Shazam is the latest DCEU film. It's also the highest rated DCEU movie to date. So, does the film live up to that hype? In my opinion, not really. Not that I think the film is bad. It's adequate. It's your standard superhero origin film we've come to expect in recent times, especially from Marvel. This is basically your typical MCU superhero origin film.

The film is okay. The effects and music are standard, but fine. The actors do a fine job. This film does have a lot of heart, which is its biggest strength. You can tell the makers tried to do this material justice. The comedy was actually on point throughout most of it. The comedy is actually the thing this film nails the most. It's a fun movie in that regard. I know I would love this film if I were still a kid. The characters are fine. The side cast was actually not annoying like I thought they'd be for the most part.

The lead character, Billy Batson/Shazam goes through your basic character arc of his type of character of learning responsibility and to appreciate the people in your life. This film, rarely enough, conveys that message better than Spiderman Homecoming did. That's a film I liked when I first saw it, but it hasn't aged well for me at all. Perhaps this film will be the same way. Billy is a kid, and acts like a kid. Although, he acts more like kid when he's in his Shazam state than in his child form. I don't know if that's intentional or not, but it's a little glaring.

The thing is, I've seen so many superhero origin films now that they all feel the same at this point. This film really does nothing to differentiate itself from the pack. This movie feels identical to many recent MCU origin movies. At least the other DCEU movies, good and bad, have had their own unique feel. Aquaman is the film that's felt the closest to a Marvel film, until now, but that movie felt grand and epic, which this film does not.

That's another thing. The action felt very unengaging. The strength of most, aside from Suicide Squad, has been their great fights. Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Man of Steel, and even BVS and Justice League have great and memorable action scenes. Even recent MCU origin movies like Dr. Strange and Ant Man, as standard and formulaic as those movies are, had very unique and innovative fight scenes. This film does not. I even prefer the fights in Captain Marvel to this, and those were unremarkable as well.

The villain is completely lame and formulaic. Your standard MCU villain basically. I was somewhat disappointed, because I was kind of looking forward to seeing The Rock as Black Adam being the big villain, but instead we got this clown. They try to make you sympathize with him in the opening act of the movie with seeing his bad family life. But there's just nothing to his character. He's just there to give Shazam someone to fight, and the fights weren't even that good.

Overall, Shazam is an average superhero movie. Not bad, not great, just adequate. On the whole it's better than Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad. However, compared to Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Man of Steel I felt this film wasn't up to par. I even prefer Justice League to this. Yes, I actually like Justice League. That's just my opinion. The film does have heart. Kids will definitely like it. If you're just looking for an entertaining movie, then you'll enjoy it.