Shazam! (DC Comics - Zachary Levi)

Sabre0001 · 08-04-2019 11:05am

Saw it yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed. Thought Zachary Levi and Mark Strong were excellent, and the kids did a fine job too. Visually very impressive (though the flying looked odd - you would think that would be DC's bread and butter all things considered), and very funny throughout.

Was expecting good things - soft spot for Levi, thought trailer looked amusing, and had heard positive reviews - and wasn't let down at all.

silverharp · 08-04-2019 12:08pm

There was something about it not doing well in China , but given that it cost less than 100m to make it should be reasonably financially successful

Mr E · 08-04-2019 12:50pm

I thought this was great. There was a lovely light touch to some of the humour (like double-checking the subway map, for example).

Baggly · 08-04-2019 2:48pm

Really enjoyed this one. Good laugh, didnt take itself too seriously, delivered on the magic powers origin / kid having powers / kid learning a life lesson very well.

Good to see yer man off the OC get work.

AMKC · 08-04-2019 6:03pm

So decided to go see this today. I have to say I really enjoyed it. It took a while to get going but did a good job of establishing the villain and the hero stories origins.

I thought the last 20 to 30 minutes was really good especially with all the others around too. I wonder will they get their own films or be seen again.
I would have loved to see Superman at the end with this being a DC movie but not to be.

I would give it 8 out of 10.

the sword · 09-04-2019 3:22pm

Got watching it over the weekend there.

Enjoyable, funny and as mentioned before, it didn't take itself to seriously.

Be interesting to see where they take everything from here, the shared universe is at an impasse and the individual movies are thriving. With Aquaman 2 and undoubtedly Shazam 2 coming out in the near future, I don't see how they can reboot or recast characters.

abcabc123123 · 09-04-2019 3:59pm

It's basically DC's Ant-Man - a warm hearted, funny superhero flick that riffs on family. Like Ant Man, the villain is the weak point of the film. Mark Strong's character was a dull, generic evil machine who I thought sucked the life out of every scene he was in. There wasn't too much of him though so it didn't drag the film down. 7/10

RayCun · 09-04-2019 4:03pm

abcabc123123 wrote: »

It's basically DC's Ant-Man - a warm hearted, funny superhero flick that riffs on family. Like Ant Man, the villain is the weak point of the film. Mark Strong's character was a dull, generic evil machine who I thought sucked the life out of every scene he was in. There wasn't too much of him though so it didn't drag the film down. 7/10

I disagree. Strong didn't have a lot to do, but he worked as counterpoint, more than the villain in Ant Man

safetyboy · 09-04-2019 10:35pm

Have been waiting to see this and it didn't disappoint, went to Cineworld at 7 tonight but there were still groups of people arriving 35mins into the film with shopping bags and phone lights on looking for seats. Kinda took my attention off it for a bit, but I will go again and see it properly.

Slydice · 10-04-2019 10:00pm

Sequel!

‘Shazam!’ Writer Henry Gayden Will Return to Write Sequel (Exclusive)
https://www.thewrap.com/henry-gayden-shazam-sequel/

The filmmaking team of David F. Sandberg and Peter Safran are also expected to return.

Kirby · 10-04-2019 10:48pm

Saw it yesterday. Thought it was decent. Ridiculous and silly but good fun nonetheless.

The main issue I had was the massive difference between adult Billy in Zachary Levi and the kid Billy in Asher Angel.

Levi is just so happy every time he is on screen. It's infectious. And Asher Angel plays him so emo and mopey. Don't get me wrong, Billy's life isn't a barrel of laughs so maybe he was right to play him like that but there is a massive disconnect between the two actors performance. It really, really doesn't feel like the same character.

Levi did a great job at behaving like a kid in an adults body....but not THIS kid. It was pretty distracting. I'm not sure whether to blame him, Asher Angel or the director, but it stuck out like a sore thumb.

Baggly · 10-04-2019 10:59pm

I dunno, being invulnerable and able to fly might change my outlook on life.

Kirby · 10-04-2019 11:07pm

Pter wrote: »

I dunno, being invulnerable and able to fly might change my outlook on life.

You would think so.

megaten · 11-04-2019 3:32pm

Kirby wrote: »

Levi did a great job at behaving like a kid in an adults body....but not THIS kid. It was pretty distracting. I'm not sure whether to blame him, Asher Angel or the director, but it stuck out like a sore thumb.

One interpretation I read which makes sense is that the superhero body allows him to act more childish than his situation as an actual child allows for. No idea if that was an intentional decision though.

pixelburp · 11-04-2019 4:49pm

There was something refreshingly old-fashioned about that film: both in its narrative and format and based on the trailers it, was never going to be a surprise that the heart of the movie was Billy 'growing up', but the execution was heartfelt & earnest while skirting the saccharine. The cast should probably take a lot of the kudos, the kids somewhere in the area of The Goonies for likability. Nothing was particularly original, but I'll always reserve praise for any script that takes clichés or tropes and pulls them off with some gusto and charisma. It's actually less common than we might think.

