A delicious slice of big red cheese

Let's eliminate the problem, because I only have one, and if not Shazam! is a super-superhero entertainment. The basic concept is that when Billy Batson (14 years old)Asher Angel) says "Shazam!" He turns himself into becoming a powerful guy with blazing powers (Zachary Levi). It's like the movie Largeif Josh Baskin turned into Tom Hanks and Tom Hanks could also catch the bus falling with his bare hands.

Angel is as strong as Billy; sad, sensitive and a little broken inside. Levi is funny like Shazam; clumsy, uncomfortable and fumbling – essentially a pubescent growth spurt. The problem is that Billy and Shazam are supposed to be the same person in two bodies, but their personalities are very different. Billy is sleeping in silence. Shazam is never silent. Finally, the film still works because both are good, and the rest of the film around them is intelligently designed and executed with precision. But I would have liked to see a stronger connection between these two.

Otherwise, I only have positive things to say about Shazam!which is about as nice as any other superhero movie of the last ten years. It's filled with lively humor, strong relationships and exciting (and crisp!) Decorations. It's exciting. It's an escape from your problems. You feel good when it's over. In other words, after Aquaman and now Shazam! we came across a delightful Bizarro universe where DC Movies are suddenly fun again.

Previous payments of the DC Extended Universe are referenced, at least enough so that we know that this movie takes place in the same world as Batman v Superman, although in a sunnier and more optimistic corner. It would be Philadelphia, where the orphan Billy Batson moved into the last of a long line of group homes. His new host family includes his roommate Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer in a performance producing stars), obsessed with superheroes. The knowledge of Freddy's comic is very useful when Billy is brought to the mythical Rock of Eternity, where a former wizard (Djimon Hounsou) gives his powers to seven legends: Solomon's wisdom, the strength of Hercules, the Atlas endurance, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury. From where the acronym "Shazam".

The wizard vanished quickly, letting Billy understand what abilities he now possesses and how to control them, leading to some very entertaining scenes in which Freddy tests Shazam's limits by hitting his chest with baseball bats or burning him. Levi and Grazer have an excellent comic chemistry and director David F. Sandberg gives them room to joke; every scene in between is filled with laughter and energy. Shazam! however, is not one-dimensional. Billy's trip is part of his quest to find his long-lost birth mother, and there are difficult scenes about his research. The darkest and most serious moments bring answers to Billy who finds them much softer.

Before answering these questions, however, Billy and Freddy must be considered as superheroes, because a candidate whom the magician rejected calls Sivana (Mark Strong) wants the magic of Shazam, and has made a covenant with the living incarnations of the Seven Deadly Sins in order to obtain them. Strong is a perfect film for Levi while he struts with a perverse purple eye, a scowl and an absurd costume.

If that sounds a bit silly, then you have to: Comics, unlike the disappointing first wave of DCEU movies, are sometimes so. That's part of their charm! Fans sometimes refer to Shazam as "The big red cheese"And this movie is very faithful to the spirit of this nickname. The blended family is warm and sentimental and sincerely believes in the importance of being a hero and doing what is right. There is a lot of awkward humor for kids who want to play superhero for real. And apart from some friction between the performances of Levi and Asher, everything works.