Shazam!


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Released: 5th April 2019
BBFC Rating: 12
Directed by: David F.Sandberg
Cast: Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Djimon Hounsou
The DCEU movies have been very hit or miss since Man of Steel first started these all off, with some great entries with Wonder Woman in 2017, and some not so great ones with Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad. Shazam finds itself at the upper end of the DC scale, with the film managing to find originality in such a saturated and repeating genre. Shazam focuses around Billy Batson, who after gaining the power to turn into an adult superhero from a wizard has to work out how to deal with his power as well as hide it from his foster family. It was interesting to see a new superhero find his way in a universe with well established ones already built in, as well as give a backstory to a type of character we may not have necessarily seen before. The whole relationship between Batson and his foster brother is what really made this film for me, as it was light hearted and funny when it needed to be and yet had weight in the story, you really feel for the characters and their stories that are being told are compelling. While that is certainly true for the main characters, the villain on the other hand I had a bit of an issue with. Mark Strong makes an excellent bad guy for the story, being frightening and feeling like a genuine threat ( minus the big CGI monsters ), but we just needed to see some more to him, have a bit more development so that we also see more from his side of the story. However I feel that would have come at the cost of other parts of the film, which overall I found more compelling for the overall story. I like that they haven't gone for dark and realistic as per usual, because these films don't need to be realistic, they can be fun and silly which this film proves perfectly. I honestly think this is one of my top films from the current DC slate, and it's great to see an new and original story come from this production company, and also from this area of film making in general, making the origin story more appealing after seeing so many come and go. I'm very much looking forward to Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson to join the roster in the next instalment!
Contains Bad language and moderate fantasy violence.
My rating: 7/10 ( Good )

Image Subject and copyright to Warner Bros. Pictures. I do not own this image.

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