What we liked about Shazam

Last DC Comics superhero movie, Shazam, really took me and my colleague Mike Fahey by surprise. In the world of super hero stories, Shazam was a good breath of fresh air. Today, we sat down to talk about the film, the family and the hilarious love of seeing a child in the body of an adult.

Gita Jackson: Hey Fahey! A pleasure as always. We are here to talk about Shazam, a film that did not interest me before seeing it but that really touched me once at the theater. I have a little cried! How did you like it? Do you have a story with the cartoon character?

Mike Fahey: Have I already? In fact, not too much. In the early 80s, when I started in the comics, Captain AKA's Captain Marvel, Shazam, did not really feel like a player. It was dated (the character debuted in 1941) at a time when I was looking for more traditional and modern dishes like what Marvel Comics was doing at the time. It was not until his appearance in spectacular DC reign come series in the late 90s that I connected with the character. Ironically, the film channeled this old-fashioned, comforting comic atmosphere that discouraged me from Shazam while I was a kid and loved it.

Gita: What I really appreciated was that they took Billy Batson very seriously. This film is also a tool to get more people to consider becoming a foster parent. It made me think seriously, for the millionth time. But I really like the "family chosen" type stories, and this movie has been very successful. I love these rascals.

Fahey: Oh, you knew Billy's search for his mother was not going to end well. Think that he was looking for years, hoping that she had just lost him, blaming himself for being lost. It hurts to think about it. He is incredibly lucky to end up with what appears to be the biggest host family in the country, the friendliest to date. And it made me think too. Maybe my kids would be better with a host family! Seamus would make a great superhero. And Archer would make a big brother of superheroes.

Gita: Build the plot very quickly: it's the story of the fleeting orphan Billy Batson, who is looking for his mother, whom he lost in a park of ############################################################################################# 39; attractions. He is cared for by a group of other foster families, and then entrusted with the powers of the wizard Shazam, who turns him into a superhero and also into an adult. It's like Raise babybut instead of a tiger, the unpredictable animal that Billy and his adoptive brother Freddy must take care of is a man of about 25 years old. This film was above all hilarious. All my theater was laughing. They really sell the joke of "fourteen years in the body of an adult" very well.

Fahey: Right? This concept alone is what makes Shazam perfect for a mass audience. His Large with the super powers, and the filmmakers looked into that. There was even a giant piano on the floor.

Gita: The giant floor piano scene has made me crack! Mark Strong, who plays the villain Thad Sivana, really loved being mean.

Fahey: Children dream of being adults and / or having super powers. Adults dream of becoming children again. It's everyone's dream. Except for poor Sivana. Imagine being Thad during this opening. Get in the car with your father and your brother, be told that you were useless and nothing, then have a terrifying magic wizard to confirm these unworthy feelings to be true? Dude, live this magician.

Gita: This wizard was a rather insensitive guy, in my opinion. He should have contacted a child psychologist or something, instead of telling thousands of kids that they suck their asses.

Fahey: This is the old reverse Harry Potter.

Gita: I mean, if that happened, I might have spent my whole life getting enough power to get my revenge. The kids are mean.

Fahey: I would not want to be the wizard at the other end of your revenge plot.

Gita: I think this film should have been released at Christmas or more in the summer. This is a topic that will please the crowd and is thoughtful enough not to take too much time to process, and that makes you really think of the things that matter in life. At the end of the movie, this guy sitting next to me shouted on the screen stuff like "do you care about me?" And "wow holy shit!"

Fahey: It's like being in a Christmas movie. Hell, the finale takes place at a Christmas fair. Santa makes several cameos about it. And Billy receives the most beautiful gifts. His little sister

Gita: That was one of the reasons I started crying. See Billy accepting his adoptive family as his real family … the tears began to flow. The set of kids was great. it is difficult to find good children actors and they have found many. I really liked Freddy Freeman.