A lot of the throwaway comparisons have made reference to Big - for obvious reasons given the subject - but watching Shazam I actually found myself thinking of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films: to me Shazam really echoed that pulse of those films, something that is actually kinda rare these days (outside of the CW Flash/Supergirl shows): Superhero films that are unafraid to be loud, colourful, exuberant, and threaded with just the right amount of corniness.

larchielads · 13-04-2019 5:18am

AMKC wrote: »

So decided to go see this today. I have to say I really enjoyed it. It took a while to get going but did a good job of establishing the villain and the hero stories origins.

I thought the last 20 to 30 minutes was really good especially with all the others around too. I wonder will they get their own films or be seen again.
I would have loved to see Superman at the end with this being a DC movie but not to be.

I would give it 8 out of 10.

Bit of a spoiler sayin superman not at the end, maybe some of us were waiting to see for ourselves or is the thread opened up for spoilers now?

TerrorFirmer · 13-04-2019 1:32pm

Thought this was pretty decent, very enjoyable and the cast is pretty likable. It wouldn't be my favourite DC movie but this is probably the closest DC has come to properly getting the 'Marvel' formula somewhat right.

No major criticisms - villian is a bit dull though, some of the design aspects could've been a bit more memorable (eg the demons) and there is a bit of a disconnect between Billy/'Adult' Billy, I didn't really buy that they were the same person at all.

Overall though it's entertaining. I enjoyed it more than Captain Marvel.

PS - the Superman spoiler is not really a spoiler. You'll understand when you see it.

ancapailldorcha · 13-04-2019 8:03pm

Better than I was expecting. Much better though

I didn't care for the introduction of the Marvel family at the end.

Bit mad that they're powerful than the whole Justice League now.

Baggly · 13-04-2019 8:07pm

I think Billy is the only one who could keep up with supes. I think the others have at least some overall stacking of strength, endurance etc but seemed to specialise in one of Billy's powers each. Don't think they are all world beaters.

So darla was extremely quick and probably stronger than most people, but not as strong as Billy, for example.

dublinman1990 · 23-04-2019 3:43pm

I booked my Shazam ticket for 5pm this evening at The Odeon at Stillorgan.

I will give you my review of this film later on tonight.

Baggly · 23-04-2019 3:44pm

Hope you enjoy it dublinman1990.

ancapailldorcha · 23-04-2019 3:46pm

Pter wrote: »

I think Billy is the only one who could keep up with supes. I think the others have at least some overall stacking of strength, endurance etc but seemed to specialise in one of Billy's powers each. Don't think they are all world beaters.

So darla was extremely quick and probably stronger than most people, but not as strong as Billy, for example.

I didn't really notice.

Fun little movie though. Hope they keep the Captain Marvel family thing scaled down though.

ThePott · 23-04-2019 7:59pm

Still waiting on Smertius' review

IncognitoMan · 23-04-2019 8:50pm

ThePott wrote: »

Still waiting on Smertius' review

Not comic. 0/10.

dublinman1990 · 23-04-2019 9:50pm

Spoiler review coming!

I just got back from seeing it. I really enjoyed finally seeing Shazam today. It was a lot of fun. Some of the jokes & gags in it were really funny.

I almost lol'd at Freddie saying that Shazam's first name was "Thundercrack" to one of the people outside the convenience store. I will never forget that moment. I also thought the scene nearer to the end when Shazam & Dr. Sirvana were up in the air & Shazam couldn't hear what Dr. Sirvana was saying when he was so far away from him in the sky over the Philadelphia skyline and then Shazam saying "Ah! Screw it" was clever.

The scene when it get's to the end when all of Billy Batson's friends from the foster home, including Freddie, all turn into Shazam's sidekicks at the fun fair was the best scene ever in the whole movie. Seeing all of them all decked out in their costumes looked absolutely fantastic & unexpected because I hadn't been looking much information about this movie except when looking at some of the online trailers. All of them having their own gags were put to good use near the end too.

It was a bit of a pity not to include more scenes about Billy Batson's mother not seeing or hearing that her son was a superhero. If there is a sequel coming later on down the line. I would like to see more of Billy Batson's mother & also his father included for the first time in future. I thought that Billy seeing her real mother after running away at a fun fair when he was only a young 3 year old child would have spurred on emotion in it. I thought it felt a little bit flat when I watched that scene for the first time. People here may or may not agree in saying this but it had good intentions by those making the movie to be including it.

The final main scene in the cafeteria both Shazam appears along side Freddie with Superman coming in after him was good. It's a pity that I couldn't see who it was wearing the suit as I couldn't see the head at the end. I'm definitely right in saying in that it is not Cavill wearing the Superman suit this time. It was definitely someone else wearing it.

The credit scenes were good. I thought that the mid-credit scene with Dr. Sirvana with the caterpillar talking to him in the prison cell was the best one out of the two. The other one at the end with Shazam & Freddie slagging Aquaman from their bedroom was good & got a few laughs from me.

