dylan Grazer, Ian Chen, Faithe Herman in 'Shazam'

Warner Bros.

Opening on April 5 courtesy of Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema, Shazam is a thunderous triumph as a family melodrama, a kid-friendly fantasy thriller and, yes, a superhero flick. Director David F. Sandberg and writer Henry Gayden (with a story credit assist from Darren Lemke) have crafted a, well, marvelous adventure fantasy that would do any cinematic universe proud. A producer of Sandberg's Lights Out once told me that, as part of the development process, they wrote a draft of the screenplay without any horror elements to make sure it worked as a human drama. Whether or not that's true, it feels accurate (Lights Out works as a drama and a fright flick), and I wouldn't be shocked if the same were true of Shazam.

The latest DC Films flick (which absolutely exists in the same continuity as Batman v Superman and Aquaman) is about a young boy who is given incredible superpowers which, when he says the magic word, turns him into an "adult" superhero. It's filled with gee-whiz action, good-natured self-satire and kid-friendly suspense. It's also a drama about a tortured foster child that is good and (relatively) raw enough that, yes, I would compare it to Instant Family, Antwone Fisher and Meet the Robinsons. It's an achingly real family melodrama first and a comic book flick second, and thus works as a triumph even for those disinterested in the super-powered action fantasy elements. Shazam is just a darn good movie. 

Billy Batson's trauma occurred when he (literally and permanently) lost his mother in an amusement park at the age of four at an amusement park. Since his mom inexplicably never came back for him, Billy (Asher Angel) has bounced from foster home to foster home, obsessed with finding his birth mother. We enter his story just before he is placed in a "last resort" group home. By the way, the foster parents (Marta Milans and Cooper Andrews) and the fellow foster kids (Grace Fulton, Jovan Armand, Jack Dylan Grazer, Ian Chen, and Faithe Herman) are such a delightful batch of good-hearted/decent people that I would have relished a whole movie just about them doing family stuff. 

After stepping up to protect new foster brother Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) from school bullies, Billy is magically transported to a cave, where he is anointed as a would-be protector by a wizard (a refreshingly hammy Djimon Hounsou). Billy may not be of pure heart, but when Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) gets endowed with ancient evil powers, desperate times call for drastic measures. Now all Billy has to do is say the magic word ("Shazam!") and he turns into an adult-sized and overly-muscled superhero (a perfectly-cast Zachary Levi). It's a good thing that Freddy (a disabled kid who is a major superhero geek) can help "Shazam" figure out how to use his new powers. 

We open with two key flashbacks involving unthinkable trauma visited upon young children (young Billy and a young Thaddeus) and sets the tone for what is absolutely a New Line Cinema release. Partially owing to its comparatively modest $90 million budget, Shazam feels like a stereotypical Amblin movie from generations ago. It also remembers that the "classic" kid-friendly fantasies of our youth were often a little scary, a little violent and just a touch "too much" for its target audience. Yes, the film slightly scared my 11-year-old and my seven-year-old during the officially scary parts, yet they loved it nonetheless. This movie earns its PG-13, and there is one scene that's ridiculously violent in a Spider-Man/Spider-Man 2 fashion.

Despite plenty of chuckles, the first act is as grim and grounded as it needs to be to set the stage. The second act is when we get what we arguably paid to see, with Billy getting turned into Shazam and Freddy helping his pal become the best superhero he can theoretically be. The third act is a bit action heavy, it offers plenty of clever set pieces, character-driven plotting and at least one story turn that I would argue is the best superhero plot twist since Iron Man 3 pulled its fake Mandarin stunt. I've seen some critics giving it away already, but you won't hear a word from me.

Like Sam Raimi's (still great) first Spider-Man flick Shazam is both light on its feet and cheerfully enjoyable and yet also dark and mournful. It's fun and funny, but it respects its grim subjects and never sells out its drama for the sake of genre tropes. Like Aquaman, it has the feeling of an "everything but the kitchen sink" offering, in this case giving audiences top-notch character drama, heartbreaking and heartwarming story turns, authentically amusing dialogue, appropriately-scaled superhero action and old-school horror from the guy who directed Annabelle: Creation and Lights Out. If your favorite thing about Green Lantern is how it gave equal time to Peter Sarsgaard's monstrous supervillain, then, well, there's that too.

Billy is coping with abandonment issues due to his mother (Caroline Palmer), while Thaddeus never got past his father's rejection. It's actually Billy who gives the whole "We're not that different, you and I!" speech. Yes, this continues DC Films' relative pattern of superheroes coping with mommy issues, which contrasts with the MCU's general "sins of the father" themes. Billy's foster family is so delightful that you'll want to spend more time with them. Like Big Hero 6, the young non-super-powered supporting cast is almost too good for a movie that eventually goes down the expected hero's journey path. Oh, and a thousand kudos for not turning Fulton's Mary Bromfield into a love interest and/or a third-act damsel.

It is telling that Shazam is directed by a horror filmmaker and written by two guys best known for writing or co-writing kid-friendly fantasies like Earth to Echo and Goosebumps. In other words, WB hired filmmakers known for the genres they were trying to emulate, and thus ended up with the genuine article. It has bits and pieces of Penny Marshall's Big (including a self-aware homage with a funny pay-off), Richard Donner's Superman, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy (in terms of abandoned/damaged souls learning how to give and receive love), plus the kind of "Holy crap, that part was scary!" thrills akin to the first Gremlins or The Dark Crystal.

Thanks to Shazam, DC Films can now argue that their solo superhero movies are more likely than not to be high-quality popcorn entertainments. Wonder Woman was great, Aquaman was terrific gonzo-bananas fantasy fun and now Shazam is a shockingly moving coming-of-age melodrama. Say what you will about Man of Steel, but the Zack Snyder Superman movie wasn't a poorly made movie. Moreover, all seven DC Films flicks are essentially unique unto themselves (a first contact story/Exodus parable, a World War I drama, a superhero-versus-superhero opera, a Lord of the Rings/Star Wars fantasy, a Saturday morning cartoon team-up flick, etc.). God help me, I'm now actually looking forward to Joker.

Most importantly, Zachary Levi and Asher Angel have offered a distinctly charming version of Shazam to go along with Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman and Jason Momoa's Aquaman. Shazam ends its story in an auspicious place that will absolutely leave folks excited for a sequel. If WB keeps this up, they may end up with a true murderer's row of Super Friends who we'd actually want to see interacting in another Justice League (especially if they wise up and go the Legion of Doom/Challenge of the Superfriends route). For the first time, the theoretical battle between DC Films and the MCU feels like a fair fight. Shazam is just that good.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2019/03/24/shazam-review-dc-films-shows-that-wonder-woman-and-aquaman-were-no-flukes/

2019-03-24 14:00:00Z

Bagikan Berita Ini