SHAZAM by Urizen

Well here we go, after one Captain Marvel, we jump right into another with Shazam. Shazam is another character I am sad to admit I'm not terribly familiar with. I have seen him more often in supporting roles over time such as in Young Justice and the Injustice comic series. I know he is a young boy named Billy Batson who receives power from a wizard named Shazam. Upon saying the name, he is struck by a bolt of lightning and transforms. Shazam (the hero) has the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and finally the speed of Mercury. Beyond that all I really know is that one of his main foes is Black Adam, who will eventually be played by Dwayne Johnson.

Leading up to this gave me about the same feeling I had when going into Captain Marvel. There's this excitement of not knowing much about the character and getting truly introduced to them with them being front and center.  Obviously with DC's film history,  I was a bit apprehensive.  The trailers looked great and hilarious.  Really reminded me of Big with the comedic possibilities. DC has really seemed to be heading on the right track lately.  Will this follow that trend or set them back?

I will say that, oh boy, this was a fun movie.  Zachary Levi and Asher Angel were amazing as Billy Batson/Shazam. Mark Strong made for a pretty basic but still entertaining and great villain as Dr. Sivana, and the rest of the cast were all very likeable. 

The film has Billy Batson thrust into the role as champion when Dr. Sivana, wanting revenge for a prior incident,  lets loose the 7 Deadly Sins. Billy must learn to cope with his new powers, new family and the role he has been given as he tries to stop them as the hero Shazam.

The movie isn't the most deep and has cliches and plot points that in other movies would not work, but given the story and the fact that Billy is a kid, it does. You have moments where like in most origin stories, the character is a bit reckless in learning what they do and might be a bit arrogant.  In this we have that too. At one point Billy, instead of doing hero work, uses his powers and new adult body to try to make money. This works though because he is a kid.  He's run away from foster homes multiple times to try to find his mom which puts him on the street at least a few times. Plus it has been shown,  he isn't the best person at first which can make sense given his circumstances.  This all allows him to grow naturally as a child would.

It's not just plot points; you also gave characters like one of Billy's new family members,  his sister Darla (played by Faithe Herman). She is a very energetic, super talkative little girl who loves her family and wants to be a great sister.  With how she is, she could easily be very annoying, but that's not the case here.  She is written well enough that she manages to avoid falling into that trap.

Along with Darla, we have Eugene, Pedro, Mary and Freddy as Billy's siblings.  All characters are written and portrayed fantastically.  You have Eugene as the gamer/ tech obsessed kid,  Pedro is the more quiet one who doesn't have quite as many moments as the others, but when he does, they are great. Mary is the oldest and is ready to go away to college, but must decide if she really wants to leave her family behind to achieve her goal. Then we have the one you get the most of, Freddy. Freddy is the one Billy first goes to when getting his powers.  As a superhero expert and fanboy, he helps Billy understand what is going on and coming to understand his powers.

It is hard to talk too much without giving away spoilers, but all in all, it was a great movie.  Lots of good comedy and action with some serious heartfelt moments.  If I had any complaints, it would be that the cgi looked a little rough at times with the flying and with the 7 deadly sins. Each of them had such cool designs but there were moments that it looked a little rough.

Also. I mentioned the Big comparison and i will say, the movie knows this and kind of acknowledges it with a fun little scene in a toy store.

It seems that now with Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Shazam, DC is on the right track.  I'm back to being excited for these movies rather than being nervous.  I especially can't wait to see what sort of future is in store for Shazam in the DCEU.