Review of Shazam!

Shazam! (2019)
7/10
Shazam!: If you've seen the trailer, you've seen the rest of the film in your head
14 May 2019
The DC Universe has been a mess since day one.

What with one facial expression Cavill and him slapping the fans in the face bailing. Affleck's solo movie being on hold and then him slapping the fans in the face bailing. Them rushing into Justice League without establishing the characters. All the drama around Suicide Squad with Leto after the editor got a bit over zealous. And of course the inconsistent tone and just underwhelming quality.

Shazam looked promising, but was it really a good idea for them to go further away from the dark tone people are used to? And is "Shazam" really a character that can carry the franchise on his back now Batman and Superman have gone walkies?

Truth be told I liked the trailer, but only in the sense that I didn't view it as a DCU movie. It looked like a fun family film and I was fairly looking forward to it, I did however think it would be predictable Hollywood stuff and the trailer is basically the entire film compressed.

Well, I was right. It's exactly that, but it's also an enjoyable enough little take your brain out movie.

Levi is great as our lead, Strong hams it up suitably as our villain and the supporting cast (Mostly kids) do a passable enough job. The movie is big, flashy and exactly what you'd expect if you saw the trailer.

So it's fun, it is but it's not without its flaws. It's tacky, badly so in places whereas in others the CGI makes me think that somebody overpaid the SFX team by a tremendous amount. Then you have the plot and the general delivery which is basically exactly what you'd expect with absolutely no surprises. It's a Hollywood film, and as usual they play it very safe and by the numbers.

In my opinion this has done the DC Universe absolutely no favors, this isn't a character that will save the franchise and I still believe they need a miracle to turn things around.

Regardless it's fun dumb stuff and a perfectly passable little film.

The Good:

Great laughs

At least John Cena never got the lead role *Shudders*

A fair bit of fun

The Bad:

Some sfx are unforgivably ropey

Generic, tacky, Hollywood stuff

Asher Angel looks like Maisie Williams, seriously it oddly confused me throughout the film
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