Fahey: Freddy has made me aware of my current disability (for those who do not know it, I am paralyzed by the chest). His attitude is very similar to mine, ready to make fun of himself, to take it with ease. And I had forty-five valid years. This is a kid. I was inspired. Of course, I became more identified with Eugene Choi, the player of the group.

Gita: Eugene was so nice! Darla was the one I identified with. The nice little super-performer who just wants to be friends with everyone!

Fahey: Oh, hugs, secrets and encouragement. Elderly sister Mary and Freddy are the best-known brothers and sisters of the Marvel family, but Darla is my favorite. I want to talk about the film's finale, but I want to be sure that we first tackle the relevant points of the plot – but it's a pretty simple scenario once the intros are finished.

Gita: The film is a formula, but for a movie of superheroes, it did not bother me. At this point, it's such an established genre that not touching certain aspects of the hero's background would have been misplaced. The purpose of this film is to make you feel good and hopeful, and that's exactly it.

Fahey: Except for the moment, my heart is broken. The moment I was surprised was in the movie, really.

Gita: You mean when I wanted to take a little bit, the brave Billy Batson in my arms and tell him that everything will be fine, and that he is a good boy, and that he already has a family and that they like it?

Fahey: No, not that … oh yes, that's it. When he discovers that instead of dying or being kidnapped and restrained for several years as a caring parent, his mother would say, "Oh no, I lost my son, suppose that that's it, goodbye. "

Gita: I really enjoyed the sensitivity that they had right now. This is a big departure for an original story like this: his mother was just an overworked single parent who had made a selfish choice, not a long-lost saint or something else. I have also been surprised that they have taken this route, but I am sincerely happy to have done so. I can not imagine how much this kind of story has to mean for people who grew up in a foster family or who do not know their biological parents. What helps is that right after this scene, more or less, the film shows how much Billy's adoptive family is taking care of him – and him for them – in the finale. Which was amazing but we will get there.

Fahey: There is a bad parenting theme throughout the movie. Billy's mother. Sivana's father downplayed him and asked him to stand up to the point where Thad fed him of the seven demons of murderous sin that he spent years trying to recover from the sorcerer's sanctuary. The hero and the villain are the result of a horrible kinship. But hey, there are good families there. The Billy family chooses.

Gita: I'm still crying! They love Billy so much and want to give him the kind of luck that he has never had. The whole gang Vasquez is only … the best.

Fahey: A proven fact during the last confrontation of Billy with his new enemy. I did not know or did not suspect that the entire Marvel family would be present in this movie. In a superpowerful form. I shouted "Yes!" And pumped in the fist. And no one said anything because I am in a wheelchair and I can get away with murder.

Gita: As soon as I saw Adam Brody, I started shouting inwardly. 1) Amazing casting choice for adult Freddy Freeman. 2) I still have a crush on Adam Brody to watch the OC. Seriously, the final when the whole group Vasquez got the powers of Shazam m made me panic.

Fahey: And again Darla saves the day, this time as Meagan Good. I am happy that five other actors had the joy of playing very powerful adult children. Color code. The truth Power Rangers.

Gita: Ha! If this movie was getting closer to Halloween, I would say that we had to wait for many kids to dress up in Shazam. The costumes with the muscles would probably make the kids super cool.

Overall, this film was closer to the old superhero movie style Sam Raimi than the latest DC and Marvel offerings. I was really happy to spend two very enjoyable hours at the theater.

Fahey: The film is DC Comics well done. No deaf superheroes taking themselves too seriously in dark and sullen films. DC Comics has been stupid for decades, and that is the way to go. Take the Flash television series, where the spectators had no problem presenting villains like Gorilla Grodd, a great psychic primate, or King Shark, a giant humanoid shark. Or Doom Patrol, the exceptional DC Universe series, whose latest episode featured a sensitive transgender street called Danny and had an incredible musical cast. Stupid DC is the best DC, and Shazam prove

Gita: Man, I should look Doom Patrol. Goofy and healthy – or goofy and weird like hell – seems to be the way forward for DC Comics. I hope we will have more movies like Shazam, and also more appearances of Adam Brody in these films.