Shazam!
****POSSIBLE MILD SPOILERS AHEAD****
With a word, a 15 year old boy lives the dreams of every comic book reading kid, and becomes a superhero.
We see this basic plot in the trailer.
Billy Batson (Asher Angel), a troubled foster kid who runs away from every family and group home where he’s been placed, gets sent to a foster family/group home that looks a little…different. The kids are all relatively happy, and his roommate (Freddy, a boy on crutches played by Jack Dylan Grazer) seems to want to be friends. At first, Billy wants nothing to do with this new group home. That is, until some bullies at school start beating up his new brother. Then they’ve gotten on his nerves. He steps in.
Wizards, Sins, Shazam
Before all of this action kicks off, we see that a wizard (Djimon Housou) has been searching for someone righteous enough to replace him, as guardian of the captured Seven Deadly Sins and possessor of the magic to do it. We see our principle bad guy (Dr. Sivana, played by Mark Strong) have his resolve tested, and fail. Apparently, he then became obsessed with going back there.
Billy gets taken by the wizard, who at this time is desperate. He gets magic powers that activate when he says ‘Shazam!’, and these powers render him an adult in body. He then has to master his powers quickly, as our principle bad guy figures out how to get to the chamber holding the sins, and sets them free by absorbing them into his body, along with the power that was left to keep the Sins trapped.
All said, I really enjoyed this movie. For a DC film, in many ways it was far more light-hearted than some of its contemporaries in the DC movieverse. However, a caveat–use caution if bringing very young children to this film. The Sins are pretty horrific and graphic, and they DO eat and kill people. Other than that, however, I found the film to be very feel good with a message of family and friendship. It’s got a nice balance of comic inspired cheese and heart. Watching Batson also try to figure out how to work his powers brings to mind what hijinks anyone might expect from a 15 year old kid suddenly given superpowers and an adult body.
Levi was a great choice for Batson, and Mark Strong gives a nice balance of absurdity and menace to the villain Sivana.
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JL Jamieson is a strange book nerd who writes technical documents by day, and book news, reviews, and other assorted opinions for you by night. She is working on her own fiction, and spends time making jewelry to sell at local conventions, as well as stalking the social media accounts of all your favorite writers.