Another Marvel

Shazam! (2019) is technically a DC comic movie, but doesn’t really feel like it. At least, it doesn’t have the gritty Zach Snyder/Christopher Nolan feel. It has a light, kid-friendly Disney feel, which makes sense, because they now own everything (note - this movie was made by New Line/Warner Bros., not Disney).

It starts with a boy in the backseat of a car, with his older brother and father in the front nagging him. He finds himself in a strange cave, with Djimon Hounsou asking him to become the world’s hero - if he can pass the test. The test is temptation, and he fails. He winds up back in the car, just in time to cause a huge crash.

Then we meet our hero - thank goodness, because that other kid was not fun. This kid, Asher Angel, is fun. He pulls all sorts of pranks on some cops, trying to find his mother. He got lost at a carnival when he was around five and has been running away from foster homes looking for his mom every since. As a last resort, he’s put in a group home run by a cool couple. His roommate is Jack Dylan Grazer, a nerdy boy with a bad leg.

Although he tries to stay aloof from this new family, he winds up helping Grazer avoid some bullies. While running away, he gets taken to Hounsou’s cave and given the test, which he somehow passes. So Hounsou turns him into Shazam - a hunky slab of adult man-meat (who looks oddly like Brad Garrett) wearing a caped costume, Zachary Levi

He returns and reveals himself to Grazer - and there’s a long fun scene where they try to find out what his powers are while Grazer videos everything. They also bumble around, doing what kids might do if one of them turned into a powerful adult: Trying to buy beer, then foiling the traditional convenience store robbery, and so forth.

But while Shazam is getting to be a bit of a dick with his powers and all, the boy from the start of the movie is all grown up, and has become Dr. Sivana, the evil head of a corporation dedicated to him getting that Shazam power. So he will be coming for Shazam, and his foster family.

I found this movie a fun. The kid actors were great, especially Faiths Herman, Angel’s hug-happy little sister. The section with Angel figuring out his powers was great, and convincingly modern. The basic setup may have had some flaws, but the denouement was perfect.

It’s weird to see Levi in this role - we watched a lot of Chuck, where he was a convincing schlub. And I’ll admit that we mainly watched because we had finished Limitless, and it was kind of similar. So, good for him, and I hope we see him in a sequel with the Rock as Black Adam.