Shazam! Review

Article Written by: Griffin Spencer

SPOILER FREE

Staring: Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Asher Angel

Directed by: David F. Sandberg

Screenplay by: Henry Gayden

SPOILER FREE

Quick Summary, Shazam! is about a boy named Billy Batson. Billy is an orphan who runs away from every foster home he is sent to looking for his mother. When Billy gets sent to a new home everything feels the same, he doesn’t want to get close with his new “family”. When one day one of the foster kids is getting picked on, Billy stands up and fights the bullies. Now with all the rage on him, Billy runs away to a subway where he makes a safe getaway. Little does he know this is a portal to a great wizard. This wizard holds the powers of six gods, Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury. The wizard transfers these powers into Billy, turning him into the hero we know as, Shazam!.

Shazam is a pretty feel good super hero movie. I really enjoyed the theme of family in it. Multiple times in the movie Billy says you are weak if you need family and all you need is yourself. By the end of the film Billy realizes that family is important. I also thought how Billy interacted with the family was good. When he fist arrives at the home he is cold and distant with everyone there. As time goes on he starts opening up to each member of the family until the big reveal at the end.

The performances in Shazam! were probably my favorite. Zachary Levi does a great job of making you feel like he is a kid in a grown ups body. Jack Dylan Grazer (known for It) also has a really good performance as the friend who helps, but also gets a little jealous of the powers. Asher Angel does a good job as Billy and feels like he is a kid who doesn’t care about family. Mark Strong (known for Kingsman and Kick-Ass) does a good job as the villain, Dr. Sivana. The writing in the movie does a good job of making you understand Sivana’s motives. The only problem I have with Mark Strong’s performance was that his accent just seemed off, but that is far from a deal breaker. Other than that, I thought he did a good job as a villain with some feeling.

Overall, I tough Shazam! was a great origin film and felt fresh. It had some basic points from different hero origins, but it does a good job of making them feel new. David F Sandberg did a good job going from horror to super hero. It has some of those horror element, making you feel a little off, but works really well with this movie. I would recommend anyone interested in super hero movies to see this one in theaters. I will pay you 5 dollars if you walk out of that theater without a smile on your face. That is a Blam Bros guarantee

Thank you for reading. This my first written review so I hope you enjoy it. I am looking to do many more of these in the future, so look out for that. We also did a podcast over this if you want to listen to it. It gets pretty spoilery, so I would recommend watching the movie before listening. We hope you enjoy!

Shazam Podcast:
https://theblambros.com/2019/04/22/shazam-discussion/