The film is at its best not when it is superhero-ing, but when it is sitting for awkward family dinners, when it is manoeuvring its way around high school bullies, and most gratifyingly, when it is wasting time believing it can fly.

In a key early scene, a clueless Billy's foster brother, played by It's Jack Dylan Grazer, educates him on the nuances of superpowers. Given a choice, he says, everyone picks flight. No one chooses invisibility, because it stinks of villainy. He wants to break these myths. And as it turns out, so does Shazam!.

You don't need aerial punch-ups and dense word-building - even though Shazam! has both. You don't need plans of global domination - cooked up both by villains and studio executives. Sometimes less is more. You don't need The Rock and Henry Cavill when you get a committed Zachary Levi and a scene-stealing troupe of kids.

Wes Burgner