Review: Shazam! jolts the DCEU back to life

Shazam! electrified audiences over the weekend with its wit, charm, and humor, making a nice profit for Warner Bros. and becoming the best movie yet in the DC Extended Universe, at least if you’re asking me. Starring Zachary Levi as the accidental superhero, Shazam! gives us something a lot of other movies like this don’t. It’s a movie with kids and for kids. You may argue that most superhero movies are created with children in mind, but watching Shazam! puts things in perspective.

This is the biggest reason why I loved this movie as much as I did. It’s a family superhero movie that incorporates plenty of action while maintaining an innocent, fun-loving tone the younger crowd can relate to. Sure, the movie is silly, but it also might be the film to save the DCEU.

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I’ll admit that when I first saw Zachary Levi in his superhero outfit way back when, I was skeptical. But everything about his character works, silly pseudo-Flash outfit and all. Levi kills it as the lead. He’s funny, he’s silly, and he’s exactly what the overly dour DCEU has needed for a while. It doesn’t matter than Shazam isn’t one of the better-known DC superheroes. Levi’s enthusiasm is infectious and pulls you in. The only downside is that he doesn’t appear until 30 minutes in.

Levi is terrific at putting child-like nuances into his performance. Shazam the superhero is actually Billy Batson the orphan boy; he transforms into a fully grown adult superhero when he “says the word,” but he’s still a child inside. There’s no better than Levi, who seems like a kid at heart, to bring this to life.

Speaking of childhood, the child actors are perfectly cast. Side note: They picked and chose kids from some of the best shows on television (This Is Us and Fresh Off The Boat) as well as films (It). The stars include:

• Asher Angel as Billy Batson
• Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy Freeman
• Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley
• Grace Fulton as Mary Bromfield
• Ian Chen as Eugene Choi
• Jovan Armand as Pedro Peña

These kids are the heart and soul of Shazam!, with Angel and Grazer in particular standing out. Grazer is as hilarious as he was in It. Herman, just like on This Is Us, couldn’t be more adorable, and Chen takes on a role very different than the one he has on Fresh Off The Boat.

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW!

My absolute favorite part of the film comes at the end, when Billy’s foster siblings help him defeat the big bad of the movie, Dr. Sivana (Mark Strong). As they “say the word”, we see them all turn into their individual adult versions of Shazam. It was extremely exciting to see this happen, but even more excited to see which stars were playing the roles.

We had The O.C.’s Adam Brody playing adult Freddy, 13 Reasons Why’s Ross Butler playing adult Eugene, and Meagan Good playing adult Darla. I squealed with excitement over the best-kept secret of the movie. They all play their children counterparts so well, and the scene makes for a great climax to the movie.

With Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame releasing in just a couple of weeks, it will be hard to say how long Shazam! will hang around. But honestly, I’m not sure it matters because the DCEU finally has a movie it can be proud of, regardless of how it fares against the competition.

Going forward, I’m hoping that Shazam! is going to be a big focus for the DCEU. Whether that means more Shazam! movies or a cameo/larger part for Black Adam (played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in an upcoming spinoff movie), we need more Shazam! in our lives.

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