Shazam! Review:

Shazam! is the newest movie in the DCEU. It follows 14 year old foster kid Billy Batson who is given the superhero powers and turns into an indestructible man when he says the word Shazam. I thought the trailer didn't look good and I don't care too much for the DCEU so I was going to pass on this movie. When I saw the great reviews I thought I should probably see it. I guess it was fine and I liked it. It's an interesting and enjoyable origin story. The plot had a lot to it. I think Zachary Levi as Shazam did a good job. He captured both the heroic side and the teenager side to it. I did enjoy Asher Angel as Billy. He had comedic parts and I understood his conflicts. I also liked Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy, his foster home roommate. He was funny and nerdy, like his character in IT (2018). Also Faithe Herman as Darla was cute and enjoyable. The other characters I couldn't feel for. The main antagonist, Dr. Sivana, played by Mark Strong, I could care less about. He was a bad guy but I didn't understand his views that much. He was just a bad guy. So the plot felt very jumbled to me. It looked like it was going to be a funny, kid friendly superhero movie. I felt that it wasn't really funny and it was actually kind of dark. I wish the tones weren't so contrasting that I didn't know how I should feel. Also Dr. Sivana didn't become a big problem until towards the end of the movie. The first two acts were mainly just showing off the super powers and stuff like that. There was a lot of filler stuff not needed too. It's 2:12 hrs and I think they could've cut it down to about 2 hrs or less. For technical aspects I have to say it had some of the worst visual effects in a superhero movie I have seen in a long while. It was distracting and I'm surprised at that. Other than that that's all I got. It's an entertaining movie but not the best ever. I would recommend seeing it if you like these kinds of movies and actually like the DCEU.

My Grade: B-