Shazam! (2019) | a Review
originally published on 13/06/2022;
Hello everyone, I am the wizarding sorcerer G.E.M.Simov, a superior hero of villainous origins who is worthy of everything, and today I'll tell you about the super hero that's meant to be a wizard but isn't all that wizardly - 'Shazam!'.
Simple review details - I rank films on an out of 10 basis, granting up to 3 points in 3 categories, as well as a last, single point from my own self, depending on my experience with it.
I’m going to use the terms ‘movie’ and ‘film’ interchangeably.
Presentation
So, what does this DC Cinematic Universe (DCCU?) movie bring to the table? What we've come to expect is Snyder's dreary stuff or his wife's kinda dreary stuff, or maybe the outlier cases of dark and horrible from Joker? Well, no. It's more in line with Aquaman - in the sense that it has the potential to be quite bright and, conceptually, is only slightly shadowed.
The main saving grace of this movie was the fact that the main characters were children. Sure, they are jaded children, living in a foster home, but they are still children. Childhood brings with it an innocence and a brightness that makes things… Better? Maybe even more vibrant? In any case, even though this movie was set in a big city (beats me if I can rem mb r and high one it was, it wasn't important), which brings with it the horrible presence of the city (that isn't managed as a place to live but as a place to do business in), there's a darkness that arrives by default.
Things seems downtrodden, worn and slightly torn, the characters themselves are metaphorically bruised and beaten by their circumstances and there's a measure of grimness. However, here comes the magic of childhood. Even though the movie is set in a city, in the parts of it that are a bit worse for wear, it did not leave the impression of darkness or bleakness to me, it left me with the pression that it had been colorful and vibrant, rather than monochrome.
And that seems to be the case in the presentation. There's a vast number of factors that ought to leave the viewer thinking to themselves that everything in this film is bleak and dour, quite horrible and very sour, however there's also a light at the end of the tunnel, or maybe not the end of the tunnel, but rather in the hand of the observer, making things not so awful.
The movie was shot competently, I would like to say. There were no moments that had me looking at thinking that things should not be as they were on the screen. There were a few really neat shots, there were a few uninspired ones, but there was a cohesion - the cohesion that's necessary for a good viewing experience.
The outfits brandished by the characters were a bit weird, though. See, the villain looks great, because he's essentially wearing almost normal clothes. The hero, and the rest of the good guys, look… Silly, almost. The titular Shazam (Billy) looks obscenely goofy. The half a cape with a hood, which good doesn't seem to be big enough to actually function as a hood, makes me think that the whole white aspect of the uniform is pointless.
If he had a proper cloak, rather than this scarf-esque flimsy thing, he'd both have the 'wizard' look a bit better handled, and he'd also almost have a reason to have the cloak. Then the hood, too, could have worked w bit better.
I want to say that if he did not have the white almost-cloak thing, he'd look better, but then he'd look too simple, and maybe too similar to the Flash - red Spandex and a big yellow lightning bolt - so maybe it's a big question that floats about, leaving us to wonder.
Excluding that pointlessness of the attire, though, it works. In fact, we should consider the pointlessness of the attire as part of the super hero apparel - half of them have cloaks for no apparent reason, other than to maybe look cool, so why not? Well, in the case of Shazam, the suit is… Well, magical? A new thing? A part of him, rather than simply apparel? It's not made, it simply IS. So there's a bit of a question mark there.
The wizard, who preceedw Billy, looks quite cool. The big bad Sins, though, look… Well, some of them look like the sins they're supposed to represent, but the rest of them look like a stereotypical demon baddie. They're not bad - they're competently made, but I feel the need to point that out. It doesn't take too much away from the film, because they're strangely minor characters and there's no personality to either of them, but it leaves an impression.
With those little caveats, I must admit that I could not see anything truly wrong with the presentation of the movie. It was neatly done - there were some cool transitions, some interesting approaches to visual storytelling. One other stinky thing - we don't really get a good sense of how much time passes. I think a bit of time passes, but how much? No idea.
Still, I want to give this movie a good grade in this field. The pacing was quite good (if I can say that), so I will. 3/3
Acting
The actors did well. With the prospect of child actors doing child acting, I was ready for some stinky stuff, but then I was left pleasantly surprised by the fact that the only really child child actor was not doing a bad job, and didn't have that much of a presence. Most of the other actors did their job well, though I must admit that the performance of the preceeding Shazam was… It was weird. There was something that was off about it, and I can't quite put a finger on it.
Then there was the big villain. Going from the loveable Merlin in Kingsmen to the nigh incorrigible Thaddeus in this one, I realize that this actor is actually good at what he does. His performance was pretty good.
The main character, Billy, also did a satisfyingly okay job. I don't have anything to point at and say: 'bad!', but then I also don't have anything to point at and say 'good!'. The same applies to the sidekick - he had one moment where I thought to myself: 'that is good!', but then he also had some moments that made me physically cringe and cry out: 'bad!', so it's a mixed bag.
