Shazam!

The DC cinematic universe suffered a fairly messy launch, with a number of movies that were, to put it politely, not good. Grim, overburdened by the desire to set up a whole lot of other movies, hyperviolent, desperate to be taken seriously but simultaneously kind of ridiculous, they suffered from messy or incompetent execution in ways that neither critics nor audiences really took to. But by arching towards a less continuity-bound approach and looking to just execute each character to the best of their abilities, things have been looking up a bit. I can’t ever claim that Acquaman was a thing of perfect shining genius but it had a charming goofy lunkheaded integrity, and by virtue of being set about 100 years removed from the rest of the DC films, Wonder Woman managed to stand fairly solidly as good meat and potatoes superhero fare. Shazam follows these up by playing one of DC’s more fantasy-laden properties with its own sense of purpose (admittedly, it’s a weird ring-in by DC, originally generated by another comic book company back in the 40s, subject to much litigation and ripoffs ever since, but with a very firmly dedicated fandom). Playing the simple premise of a superhero who’s secretly an isolated teenage boy who can magically transform his body into a muscly, multipowered hero type, Shazam plays a little bit retro in the style of some of Spielberg’s 80’s Amblin kids-flicks (a la Goonies). The kids feel real and central to the story, not just props or plot devices, with a lot of screentime given to young Asher Angel as Billy Batson and Jack Dylan Grazer as his superhero enthusiast friend, Freddy – their relationship has a strong push-and-pull, as Angel gives us a complicated kid who’s unwillingness to get involved with the other kids in his group home slowly softens, and Grazer showing just the right edge of nerdery and enthusiasm with a bit of his own defensive screens. The superhero antics when they come are suitably showy, with a few fairly creepy monsters and a sense of wonder that is earned and feels real.  There are a few bits that feel a bit more “by the numbers” (Mark Strong’s villain starts with an interesting background, but by the end it’s the standard shout-and-fight from him, though there are a few nice twists on the heroic side), and it’s quite clearly a cheaper superhero movie than we’ve become accustomed to, but this makes up for lack of budget with strong character work.