SHAZAM MOVIE REVIEW

The very first comic book superhero to get adapted into a film (in 1941) finally gets a second round with the release of the DCU film Shazam. Once a more popular hero than even Superman, the originally titled Captain Marvel (forced to change his name over a lawsuit with DC, and 20 years after that being bought by them) this oft-ignored character in the modern day has finally gotten his chance to come back. And so has the DCU, some would say. Zachary Levi is Shazam. And so is Asher Angel. See, Shazam is actually a 15-year-old kid named Billy Batson, going from foster home to foster home as he refuses to give up the search for his missing mom. After defending a handicapped fellow foster kid (Jack Dylan Grazer) from bullies, an ancient wizard (Djimon Hounsou) from the last of a line of protector wizards summons him and gives him the magic power of Shazam. So, whenever he says his name, he becomes the fully adult Captain Mar…er…Shazam. At first what we’re dealing with here is the old Tom Hanks movie Big (which the movie decidedly tips its hat to), with a goofy montage of ‘what powers do I have’ and lots of ‘gee whiz’. Eventually, we get to the big bad, Mark Strong as Sivana, a former potential Shazam candidate who was found ‘not worthy’ and since has spent his life looking for validation that his experience really happened, only to come into magic powers (but f’d up ones) himself. How does this rank in the sizable field of superhero films? Listen to Chris, Alan, Ben, and Zach give you the details.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE/TRAILER

Directed by: David F. Sandberg

Starring: Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Adam Brody, Djimon Hounsou,

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