Shazam! (2019)

Each time I see a new superhero movie opens in the cinemas, I tell myself I am no longer a fan of such movies. Like any kid, I used to look forward with excitement and anticipation each time a new superhero movie opens in town. But then, times have changed. Such movies used to be few and far apart unlike today where practically every other movie released is a superhero epic. We are in a overkill situation and that makes every superhero movie that comes out feel like a rehash and I have to admit I no longer look forward to these entries. Yet, despite this feeling of familiarity and cynicism over the genre, I find myself still watching them more than skipping them, as they get released every month.

It is with this sense of dread that I watched Shazam! For one thing there was nothing new to watch this week, and for another, I did read rather positive reviews for this movie which made me curious enough to give it a go. Well, good news folks! Shazam! proves to be one hell of a fun ride. It is very funny by never taking itself seriously, with a delightfully witty script and performances from its generally young, politically correct diverse supporting cast. In a way, I see it as an almost perfect antidote to the dilemma I have described.

It is not all good and perfect though, The adult Shazam character is suppose to be the same person as the teenage version of himself, Billy. But the characters come across as very different people. Zachary Levi plays the adult Shazam with exaggerated teenage behaviour, full of witty humour, and childish innocence. Young actor Asher Angel playing the teenage kid Billy, is almost the exact opposite, as he is portrayed as rather serious, and matured for his age, having had a traumatic experience being separated from his parents in a fun fare when he was very young. You need to remind yourself that these two are actually supposed to the same person based on the storyline! This gap in character consistency is slightly annoying, but fortunately this can be easily ignored as the jokes and fun takes center stage.

Happily Shazam! is not a Deadpool copycat and did not go the direction of that movie by going for an R rating. It did get pretty violent for a PG-13 rated movie and I suppose small kids may be really scared by some of these. And I did hear "shi*" uttered at least once! Nevertheless, kudos to the film makers for proving that you don't need to be crude and violent to get the laughs with this almost 100% family friendly fare. This is definitely good for a laugh and entertaining.