I have never been more glad to say that seeing Shazam on the big screen was a great achievement in itself.

More DC characters like this are getting bigger recognition from more of it fans, either young or old, when they see a movie like this one from theaters around the world. I could have never more happier to see it today in person. It felt great. I also heard recently from Batman-News.com that Shazam's Blu-ray release will get a ton of deleted scenes, amounting to between 20 & 24 minutes, being included when you look at the extras.

That would be terrific for us to see them when you watch it on our setups at home. But why oh why did we not get to see them when they aired in the cinema. Did WB wanted to perserve the running time to be a strict mandate for running this movie? I didn't know that more deleted scenes will be included in the Blu-ray release. WB might include some scenes that may change the look of the movie or add in more jokes to make it more funny.

You know it's a funny old world when fans out there talk about the movies from this universe made by WB. It creates so many polarizing opinions with how the movies were made with some of the releases being really good to being some absolute "stinkers". But for one thing; they are creating a lot more potential in how they are perfectly produced for their audience. They have made big hits with Wonder Woman & Aquaman creating a lot of buzz among fans about how great they were at the box office. They are trying to create something good for us to look at from an individual perspective of being a comic book fan. I'm so glad to be a part of it.

A definite 4 out for 5 from me from seeing this today. Again great fun, great laughs. Would like to see the deleted scenes when the Blu-ray officially comes out.

28-04-2019 12:28am

Shazam family had me fan squeeling, loved the oh so tacky cartoon as a kid

Autecher · 29-04-2019 9:03am

I saw this yesterday. I'm not a comic book fan so don't know the history but I really liked it. It was very funny at times, I much prefer that to the Marvel movies which have become more serious and less funny as they have went on (the ones I have seen anyway). Can someone please explain to me why

Sivana wanted Shazam's powers when he appeared to already have them and was better than him with them?

29-04-2019 9:14am

Autecher wrote: »

I saw this yesterday. I'm not a comic book fan so don't know the history but I really liked it. It was very funny at times, I much prefer that to the Marvel movies which have become more serious and less funny as they have went on (the ones I have seen anyway). Can someone please explain to me why
Sivana wanted Shazam's powers when he appeared to already have them and was better than him with them?

The sins told him, from the off, that Shazam would become more powerful than him, if given time to develop powers and to go after him (and he can make other super powered individuals)

Autecher · 29-04-2019 10:54am

Deleted User wrote: »

The sins told him, from the off, that Shazam would become more powerful than him, if given time to develop powers and to go after him (and he can make other super powered individuals)

Yes of course, how did I miss that?!

Thanks

expectationlost · 11-05-2019 9:08pm

bizarre movie, not subtle and the thing with his

mom

...

was that not assault with deadly weapon (a car) and gbh in the first few minutes

Slydice · 02-07-2019 7:57pm

Deleted scene!

Has Spoilers!

kdevitt · 05-07-2019 1:15pm

Enjoyed this - David Sandberg addressing some nit picky issues with the movie.

CastorTroy · 06-07-2019 10:55am

Multiple times I thought Billy looked like Maisie Williams

branie2 · 07-07-2019 6:12pm

I thought it was very good when I saw it

cdgalwegian · 07-07-2019 11:22pm

Humorous rather than funny. Seemed for early teens, considering the humour and type of violence. Turned it off after 1/2 hour (I mean, ahem, walked out of cinema.) Don't agree with RT review at all. DC trying hard to be antidote to MCU, but fails here I think, again.

Sleepy · 06-08-2019 4:42pm

Have to say we actually rather enjoyed it. Low expectations may have helped but really nice "Saturday afternoon on the couch with the kids" fodder.

silverharp · 06-08-2019 6:27pm

im guessing it wont be great in terms of sequels, it as a fun one off movie.

Slydice · 14-12-2019 1:16am

Sequel -> April 2022
https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/1114438-shazam-2

SHAZAM!

JP Liz V1 · 24-03-2021 3:29am

Helen Mirren and Rachel Zegler join

Agent Coulson · 12-04-2021 6:52pm

Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Helen Mirren & Lucy Liu join the cast.

pixelburp · 13-04-2021 8:19pm

Good additions, Liu isn't in enough but her turn in Elementary was fantastic. I do speculate if the moment has passed for this sequel, the first film feels about a bazillion years ago now and the one DC flick people have generally forgotten.

I also wonder, having been so dogmatic about the film in the lead up, what Smertrius made of the thing. Or if they even watched it. They was quite the contributor here.

silverharp · 13-04-2021 8:48pm

it was a nice film, but I dont have an appetite for a sequel

JP Liz V1 · 15-04-2021 12:37am

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Helen Mirren & Lucy Liu join the cast.

Lucy Liu has joined as the villain Kalypso, the sister of Helen Mirren's villainous character Hespera.

Shazam! (DC Comics - Zachary Levi)

Comments