Respond to these rapid questions in our Shazam quiz and we will tell you which Shazam character you are. Play it now.
Any long-time fan of superheroes has fantasized about becoming one at some point in their lives—to suddenly possess superpowers, to battle evil, to perform feats that ordinary humans are unable to perform. In “Shazam!,” director David F. Sandberg incorporates the premise of “Big” into the DC Cinematic Universe, which continues to expand and lighten up as a result of the film’s success. However, while “Shazam!” is funnier (and darker) than it appears on the surface, you’ll wish the film’s superhero had a little more zing.
“Shazam!” is first and foremost about family, before it is about heroes and villains. When it comes to troublemakers in movies these days, Asher Angel’s Billy Batson is the most clean-cut you’ll find. He plays prank on Philadelphia cops and causes chaos among social workers. After being placed in a foster home by parents Rosa (Marta Milans) and Victor (Cooper Andrews), he quickly becomes part of a supportive and spunky makeshift family of his own, which includes the precocious Darla (Faithe Herman) and the video game-addicted Eugene (Ian Chen). Billy shares a room with the sarcastic Freddy (Jack Dylan Glazer), who is a huge fan of the DC comics and even has some Superman and Batman memorabilia. Despite the love that surrounds him, Billy’s greatest ambition is to break free and track down his biological mother, who abandoned him years ago. “Shazam!” creates a sweet message about how you choose the family that surrounds you, similar to Hirokazu Kore-Oscar-nominated eda’s film “Shoplifters,” by combining Billy’s pain with the warmth of his new home.
Shazam! is a film about how superpowers appear in Billy’s life at random, and that is exactly how it works—while fleeing on the subway from some bullies who had picked on Freddy, Billy is transported to the Rock of Eternity, the home of the Wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou). In order to show his appreciation for Billy’s “pure of heart,” the stoic and incredibly serious wizard grants him his powers. In response to Billy’s proclamation of the wizard’s name, Billy can transform from an ordinary teenager into a classic-looking hero (Zachary Levi) complete with red spandex, a bright lightning bolt on his chest, a cape, and an assortment of powers, which Billy discovers with the assistance of Freddy.
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Billy, on the other hand, is not alone. The maniacal Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) has discovered a way to enter the wizard’s cave without being invited, after witnessing his own random selection as a young boy in a visually arresting opening sequence that ends in a car accident and him despising his brother and father, as well as his own random selection as a young boy. Dr. Sivana unleashes the Seven Deadly Sins that have been dormant in his lair after creating his own portal out of thin air (one of many scenes in which the special effects are top-notch). The seven spirits transform from their gargoyle-like presence into an evil that Dr. Sivana can carry around in his right eye. As soon as he discovers that someone else possesses powers similar to his own, he begins a manhunt for Shazam, not realizing that Shazam is actually a teenage boy.
Levi is tasked with the extremely difficult task of portraying a literal representation of arrested development by assuming the role of a teenager whenever Billy activates the Shazam identity. In fact, he doesn’t exactly pull it off—I had to remind myself more than a few times that he’s supposed to be thinking and acting like a teenager, not the way he presents himself, which is as an excitable, slap-happy adult who squeaks his voice in the face of shenanigans or peril. Some of the jokes about Shazam’s self-discovery are funny, and when he’s bouncing off the unflappable intensity of Mark Strong, the film has a notable comic balance. Shazam! It is possible, however, that the action and comedy of “Shazam!” would work better if Billy felt like a shared idea between the two leads of the film.
