Shazam is a story about Billy Batson (Asher Angel) who is given the powers of the wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) and turns into ‘Captain Marvel’ (Zachary Levi). It is a fairly run of the mill superhero origin story that is elevated by a sense of awareness of how silly the movie is and by an outstanding villain in Mark Strong’s Doctor Sivana. The film embraces the levity of the fantastical situation while balancing darker themes to make a fun, easily watchable movie.
Many stories have a Chosen One archetype. Star Wars has Luke Skywalker and, if you like the prequels, you could argue Anakin before him. The eponymous Harry Potter, even though, Neville Longbottom could have taken that mantle. The bible and Jesus.
Shazam is no different, with the film opening on a young Thaddeus Sivana being spirited away to meet with the Wizard Shazam and, if he proves worthy as the chosen one, to be given all of the wizard’s powers.
This set up shows director David Sandberg’s horror roots with some kids in the audience visibly scared by the sculptures that personify the seven deadly sins who the wizard Shazam is guarding over. Also, these horror roots mean he has stretched the budget to make the film look way more expensive than it is.
Alas, the Wizard didn’t think Thaddeus had it in him and promptly sends the child back from where he came which causes his father to have a car accident. This decision sends Thaddeus down the dark path and creates one of the more grounded and relatable villains in any of the current run of superhero films as Doctor Sivana tries to find a way back to the Shazam to get those powers.
Billy Batson is an orphan who is trying to find the mother that left him at an amusement park when he was a small child. His latest plan involves trapping some police officers and using their car’s computer to search for her. After this poorly judged plan backfires he is given his final chance with a foster home before being sent into government care.
Billy’s new family hits all the heartstrings; loving parents who were themselves orphans who have adopted a variety of cute quirky kids. Instantly, Billy doesn’t want to play nice and doesn’t integrate into the family unit. Only when his new adopted disabled brother, Freddy, is picked on does Billy show any redeeming features.
These bullies then turn on Billy and in his escape he is also whisked off to be tested by Shazam, and in this case, because Shazam is getting weaker and having no other options, grants Billy all his powers.
From here it follows the normal path of the hero learning their powers, building relationships, breaking relationships, and then coming together at the end. The film gets interesting when Doctor Sivana comes back on the scene with quiet rage and frustration.
That rage and frustration are justified with the arbitrary nature of who is or is not chosen. Billy was given his powers not because he was best but because Shazam had no other choice. Doctor Sivana had to work hard to find his way back to Shazam, and because he doesn’t take Shazam’s powers but those of the seven deadly sins, this is a villain you can get behind. Yes, it’s convoluted but the film is aware of it.
The film also makes fun of the long-running legal battle about the name of the character by never calling the titular Shazam Shazam. Shazam was originally called Captain Marvel and only said the words Shazam to change into the Shazam form but with buyouts and lawsuits Captain Marvel eventually changed his name to Shazam and this movie plays this up for laughs by Billy and Freddy coming up with a myriad of potential names for the character.
Even with all the goofiness this film does play delicately with the challenging themes of being chosen, by the wizard Shazam, being chosen by the foster family, and also not being chosen by Billy’s mother.
It has enough heart without being saccharine, while also making fun of itself so that we know it is not Batman vs Superman. It is a fun watch for when you want to get away and experience something light and easy with another substance to make the film feel grounded, and did I mention it had a good villain?
Luke McMeeken-Ruscoe
11th April 2019