The Story
Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is an irreverent, moody, 14-year-old foster kid whose mom allowed him to get lost while at the local carnival. He skids from one Philadelphia foster home to the next; he’s on an eternal quest of “Are You My Mother?” It’s the same as the lost robin chick who fell out of his nest in the children’s book of that name. Billy’s eventually gonna turn into the “Shazam!” dude.But first we have to deal with the silliness of the origin of the “Shazam!” superpowers: In an other-dimensional grotto, there’s a wizard (Djimon Hounsou in a Gandalf beard), surrounded by monolithic statues depicting the seven deadly sins (Pride, Wrath, Envy, Sloth, Lust, Gluttony, and Greed).
What do you think this elder is up to, sitting around in his cave for who knows how many thousands of years? He’s waiting to find someone to carry on his legacy. It must be an individual with a pure heart.
He’s Dr. Sivana (Mark Strong), and he’s going to spend the rest of the movie chasing the pure-hearted, chosen one around, to steal the last of the Shazam power.
Sivana must be stopped, of course. So now, Billy Batson (the good kid—remember the good kid?—this movie is about the good kid), who’s finally found a good foster family, stops by the Shazam cave to be deemed worthy. How does he get there? It’s a long story, because, well, it’s a long movie.
Here’s what happens when you say “Shazam!”
But first we have to talk some more about his family. Because it’s really young Jack Dylan Grazer who’s the heart of this movie. He plays Billy’s foster brother Freddy Freeman, who walks with a crutch but is a bravura, virtuoso motor-mouth who toggles between total smart-aleckness and endearing vulnerability. He’s the sidekick that makes the whole movie work. He’s going to make a whole lot of movies work.
It’s the teenage shenanigans between the brothers—the mild juvenile delinquency, the bonding over being cafeteria outcasts, and the testing of superpowers—that’s the heart of “Shazam!”
They run through a checklist of powers: bulletproof (the suit’s bulletproof—but is his face?!), flying, zapping stuff, super strength, running fast like the Flash, and so on. Being current teens, they’re extremely facile with social media, and so the testing and recording of powers ends up on YouTube and Instagram, naturally. By the way, they also need to come up with a good superhero name. “Captain Sparklefingers” is one of the discarded attempts.
This is what the movie does best: It puts you in a teen’s mind—an underprivileged, bullied teen’s mind—and lets you feel how phenomenally, mind-blowingly exciting it would be to suddenly have the powers with which to resoundingly smack every bully in the world upside the head.
Zachary Levi of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is perfect for what is pretty much the Tom Hanks role in “Big” (briefly referenced here), and he provides the necessarily over-the-top goofiness of a teen boy in a man’s body, replete with all manner of teen boy jerkish-ness and neophyte response to fame. (He wants to get donations for saving people from danger, as well as posing for selfies with them.)
When Will It End?
There are two current takes on what needs to be done about the ridiculously profuse glut of superhero movies: It’s either “they need to be more serious!” or “they need to lighten up!” Actually there’s a third take: “They need to go away altogether!” The latter’s not gonna happen anytime soon. They make too much money.
The problem is that because it’s superhero and comic-book movies all the time now, there’s only so much innovation that can happen. Eventually, when everyone’s endlessly bored and the money goes away, the superheroes will go away too. For now, enjoy this lighter fare.
