Shazam! - Review

Release Date: April 5, 2019​​​​​​​​

When Lighting Misses

We have finally crossed over into the Marvelization of the DCEU. With Aquaman being the best performing comic book movie from Warner Brothers, this film continues the trend into the more light and family-friendly direction the studio is taking. Some are happy to see the darkness go and this entry fully embraces the lightheartedness it aims for. The first thing you have to grapple with when you decide to see this, is its scale. Think of a movie like Ant-Man and shrink that in half. It is honestly off-putting how small this film can feel; it's pretty foreign to anything in this genre. 

The weird feelings don't stop at scale though, execution is another thing the movie can't seem to nail down. There are moments where you know what the story is trying to do but the way it's presented lacks the impact it's going for. This is in stark contrast to the scenes that work because you are very surprised when they do. It's a really weird juxtaposition when you have action scenes that fall flat next to slightly touching family moments that nail tone. It's like a coin toss happened every time a 

scene was filmed; meaning, you never know if what you're about to see is going to be good or bad. 

​Let's focus on the good for a second. This movie is funny. There are so many jokes that land, and some land hard. If you thought Deadpool was funny, this takes the cake in a lot of ways. The best thing about the comedy is that it doesn't need to stoop to meta jokes or breaking the fourth wall; all the funny bits were contextual to the story and were pretty well delivered by the actors. There were a few on the nose references that were tasteful but the rest were truly well constructed. 

Another thing that really worked about the movie was Zachary Levi as Shazam. He did a great job carrying the film with Jack Dylan Grazer, who played his friend Freddy. Their chemistry was spot on and perfectly replicated the relationship of Josh and Billy from Big. The rest of the cast was fine, but the other standout was Mark Strong who plays the villain. He is a really great working actor who tends to steal scenes from the movies he's been in and this is no exception. The characterizations that each actor embodies were pitch perfect and I didn't really have a complaint with the child actors.

But as I said before, there is a lot holding this movie back. Not only the low-budget locations but especially towards the start, I feel like I'm watching an ugly indie. This problem works in tandem with another problem that bookends the film. The ending, more specifically the weak second act break and entire third act, do this picture a real disservice. Up until this point, I could describe Shazam! as a rough around the edges, good time at the movies. With the ending included, it feels like it just committed suicide, it's that bad. I could forgive the drawn out and boring action scenes at first, but when that's the only thing you see for 10 minutes, it really got on my nerves.

Other than some weird music transition choices and cheap camera tricks to sell superpowers, the movie is fine. While the lows of Shazam! really hurt, it honestly does a great job at making you have fun. Unlike other mediocre movies, this one has highs, mountains that loom over the low points unlike contemporary Captain Marvel which is content being middling throughout. Its overall low quality is a sore point though as I wish some of the budget wasted on the ending was put back into making it a more well-rounded movie.

Edit:
I feel like I was overly harsh on this movie in some aspects. Its funny, hands down. It makes you laugh, it has those touching family moments, and it doesn't overreach with its special effects. I think the shock of the scale of the movie really got to me, but once you accept that fact, there is a lot to enjoy. Its third act still sucks hard and has a sprinkling of problems throughout but I wanted to reconcile that this movie rises above.

5/10
Wasn't Big enough and fell apart by the end