Shazam! Review: Unscrupulous Mining from Spielberg, Big Pays for DC Comics

To become a more flourishing movie studio, DC Comics not only needs the genre of Wonder Woman . He also needs movies like Shazam! small, unique pieces released from the weight of a connected universe, which can scroll indiscriminately on the same ground as the best 80s action movies, which made us laugh. with an infusion of Spielberg-ian's heart.

Shazam! is not in a position to "redeem" the reputation of DC Comics over the Marvel Studios tariff, and is doing best by putting this fact on his vertigo. teenager sleeve. Of course, Marvel's comparisons being unavoidable, I'll start with one of them: the resulting movie is somewhere between the first and second Ant-Man movies. It's funny. It's funny. This is good. Shazam! can easily be criticized for problems and failures, but his worst problems are unimportant, not an unfortunate reason to stand aside. I was particularly seduced by the strong distribution of children and teens. If the shameless mining of the 80s brought us Big The Goonies and AND brings us more talented young actors who are having fun and who kick with magical powers while learning valuable lessons of friendship, then, of course. For my part, I do not get tired of this formula. (My God, I still love Monster Squad which was already a useless Goonies a scam when it came out 30 years ago.)

There has more intrigue than the one that takes place in Shazam! – About a wizard defending an ancient temple of seven animals that represent the deadly sins, a demonic force releasing said sins, and a smoldering kid binding with said wizard for claiming his powers in the devil of time – but none of this would matter if we did not like the young actors who dominate this film.

Teen protagonist Billy Batson (portrayed by Asher Angel) and his accidental best friend Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) unite at opposite ends of the excluded spectrum, and form a good couple. The film sets Billy's series of minor crimes and emotional reticence, then introduces Freddy's wounded enthusiasm. Their friendship is not automatic, so Shazam! is aware of this, letting each character sink into kindness before transforming Billy's teenager into an adult and unconscious superhero (played by Zachary Levi). At this point, the two men launch themselves into each other while they become friendly jokers, but they only stir up insecurities of each other when they each see the superhero trick unfold differently from the other.

Meaning: the duo has his share. -liner, including some Beavis & Butt-head wonderfully-esque reactions. But buying in their friendship and watching it evolve is what elevates Shazam! beyond his best jokes (some of which were already spoiled by trailers). By the way, this quality makes Shazam! easy to watch if you know bupkis its cartoon history.

Zachary Levi also counts as a sympathetic actor in this movie, considering that he is doing the same thing. All the stuff of Tom Hanks (a fact that the film recognizes in a single moment of laughter). The biggest problem I have with his performance, however, is that he plays a different 19459008 teenage character from Billy. The current adolescent has suffered a legitimate trauma and is hardened and bald, as the case may be. Levi's grip never reflects this crucial emotional content, and in many scenes it makes sense – Levi's with his bullet-proof cloak and skin.

This disconnection does not sink the film. Levi has some well deserved laughs while doing the old Hollywood switcheroo. But it's a clear example of Levi playing a legitimately harder role than that of Big – to balance the painful background of an adolescent character with the sugar rush and lightnings of Red Bull – and so palpitate in comparison.

A bad adult does not spoil the teenage group

The rest of the cast comes in the form of a fragmented Billy foster family, led by an early and enthusiastic little sister (Faithe Herman) who wins all her laughs and her "aww" without straying into Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen territory. It is completed by a sane elder sister (played by Grace Fulton, making a beautiful imitation of Linda Cardellini) and a tech-addicted little brother (Ian Chen).

When Shazam! finally manages to have all his children team up for a great moment, the effect is palpable enough to jump the same gadget from The Goonies . This group of kids learns to become a family during the movie. This milestone is accompanied by jokes and strange jokes, not the brutality of the children of Goonies who attack Chunk.

Unfortunately, the film is sorely missed by a memorable villain or a memorable villain. Instead, we have Thaddeus Sivana (played by Mark Strong), a researcher long despised and obsessed by the vengeance of his father and brother. His jump into pure evil is as one-dimensional as that of a Scooby-Doo villain, but Strong is not the good actor to take this character anywhere he is encamped or wild and he does not want to take it anywhere. is not helped by a scenario that basically guides him so that it is the example how Billy could have have some for his own family problems.

Sivana's descent into the supervillainy is not helped by some gaping logic holes. First, a helpful wizard tells Sivana's childhood in the first 10 minutes for no apparent reason. Then an elderly Sivana spends years and millions of dollars on a research project to amaze his colleagues when he reveals that it's a study of secret and supernatural forces.

Sneaky Things for 10-Year-Olds

Still, the end result is a super-hero movie that looks down in an Indiana Jones-inspired mood (supplemented by a John Williams caliber score) ) with a good dose of Deadpool The universe of comics. Shazam! is the kind of family film that looks to be done for older teens – something that a 10 year old could look and feel sneaky – without leaving the fans Older ones get bored. 19659007] And despite some weaknesses and weaknesses, Shazam! crucially weaves two threads into a single cloth: the emotional weight of his teen core and a trail of sweet, sarcastic, well-paced laughter. In the end, I still think that the Marvel Universe has better entries in this camp (especially the last two Spider-Man movies), but that's not a reason to avoid success. of DC facing this super-hero sub-genre .