Shazam! Movie Review

Shazam! (2019)

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Written by: Henry Gayden (screenplay by),  Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke (story by),  Bill Parker and C.C. Beck (Shazam created by)
Directed by: David F. Sandberg
Starring: Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer
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Plot
When Billy Batson shouts SHAZAM!, this streetwise fourteen-year-old foster kid transforms into the grown-up superhero Shazam.

Verdict
This combines the kid in an adult body trope with a superhero movie. It's entertaining, and while it is a very typical superhero tale, there are a few twists and surprises thrown in. What makes this movie is the simplicity and that it is just plain fun. It doesn't try to mimic other super hero movies or go the dark and gritty route.
It depends.

Review
If you step back from this movie the logic is all over the place, but it doesn't raise any concerns while watching as the movie doesn't give you much time to think about it. This is just a fun kid wish fulfillment movie.

Asher Angel plays Billy Batson.

Orphan Billy becomes a super hero adult because he's pure of heart, despite tricking cops and breaking into their car. The villain of the movie was passed over for becoming Shazam and his life's work has been to finally get that power. Mark Strong plays the villain and he is definitely a one dimensional cartoon, which works for this movie.

Billy was orphaned at a young age and his quest has been to find his mom. He used the cop car's database to look up addresses, and that's why he keeps running away. He's adopted by a new family with other orphaned children that is very focused on family. We can guess what will happen.

Shazam and Freddy.

Billy is selected by a wizard to become the adult super hero Shazam, and this has a lot of fun with a kid taking advantage of that. There's even a reference to the floor keyboard in Big (1988), the Tom Hanks movie where a kid transforms into an adult.

Billy shares his identity with new brother and super hero fanatic Freddy and they test Billy to figure out his powers. Freddy videos the trials, the videos go viral, and the villain tracks Billy down. Becoming a super hero didn't make Billy a hero. Throughout the movie he is reluctant to embrace the responsibility of saving the world or even just another person. While it's become a trope, part of his success is his willingness to share the power and burden with others. In this case it's his foster siblings.

Of course good defeats evil, but I liked how the movie made Billy's new family important in that triumph. The movie also avoided the easy trope of foster families as a negative thing. This is a simple story, and that simplicity is effective.

Zachary Levi plays Shazam.

This might or should mark a new direction for the DC comic universe. The dark and gritty big budget movies like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League haven't been good as they unsuccessfully try to mimic or outdo Marvel movies. Shazam! focuses on the simple aspect that kids wish to be super.