![]() It's a very nice presentation indeed, which may not be reference perfection, but looks frequently stunning nonethelessĪ breath of fresh air in comparison to the Synder-styled landscape of more 'gritty' DC outings, Shazam! may not boast the visual opulence of Aquaman's underwater Tron: Legacy style environment, but it still enjoys a warmer palette where brighter superhero primaries can pop with verve. Sure, it's nowhere near the greatness of classics like Donner's Superman, but it curiously gives you hope that such an inspired - and maybe even inspirational - Superman entry could still be forged two decades into the 21st Century, if they can pull off a Shazam! tale with such wide-eyed abandon. Fully self-aware, and somehow prepared to forget (or, at least, only frivolously follow) the rulebook when it comes to origin stories, Shazam! really defies the odds of a bloated sub-genre, a flagging overarching DCEU, rampant familiarity, and a bloated finale, with a whole lot of very welcome heart. It's a hefty first outing - hitting a couple of hours even without credits - but they cover a lot of ground, and it seldom drops the ball, affording plenty of foster family hijinks, school bully trauma, and, eventually, superhero spectacle to entertain. Slow-burning its set-up - almost as much time is spent establishing Mark Strong's origins as the dastardly villain of the piece, as Billy Batson's titular protagonist - Shazam! often plays out like a film from a different time, enjoying its good humour, lighter sensibilities and slapstick antics (the store robbery scene is great, as is the discovering super-powers montage), with Zachary Levi (who was actually in the background in both Thor sequels, but more obviously uses his Chuck talents here) on fabulous form as the goofy superhero, perfectly playing it for teenage kicks, replete with fumbling over women, trying to buy beer, and attempting to make money out of being a superhero. Shazam! really defies the odds of a bloated sub-genre, a flagging overarching DCEU, rampant familiarity, and a bloated finale, with a whole lot of very welcome heart The story has a powerful but ageing wizard named Shazam! lose control over the demons he's held in captivity for years, and seek out a new - and true - soul to wield his powers to fight them, finding an unlikely candidate in wayward foster kid Billy Batson, a teenager who largely doesn't have a clue what to do with the speed, strength and other super-powers he's been given, bumbling around with his foster-brother as if they've won the lottery, before the true evil emerges and he is forced to face the challenge he was created to face. It may be a while before we get another Justice League (or maybe they will finally come to their senses and reset the entire universe with Flashpoint), but that doesn't mean that DC is giving up on expanding out into their huge - and largely untapped, or utterly botched ( Green Lantern) - roster of superheroes, seeking to offer a lighter edge, after Snyder's grittier, darker run, and investing in an unlikely but surprisingly inspired choice: Shazam! Thaddeus Sivana, IT breakout Jack Dylan Grazer as Billy's best friend and "ultimate superhero enthusiast," alongside Grace Fulton, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Cooper Andrews, Marta Milans, and Ron Cephas Jones as the Wizard.While Marvel were sailing their MCU across the finish line with a tremendous trifecta of Phases, closing out a stunning 22 movie run with what is now the highest grossing movie of all time, DC were scrambling to repurpose their failed DCEU as a disparate group of potentially only loosely-related film franchises which would have to suddenly each stand on their own feet inauspiciously ditching Cavill's Superman and Affleck's Batman, as well as perhaps even Flash and Cyborg (who?), whilst promoting sequels for their successful Wonder Woman and Aquaman films. Shazam! Also stars Mark Strong as the villainous Dr. ![]() But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Still a kid at heart-inside a ripped, godlike body-Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands? Can he skip his social studies test? Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child. In Billy Batson’s (Angel) case, by shouting out one word-SHAZAM!-this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard. "We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. New Line has officially announced the start of production today, though it looks like filming got underway last week, they've also released the first detailed plot synopsis.
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