As I have stated countless times, when casting comes together in the most perfect of ways, there is nothing better in the cinema experience. When Shazam! filmmakers tapped Zachary Levi to embody the title character, they didn’t just hit a home run. They hit the ball into the stratosphere.
The DC Extended Universe has its third stand-out film in a row. For them, they’re on a roll. The one thing that Marvel does better than anyone is stress the human aspect of any story. It doesn’t matter that we’re dealing with a superhero here, in Marvel movies who is that super soul and what makes him or her do what they do … and yes, tick. We don’t need an origins story for every superhero either. Now, of course, Shazam! is an origins movie, but it doesn’t feel like one … in the same manner that Wonder Woman and Aquaman did not either. Sure, they’re introducing us to the character, but at the heart of the film is a story that is rich, compelling, has doses of humor (if you’re Shazam!, that’s your majority MO) and actors or actresses engaged are as invested in their character as if they were playing King Lear.
Shazam! opens with all eyes on Billy Batson (Asher Angel), who locks down some cops so he can use their police car computer to find his mother. He finds a new address, visits her, she is so not his mom and the authorities show up and take him to his latest foster home. This time, he might stay. He has a roommate who, despite a handicap, is the eternal optimist (an incredible feat, even for the most joyous of orphaned children). Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer, recently seen in It as Eddie Kaspbrak!) shows him the ropes of his new home and in return, finally gets someone who will sit with him at lunch at school. When some bullies mess with Freddy, Billy steps in and beats them with his fellow foster kids’ crutch. Those bullies get up, and chase Billy down into the subway, where he gets away from them—just in the nick of time.
Taken by his selfless bravery, The Wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) makes his presence felt to Billy’s life as teased in the Shazam! trailer) and he will be forever altered by this moment “on the subway.” He explains something about taking his power and the seven deadly sins and Billy is just taking it all in. Next thing he knows the Wizard is asking him to say his name so his power can run through him. What’s a tween to do? Say the name! The rest … is history.
He transforms into an adult (Levi) and has all kinds of superpowers, specifically what he must discover. Since Freddy is an expert on all things superhero, Billy as Shazam turns to his new pal and the pair make a video diary that chronicles all their discoveries. Of course, this is 2019, all those videos … are on YouTube and almost overnight, Shazam! is a metropolitan hero, Philadelphia’s own version of Superman—just a little more immature!
How this aspect is handled is done so in a manner that is so story efficient. Modern audiences who are zeroed in on the superhero milieu don’t need their hand held through the “origins” aspect of an origins story. Heck, even part-time superhero movie fans are a wise bunch. Shazam! is a movie going experience that will simultaneously appeal to those hardcore comic book fans, those part-time superhero movie fans and those movie goers who rarely take in these films but found the Christopher Reeve starring Superman movies highly entertaining. Director David F. Sandberg (Annabelle: Creation) has crafted a cinematic experience with the widest of possible appeals. One of the first questions I ask myself leaving a theater, knowing that I have to review a film, is, “who is the audience?” Sometimes, it’s a question that is frustratingly asked because the answer is a vast mystery. Like, “who on earth did they think would see this movie?” With Shazam! the answer to that would be every single one of us.
Between Levi, Angel and Grazer, we have a trio of talent that keeps this thing grounded in a pre-teen mindset that is nothing but pure joy all the way around. If any boy (and girl for that matter) of that age range suddenly inherited super powers and you wanted to know how they would really act in said situation … watch the kids in Shazam! show you how it’s done. That youthful verve with no regard for tomorrow, that befits those inhabiting that age group, permeates every frame of the movie. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself smiling throughout at the most and laughing-out-loud on multiple occasions at the least. Haven’t had this pure joy type of movie going fun at the theater in some time.
For every hero there has to be a villain and even how the one in Shazam! is established is firmly rooted in the boyhood landscape. Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) we meet as a young boy at the beginning of the film and the shadow of his youthful experience follows him to adulthood as he transforms into a villain worthy of our new hero’s gifts. No more info on that dynamic here (aka spoilers), but I will share my adoration of the scene where Billy as Shazam (i.e. Levi popping with emotional firecrackers) uses the moment that his Shazam and Dr. Sivana to extol more of that youthful exuberance. His excitement at meeting his foe is palpable and hilarious. It’s crazy. The world is heading down a dark hole at the hands of Dr. Sivana, but for those initial moments where the two meet, all Levi’s character can come up with is something along the lines of, “OMG, you’re the bad guy! He’s the bad guy!!” See, such innocent delight that does not reflect the potential horror that could occur should that “bad guy” win their battle.
Levi revels in this world and as someone who has met him, one-on-one, on three occasions, I could not be happier for the performer. My first time interviewing him was for Tangled and we were at Disneyland. He could not believe his good fortune as a lifetime fan of all things from the Mouse House, being in a Disney animated movie and discussing it at the Happiest Place on Earth. Now, the longtime comic book and superhero movie fan has his own series. He must be pinching himself. Not merely content to take the part and deliver a performance that befits the enormity that is a superhero movie, Levi digs deep and as such reminds us of how stellar Tom Hanks was in Big. Comparing Levi to a two-time Oscar winner is saying a lot. But it fits.
The former star of Chuck is Shazam in every sense of the word and through his timeless turn as the titular hero he brings to life a longtime DC Comics hero that makes us wonder why it took so long to bring him to the silver screen. Then again, there could be a whole lot of fate going on here. The reason it took from February of 1940 (the character’s first appearance on comic pages) to today was due to the fact that the universe knew there was merely one individual that could sport the costume that features an electric lightning bolt on his chest.
There is a challenging thespian issue in here that Sandberg and his charges triumph. Angel and Levi are essentially playing the same character. Sure, the latter actor’s onscreen alter ego has superpowers. But they share a heart and a brain. Getting the two actors to make their performances congruent at the least is done so in a manner that is exquisite. Although Angel and Grazer don’t get a ton of screen time together before Billy meets his fate, enough of a collective chemistry between the two must have been established by the youthful actors that that friendship and comradery will carry through to the end. Witnessing Shazam do his thing throughout the entire picture, never for one second did I imagine anyone else other than Billy being at the core of where the tween ends, and the superhero begins.
Sandberg’s touch on Shazam! is astounding. His movie can be numerous aspects all rolled into a superhero-cape covered gem. The plight of foster children is not ignored, it is front and center. The rarity that is a home like the one that Billy and Freddy live in is shown in such a positive light, one is inspired to consider doing the same if you have the means and the space. The theme of love conquering all is sprinkled throughout and if you look at that opening scene with the young boy version of Strong’s character, the lack of love and its awful result is presented pitch perfectly as well. I even love the salute to the City of Brotherly Love element that is not hitting you over the head but is absolutely present. Shazam and Freddie are sitting on the top of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art at one moment and Sandberg shoots the scene with the cameras behind the boys, i.e. so their view is our view. Levi utters, “it’s beautiful up here. I can see why Rocky ran up all those stairs!” Funny. True. Insightful and above all else, spotlights the wonder of youth that Shazam! reminds us needs to be ever-present as life passes us by. In fact, it is probably never more important than it is as we age.
Shazam! is young at heart and fills the empty chasm that lies in every one of us with such bliss that Warner Bros. might want to jokingly advertise that the experience that is their latest DC Comics entry might have viewers leaving the theater feeling as if they have drank from the fountain of youth.
Grade: A