Shazam!
Director
David F. Sandberg
Writer
Screenplay by Henry Gayden. Story by Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke
Actors
Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer, Djimon Hounsou, Faithe Herman, Grace Fulton, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Marta Milans, Cooper Andrews, Ethan Pugiotto, John Glover, Landon Doak, Paul Braunstein, Nadine Roden, David Kohlsmith, Caroline Palmer, Emily Nixon, Carson MacCormac, Lotta Losten, Andi Osho, Natalia Safran, David J. MacNeil, Lou Lou Safran, Ava Preston, Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz, Ali Badshah, Simon Northwood, Lovina Yavari, Rachel Boyd, Jim Pagiamtzis, Raul Torres, Jhaleil Swaby, Jackson Reid, Bryce Arden Poe, Tosh Robertson, Pearl Ho, Cassandra Ebner, Stephanie Hawkins, Angelica Lisk-Hann, Jesse Bond, Harper Gunn, Evan Marsh, Kerri Kamara, Leon Oliveira Martins, Nilce Moretto, David F. Sandberg, Ryan Handley, Adam Brody, Meagan Good, Michelle Borth, Ross Butler, D.J. Cotrona, Wayne Ward
Runtime
2 h 12 min
Release Date
29 March 2019
Genres
Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Overview
A boy is given the ability to become an adult superhero in times of need with a single magic word.
  • Rating

SHAZAM!

Tired of watching Oscar-worthy 3 hour movies, so for the first movie of 2020, I watched Shazam! a light action comic book movie. Shazam! is the seventh film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).  The preceding six DCEU films are:

Man of Steel (2013)

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Wonder Women (2017)

Justice League (2017)

Aquaman (2018)

Warner Bros. Pictures plans eight other DCEU films through 2022.

I enjoyed Shazam! but I would have enjoyed it more if I was a 15-year old boy.  A 15-year old girl would also enjoy this movie since everyone gets empowered in this movie.

Shazam! took a while to get going since they had to make sure the kids viewing understood, he looks like a bad guy, but he is a good wizard, let me repeat that.  But once it gets going, it is good wholesome fun.  Lots of messages about friendship and family and the struggles of being who you are.

Shazam! represents all types of kids. There is a disabled kid, the smart girl, a big dumb quiet boy, a gamer geek, and the more mature teenage girl.  There is an assortment of minor antagonistic types (bullies) who learn their lesson. And, of course, the stronger evil guy, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) who rules a team of demons – The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man (pride, envy, greed, lust, wrath, gluttony, & sloth) – who wants to take everything away from Shazam.

Shazam, the superhero, has the power to transform himself from a 15-year old boy to a full-grown man. Although his brain remains the brain of a 15-year old boy.

When not a superhero, he is a foster kid, Billy Batson (Asher Angel), in current-day Philadelphia.  When Billy Batson transforms into the superhero Shazam, he becomes Zachery Levi (the doctor Midge Maisel met in the Poconos in season 2 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel).  Zachery Levi does a fine job acting like a 15-year old, causing that frustration you feel when you try to reason with a 15-year old (this comment is for all the parents out there).

Half the fun of this movie is watching Shazam figure out his powers so I won’t say a word.

Shazam! is a comic book superhero movie that is an enjoyable watch for the whole family and could make a 15—year old get goosebumps, that’s a weird way to say – feel empowered.

 

 

 

 

The Biggest Spoiler: The Ending

Dr. Thaddius Sivana, figures out how to return to the Rock of Eternity lair and steals the Eye of Sin orb that contains the The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man – he is now the bad guy.

Later, Sivana notices Shazam rescuing a bus and decides he wants Shazam’s powers and begins to fight him.  Shazam is new to his powers so does not not realize that his good powers are stronger than Silvana’s evil. Since Shazam has not harnessed his powers yet, he runs away.

Sivana captures all the foster kids and forces Shazam to return to the Rock of Eternity lair and give Sivana his powers.  They return to the Rock of Eternity with the kids, everyone fights and they escape to a Winter Carnival, via a strip club.  More fighting, then Shazam shares his powers with the foster kids and they all become superheros like Shazam.  More fighting, rescuing of fair-goers, more fighting, more rescuing, until Shazam realizes that only 6 of The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man are fighting. The seventh, Envy, is still inside Sivana giving him superpowers.  Shazam teases Envy out, rescues the now just a normal old man Sivana from falling to his death. Shazam then takes the Eye of Sin orb from Sivana and captures The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man.

Sivana is last seen in jail, shown half way through the credits, setting up the sequel with a talking caterpillar.

 

 

Movie Details

Director
David F. Sandberg
Writer
Screenplay by Henry Gayden. Story by Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke
Actors
Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Mark Strong, Jack Dylan Grazer, Djimon Hounsou, Faithe Herman, Grace Fulton, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Marta Milans, Cooper Andrews, Ethan Pugiotto, John Glover, Landon Doak, Paul Braunstein, Nadine Roden, David Kohlsmith, Caroline Palmer, Emily Nixon, Carson MacCormac, Lotta Losten, Andi Osho, Natalia Safran, David J. MacNeil, Lou Lou Safran, Ava Preston, Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz, Ali Badshah, Simon Northwood, Lovina Yavari, Rachel Boyd, Jim Pagiamtzis, Raul Torres, Jhaleil Swaby, Jackson Reid, Bryce Arden Poe, Tosh Robertson, Pearl Ho, Cassandra Ebner, Stephanie Hawkins, Angelica Lisk-Hann, Jesse Bond, Harper Gunn, Evan Marsh, Kerri Kamara, Leon Oliveira Martins, Nilce Moretto, David F. Sandberg, Ryan Handley, Adam Brody, Meagan Good, Michelle Borth, Ross Butler, D.J. Cotrona, Wayne Ward
Runtime
2 h 12 min
Release Date
29 March 2019
Genres
Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Overview
A boy is given the ability to become an adult superhero in times of need with a single magic word.

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