“Shazam!” is a film that, like Levi’s performance, tries to charm by being a little extra. A family company meeting in which Dr. Sivana participates ends with heads being ripped off; when bullies pick on Freddy at school, they first clip him with their truck before leaving the truck parked in an illegal parking spot; and when Billy discovers that he is invulnerable to bullets, he asks would-be convenience store robbers to shoot him in the face before running away. A positive attitude contributes to an entertaining, rambunctious, and unpredictable first half; you could leave the theater for popcorn during a foster family bonding scene and return to a deadly-serious, ’80s-tastic fantasy wizard scene. Although nothing feels out of place, it is a testament to the vision of the “Annabelle: Creation” director that the bright red of Billy’s hoodie, which serves to foreshadow his superhero costume, is as much a part of the film’s color palette as the creepy darkness that Dr. Sivana brings with him to every scene. As a result of the combination of these elements, “Shazam!” becomes an extremely entertaining film.
Shazam Quiz
Also, you will find out which character are you in this Shazam quiz.
However, there is a generalized quality to “Shazam!” that almost completely defeats the film, regardless of whether some of the lore is related to previous iterations of the character. Were the Seven Deadly Sins the only ones in the villain’s rolodex that he could choose from? Moreover, what is it about these gloopy gray-green demon beings that makes them appear as if someone didn’t finish visualizing them that makes them so rote? Then there are Shazam’s mundane abilities, such as his ability to run extremely fast, his super strength, or his ability to fly—basic superpowers, to be sure. “Shazam!” tries to fill in the gaps with its coming-of-age “Big” storyline and instruction from motormouth Freddy on how to be a superhero, but it all comes across as a carbon copy of “Deadpool 2” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” in which another script expects big laughs for making the heroes self-aware and only receives a few chuckles in return, and another script expects big laughs for
And it’s no coincidence that, in the wake of the recent “Captain Marvel,” “Shazam!” remains without an official name for its superhero until the very end, as it’s all connected to a headache in comics history regarding his original name, Captain Marvel, and Marvel’s “Captain Marvel,” as well as the recent “Captain Marvel.” In this case, the name-joke highlights a generic quality for a superhero whose most distinguishing feature is his secret identity—a boy who desires to locate his biological mother almost as much as he desires to perform heroic feats of strength. Keep an eye out for how many Batman or Superman backpacks you see in Billy’s school, as well as any mentions of the heroes when it comes to describing what makes a superhero. He’s a placeholder that DC wants to frame as an underdog; keep an eye out for how many Batman or Superman backpacks you see in Billy’s school, as well as any mentions of the heroes when it comes to describing what makes a superhero. Despite the fact that Shazam is the film’s title character, he is relegated to the role of second fiddle throughout the film.
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The third act is particularly interesting because it involves watching a young person who doesn’t know any better learn to use their powers for good rather than just yuk-yuks, as when Shazam performs tricks for tips by shooting lightning out of his fingers. Sandberg’s camera swoops around a Christmas carnival-turned-battleground set piece like it’s been attached to the scrambler ride when the movie confirms that it will make a sequel about the same storyline with new characters, and “Shazam!” takes on its full cheesy form. While “Shazam!” should be ramping up the action, the action proves to be less inspired than the zippy dialogue between Billy’s makeshift family, or the moments in which Dr. Sivana goes all-in on being evil. A visual moment of comic relief during the final battle between Dr. Sivana and Shazam occurs when a kid nearby is shown smashing Batman and Superman action figures together, one of the battle’s visual moments of comic relief during the final battle.
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Despite this, “Shazam!” is a lighthearted comedy about superhero growing pains from a comic book company that is also figuring itself out in terms of cinematic storytelling, and it is worth seeing. However, while it is a welcome departure from the brusque machismo of earlier DC films, it is a significant step backward in terms of imagination from James Wan’s “Aquaman,” which was a $200 million-plus version of daydreaming while playing with your toys in a swimming pool in the first place. With its purpose and significance, “Shazam!” is more straightforward than any of its super-hero counterparts: it’s the blockbuster version of plopping down in front of a Saturday morning cartoon and watching an archetypal caped crusader save the day. While doing so, you slurp your sugary cereal, hoping to pass the time until the next major superhero story arrives in theaters, which never comes.
For more personality quizzes check this: John Wick Quiz.
