If the last year or so has proven anything, it’s that there’s still plenty of gas left in the comic book-to-screen tank. Not only is Marvel wrapping up their milestone story arc with Avengers: Endgame, but Sony created magic with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, properties as out there as Umbrella Academy and Doom Patrol are receiving strong reviews, and DC’s revised playbook is steadily leading to hit after hit.

DC has been doing something I didn’t expect to happen to again. I’m re-experiencing the feeling I had when the first batch of Marvel movies were released with each new character-focused outing. More recently with Aquaman, but Wonder Woman fits here as well. I grew up with superheroes on my TV, but significantly less so in my reading list. This has led to me heading into a majority of these movies with little to no knowledge or expectation of what arc the creators might be going for or drawing inspiration from next. Hell, at the end of the first Avengers I texted one of my more comic book savvy friends and asked if the big smiling guy at the end was the Red Hulk. When he finished laughing, he told me about the Mad Titan. The rest is history.

Still here? I didn’t just ruin all credibility? Awesome. Let’s talk about Shazam!.

Let’s Take it From the Top

Writer Henry Gayden and director David Sandberg set out to create a family film. Both in the sense that Shazam! is a movie you could bring the whole family to along with it being a story that’s intrinsically about family. Whether it’s one you were born into or something you chose.

It’s refreshing to watch a DC movie that doesn’t put the fate of the world at the front and center of the plot. Not overtly, at least, though they do mention how the seven deadly sins have the potential to wreak some pretty serious havoc. There were multiple occasions where I was playing out narrative beats in my head that I felt beyond the shadow of a doubt the story was going to go to, only to be led in a different direction entirely.

The other side to this is that Shazam! also doesn’t steer as much into a more personal story as it could have. Don’t get me wrong, I walked away loving everything to do with the Vasquez’s (Billy’s new foster parents) and Billy’s interactions with them and the rest of the foster children. His growth and acceptance of the idea of family being less rigid than he first thought, of home being the place you call home, carries some very real emotion. Which is more than enough for me.

A Veritable Who’s Who of…Who?

My exposure to Zachary Levi pretty much begins and ends with his role as Fandral in Thor. Which is another way to say that it was non-existent. After this movie, that’s going to change. The characters and their interactions with each other are easily Shazam!’s strongest moments.

Jack Dylan Grazer with his role as Freddy Freeman is proving to be an actor to keep an eye on going forward, with the supporting cast of family members doing a damn good job all their own with a perfect mix of jokes and varying degrees of character arcs.

Unfortunately, the trend of forgettable villains rears its ugly head once more as Mark Strong does his best not letting us forget he’s the bad guy. The thing is, the character of Dr. Sivana had potential. Going from being bullied by his father and older brother (the true villains of the movie) to unleashing the physical manifestations of the seven deadly sins on a primarily innocent conference room in the span of five minutes is a tough transition to get behind. It tells the audience not to worry about that little kid they tried to get you attached to at the start. He’s just a big bad baddie now.

It’s unfortunate. There’s a great dichotomy between Sivana’s childhood and Billy’s that could have led to some interesting and uniquely motivated confrontations. Something too few superhero movies have managed to do.

Put Up Your Dukes

I’m always looking forward to those quiet character moments and movies with gorgeous cinematography or once-in-a-lifetime performances. There’s also no denying the call within me that cries out for spectacular action sequences filled with original choreography and some especially wild or never-before-seen combination of the above. It might be one of my worst kept secrets.

In the case of Shazam!, there’s not much to say. The set pieces here are fine. They seem to have more of a focus on humor than anything else. Sometimes I laughed. Other times I wished for a bit more…something. As with all things, your results may vary.

Are You Not Entertained?

All my complaints about the villain and overall average superhuman punchy action set pieces are easy to push aside when I think about the good time I had watching this movie. Shazam! manages to succeed in setting up this quasi-fantastical and magic-filled world, presenting an entertaining story along the way. While also fitting into the already established entries of the now Worlds of DC (formerly DCEU) in case of any future crossovers.

It was recently announced (one benefit to being behind on getting this piece published.) that the creative team behind Shazam! are returning for the sequel. DC diving into an unknown character in the eyes of the general public was a bold prospect. Good faith isn’t something people have an unlimited supply on, and fans were beginning to lose their fair share of it over the last few years. With the creative freedom Jan Wan was given with the look and feel of Aquaman and was seemingly passed down to Henry Gayden and David Sandberg for Shazam!, I can safely say that I can’t wait to see what comes next. Especially if it means I finally get a Green Lantern movie I can be proud of.