Shazam Proves That The DCEU Has Finally Found Its Perfect Balance Of Action, Humor, And Heart

      The DCEU (DC Extended Universe) universe up until the release of Shazam has had quite a rocky start with the majority of their films proving to be major misfires with audiences such as Batman V Superman, Suicide Squad, and Justice League. Despite the misfires, the universe has had moments where it truly shines while ultimately giving fans a glimmer of hope that the DCEU will continue to improve with gems like Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman and James Wan's Aquaman, both of which proved to be highly successful with audiences both critically and financially. With the release of Shazam, the hope is that the DCEU films quality and tone will continue to improve and help course correct the previous faults of the universe while continuing the upward trend. Now that Shazam has been released, fans once again have reassurance as well as being provided with another glimmer of hope that the DCEU has found it's own path to success while not trying to duplicate Marvel's formula, which has proven to be a massive success thus far. Shazam is not only a highly satisfying superhero flick (Especially for the DCEU), it carries with it endless amounts of humor and heart while blending both together masterfully making it the second best film in the current slate of DCEU movies right behind Wonder Woman.

      The plot for Shazam centers around a 14-year-old foster child named Billy Batson (Played by Asher Angel) who full of streetwise smarts and possessing a good heart, finds himself being tasked with protecting the world from the seven deadly sins when a magician endows him with the ability to transform himself at will into an adult superhero named Shazam (Played by Zachary Levi). When confronted by a powerful supervillain (Played by Mark Strong), Billy realizes that super strength and speed are not enough and has to rely on his foster family to prevail. The story for Shazam easily separates it from the other films in the DCEU mainly because it's more warm-hearted and goofy in nature. What makes the concept of Shazam a success with audiences is that the film knows exactly what it's trying to be in retrospect and never attempts to be more than just fun and laughs. Gone is the dark and gritty nature of Zack Snyder's Man Of Steel and Batman V Superman and the bizarre style of Suicide Squad, Shazam embraces the charm of the universes hit films such as Wonder Woman and Aquaman while possessing the heart of those films with the visuals taking a backseat to the story. Shazam is a film that proves to be self-aware in which it knows what it wants to be and does so with confidence that it will win over its audience with its innocence in being both fun and heartfelt. One of the main problems with the DCEU, is that it constantly tries to copy the dark and grim tone of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy instead of trying to stand on its own ground and find its own stride. Shazam almost feels like an antidote to escaping the Nolan style of comic book movies and ditches the serious tone and socially relevant themes for solid fun. The film is just downright entertaining, hilarious, action-packed, thrilling, and big-hearted showing that not every DCEU film needs to have bleakness, darkness, and self-seriousness in order for it to work but that it can work without those things and be as successful like a standard Marvel picture.

      In terms of acting, writing, and directing, the performances from the cast are all believable and fun to watch. Zachary Levi is great here and proves to be a great casting choice for Shazam, he steals every scene he's in and breathes life into the films already strong source material. He's terrific. Mark Strong does a strong job playing the films main antagonist Dr. Thaddeus Sivana who pursues Billy with the intent of stealing powers as Shazam and targets his family into forcing him to surrender his abilities. Asher Angel does a terrific job playing young Billy Batson adding warmth and heart to his role with his performance blending perfectly with Levi's as Shazam complimenting each other. Jack Dylan Grazer does a likeable performance playing Billy's disabled friend Freddie, one of the first people to discover his powers and aid him in his superhero quest to stop Dr. Sivana. Adam Brody does an equally strong job of playing the older superhero version of Freddie much like Levi does with Shazam. Other noteworthy performances are Blood Diamonds Djimon Hounsou as the Wizard who gives Billy his powers, and the foster family members of Billy such as Faith Herman, Meagan Good, Grace Fulton, Michelle Borth, Ian Chen, and Ross Butler. Smallville's John Glover plays a small yet effective role in the film as the father of Shazam main antagonist Dr. sivana, giving the audience a clue as to why Sivana is the way he ends up later in the story.  One thing that all the performances have that make them all effective​ and done so well, is they all have a sense of fun and excitement that's brought to the table as one can tell that each person is legitimately enthusiastic about playing their roles and it shows. Each actor and actress chosen for their parts is both a wise and perfect casting choice.

      As far as writing and directing goes, the script written by Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke is both clever and witty, giving the film a satirical feel to it. The film carries a childish tone to it that tapes into the audience inner child, making them feel as if they're watching a larger than life superhero on the big screen for the first time such as Christopher Reeves Superman for example. Shazam's formula of not taking a guy with a flying cape seriously but having absolute fun with it's concept shows where Zack Snyder got Henry Cavill's character wrong with Man Of Steel. The film places heavy emphasis on themes such as family, abandonment, heroes, purity of heart, revenge, and bravery with the ultimate message of the film being that a family is made up of people who care about each other, whether they are related or not. The film also drives home the notion that everyone has a superhero inside of them and all they need is some magic to bring it out. The movie carries with it a 90's Nickelodeon feel to it that makes it feel right at home with older audiences while tapping into their inner child. In terms of directing, David F. Sandberg does a great job creating a light-hearted atmosphere that's extremely fun to watch, exciting when it needs to be, while having an emotional core to it's story that speaks to the audience, particularly orphans. It almost feels like David F. Sandberg is making the Superman film he never got to direct as he appears to understand the concept of a superhero flying around with a cape much better than Zack Snyder while also managing to capture the appropriate tone for Shazam. As for the film editing, Shazam moves at a steady pace that never feels like it drags out nor slows down. With a running time of 130 minutes, it utilizes every minute of it's running time to flesh out it's story and characters while maintaining a brisk pace that never lets up.

      What is it that makes Shazam a hit where other DCEU movies have failed (Wonder Woman and Aquaman do not apply to that statement)? It's simple, the film is full of heart and never looses sight of what it's trying to accomplish which is to entertain while delivering a hero that audiences can genuinely believe in. The film definitely aims for that old Saturday morning cartoon feel with it's tone and imitates it very well in hopes of drawing it's audience in his nostalgia. The film is essentially lightning in the bottle for DCEU, the casting is perfect, the script is strong, directing is slick for the style it's trying to convey, and the ultimate resort is one that might be strong enough to save the DCEU. With the world becoming more increasingly dark and cynical, Shazam almost feels like a breath of fresh air in the recent trend of comic book movies as it only intends to be nothing short of deliciously fun while having the wonder of seeing a new superhero on screen for the first time, not one that has been done before repeatedly (How many Spider-Mans and Batmans have audiences been subjected to thus far?). The films most noble trait is its innocence in telling it's story, it almost feels like a superhero version of Tom Hanks BIG with the same goofy style and charming moments. Is Shazam a great superhero movie? No, it lacks the depth that other superhero and comic book films have with it's plot and characters but its a very good superhero film and for DCEU, its the antidote it needs to restore faith in audiences that the universe has a future beyond its past missteps. Shazam is full-fledged fun and entertainment that's all heart and charm with enough humor to make its audience feel good while providing a hero they can relate to even if he comes with two different personalities that are split. Without Zachary Levi, the film would not have worked nor been as successful, Shazam is the prime example that sometimes its best to take a step back and reflect on what went right and what went wrong which the DCEU did in the case of greenlighting the movie. Here's hoping that this film continues the upward trend in the universe and convince audiences that the DC world on film is one worth saving and making better so one day it could have what Marvel worked so hard to accomplish. The film is a fun-spirited ride that never takes itself too seriously and that's not a bad thing. Shazam is the years best superhero film next to Avengers: Endgame.

Final Verdict: SEE IT