While said Spiderman's purpose was to teach kids how to speak properly, Captain Marvel (now Shazam), here, is all about teaching kids morality. You are in for a MAJOR disappointment if you watch this series expecting to see Sivana, Mr. Mind, or Black Adam. This hero's purpose is, you could say, to ruin Darwin Award happenings--couldn't resist. Basically, it involves situations, where kids make bad decisions, and Captain Marvel always intervenes to prevent catastrophe from happening. I'll admit, I can appreciate the idea of a superhero acting in neighborhood interest, and being the kind of paragon of virtue you could look up to--bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. The shoestring budget is very evident (it's widely known that Filmation never worked with much of a budget), given the fact that the production never used a studio with a transient premise, and use of VERY limited animation, in which the IMMORTAL ELDERS' faces barely move. Special effects? Where they fail hardest is in several instances where Captain Marvel had to perform a big feat of strength, like lifting a prop-powered plane or car. It always looked embarrassingly unconvincing. On the other hand, while it's easy to call the flight sequences cheap, this was 1974, four years before the 1978 Superman movie, where Richard Donner essentially sacrificed his position as director with all his focus on making sure that movie's flight effects were thoroughly convincing. The flight depictions you see in this show were state-of-the-art for the time.
On the whole, you'll want to get a good idea of what you're getting into. It is cheesy, the morals are on the nose, it has low production value, the actors do well with what they were given, and the series seems to be self-aware of all that. For me, the nostalgia factor is enough to get me to occasionally dip into this 70's superhero gem. Take from that what you will.
On the whole, you'll want to get a good idea of what you're getting into. It is cheesy, the morals are on the nose, it has low production value, the actors do well with what they were given, and the series seems to be self-aware of all that. For me, the nostalgia factor is enough to get me to occasionally dip into this 70's superhero gem. Take from that what you will.