Shazam!

[SSJPhenom]

My brother and I got to go to an advanced screening of Shazam! held by Fandango yesterday. I don't know what anyone else on here has heard about it, but it is far and away the DCEU's best movie. It's funny, light hearted, fun, and has heart. I know the competition isn't exactly stiff for being the DCEU's best, but IMO it outpaces Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Man of Steel; easily at that.

I'm not going to spoil anything, but I recommend this movie for anyone not just action or comic book movie fans.

[Jack-Hammer]

It's a fun movie, definitely light hearted and I dug the fact that Shazam, or Captain Marvel as the character was originally named in the comics, is literally an overgrown 14 year old kid. He's not trying to be all macho or stoic or serious, he genuinely comes off more realistic in how most 14 year old boys would react to being able to transform into a tall, good looking, muscular dude who that's super strong, nearly invulnerable, can fly and shoot lightning bolts from his hands. Basically, he's Spider-Man without a sense of responsibility or carrying around the guilt of a loved one's murder that could've been prevented beforehand by him, though he didn't know that at the time of course. Basically, if you were a kid who ever wanted to have super powers, you can easily identify with a good deal of the Bill Batson/Shazam! dynamic.

One problem, among many, in the DCEU films is a genuine lack of interesting villains across the board and, unfortunately, Shazam! is no different, at least not for me. Mark Strong as Dr. Sivana is a good step forward, but the character ultimately, to me, comes across like an uninspired mix of Lex Luthor and Norman Osborn.

Overall though, it was an entertaining movie. I still feel Wonder Woman is the best of the DCEU films, I'm just usually more of a fan of more serious toned comic book adaptations and I've always been a sucker for movies set in WWI or WWII, but Shazam! is definitely a welcome addition to things.

[Lee]

"Comes across like an uninspired mix of Lex Luthor and Norman Osborn" He pre-dates both of them so it's hardly a big thing.

[Jack-Hammer]

Doesn't matter to me if he pre-dates them or not, a lame villain is a lame villain. Not having a bad guy you care about seeing the good guy beat can be a big thing in movies, especially when the overall identify of film adaptations of comic books is good vs. bad. In the MCU, it's one of the reasons why Thor: The Dark World sucked and Avengers: Age of Ultron didn't live up to expectations. It wasn't enough to make this a bad movie, partially because Shazam/Captain Marvel hasn't had remotely the sort of exposure of the top heroes, or even a lot of the second stringers for that matter. I get that they're probably saving the more interesting villains for other projects or sequels, like Black Adam, which is understandable but it doesn't make Thaddeus Sivana any less lame.

[Lee]

Absolutely loved SHAZAM they really got the mixture of the golden age with the modern age. It helps that I'm a big fan of the characters. The only complaint would be they underutilised Mary Marvel but generally good fun film.

[Y 2 Jake]

I was asleep until the second he became Shazam. Seemed fun.