That could stem from the fact that the material they had at their disposal was not stellar, and the cringeworthy moments could have been intentional, but I did not like them, and thus there might be a penalty.
One last thing, I have this feeling that the folks working on this movie got to have some fun. At the very least the moments which feature jubilation from the characters seem to be almost earnest. I like that. All in all, not bad. 2/3
Story
The story of Shazam is about a troublesome kid that winds up getting given incredible powers and figuring out what he's meant to do with them. That's a concept lacking in originality, isn't it? We've had a multitude of super hero movies with the same general plot, we've had movies, in general, with a similar concept, so what's so good about this one?
Well, conceptually, it isn't a bad thing to do something that's already been done. Innovation might be a good thing, but then there was a very pronounced lack of innovation involved in the creation of some titles treated as astounding. An example would be 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim', which did such a tiny amount of new things, and conceptually went backwards, yet is one of the most influential games out there.
Thus, the concept can be old and worn, and that doesn't diminish from the quality of a piece of media. In fact, it provides the piece of media with the opportunity to surprise the audience, for they will recognize the cliché, they will develop some expectation, which can then be subverted.
What, then, does Shazam! do with this opportunity? It somewhat squanders it. There's no great subversion of the audience's expectations, there's no unexpected turn to be found. In fact, the story seemingly follows the Hero's Journey quite closely, which is not a bad thing, but there’s the unfortunate reality of the fact that, having seen it so many times, people have grown accustomed to it, and there’s some expectation that things will be different.
There’s no actual need for things to be different, as this is something that can be done many times, in many manners. An example of that would be in this very movie - the hero does not have a proper world. He doesn’t have a home where everything is right, which gets shaken up, or threatened, by the villain. You COULD argue that the moments spent with his mother in that amusement park, prior to their separation, are indicative of this ‘safe’ world, but I’d say it is not so, because that is not affected by the villain.
OR the argument could be that the movie features two villains - one being Thaddeus, the other being Billy himself, or rather the situation which caused his mother to abandon him. The safe world that is found prior to the abandonment is there, then his mother abandons him, then there’s the great tribulations which begin, and the safe world is threatened by the lack of his mother. Then, Billy finds himself gifted with powers (by an old wise wizard), which he doesn’t know what to really do with. These powers are just that - the power that allows the hero to best the villain.
But take note of the fact that Billy does not use his powers to find his mother. He doesn’t do that, not at all. In fact, this only exemplifies the separation between the two heroic journeys Billy goes through. The first is that of Billy, while the second is that of Shazam. The villain in Billy’s heroic journey is very hard to pinpoint, but it could be the idea that BIlly needs to have his mother to have a family and to be happy. The villain in Shazam’s heroic journey is, of course, Thaddeus. The wise man in Billy’s heroic journey seems to be the new family that he finds, which he has not yet accepted, which helps him find his mother again.
The wise man in Shazam’s heroic journey is the previous Shazam. And then the resolution of Billy’s heroic journey is had when he realizes that he doesn’t need to be with his mother to be part of a family and to be happy, and he finally ends up in the safe world. Unfortunately, that safe world is now threatened by Thaddeus, who threatens the whole world, rather than just Billy’s own world.
So far, Billy and Shazam were relatively separate, due to the fact that Thaddeus was after Shazam and did not know that Billy was at all related to Shazam. But, when Thaddeus finds out, that’s when Billy and Shazam’s worlds almost come together, and Thaddeus also becomes a villain for Billy’s heroic journey.
That could be treated as an interesting spin on the myth, no? Its duplication within itself? Or, alternatively, we could treat the fact that the villain is almost understandable, and maybe very relatable, as the interesting part of it all. The reality of Thaddeus being tested by the previous Shazam, and being found unworthy, yet being damaged thoroughly by the ordeal - thoroughly enough to become the villain of the story - is quite interesting, too.
All in all, I think the story is not Shazam!’s weakest point, even if it isn’t anything too incredible. I really liked the dynamics between the members of the new family, and the fact that all the kids were made into Shazam(s?) by Billy at the end. That was most amusing, but… Well, that’s what the story is. Amusing. The messages: “you can make your own family!” and “don’t abuse your kids!” are kinda old, worn and torn, and should be common sense at this point. The fact that they need to be reiterated over and over again makes me disappointed by humanity. 2/3
Legendary Point
Does this film get the legendary point, so craved and wanted by all and none at the same time? NO, it does not. I thought about it, frankly, but there was nothing too impressive in it. Nothing really left me with the: “Wow, Shazam!” thought that I need to give a piece of media the legendary point. The end credits were very amusing, the movie itself was very amusing, but I don’t think it’s anything astoundingly great. 0/1
Conclusion
7/10. Is that too much? Maybe it isn’t. Maybe this is me back on my bullshit. This is a good movie, which ought to be the average for movies in general. Everything is done satisfyingly well, everything is reasonably amusing, and the movie is enjoyable to watch. It doesn’t linger, but that’s also a bonus, due to the fact that it doesn’t linger as something bad.
I tuck it under my belt, another checkmark in my checklist that I proudly make.