I don't know much about the actual comic book character Shazam! other than he was originally, maybe he even still is, known as Captain Marvel. That was long before Marvel coined one. DC, the current owner of Shazam, didn't coin him up either. He was originally a Superman-like character created by Bill Parker and C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics and was at one point one of the best selling characters in the superhero genre. Nowadays Shazam/Captain Marvel is more of a side character, far from his original popularity. That was, I guess, a reason why the success of Shazam! surprised many people, especially because it came out the same year as Marvel's Captain Marvel. Not that they did the comparable bank, Captain Marvel grossing 1.1 billion worldwide against Shazams! more modest 366 million. But the movie was a success, nonetheless, and proved there still was life left in the original Captain Marvel.
1977, the Silva family is on a car ride to see their grandfather. Young Thaddeus is more or less bullied by his older brother and his father, who isn't a very nice man. Suddenly, the world changes. The car windows freeze over and Thaddeus finds himself alone in the car. He steps out and finds himself from a throne room of Shazam the wizard (Hounsou), who inquires if he has a pure heart and proceeds to tempt him with a stone containing the seven deadly sins. The stone would give Thaddeus power, but if he resists, Shazam would pass his powers to him. The boy fails and is scolded by Shazam. This, as we later find out, was a mistake. A basic supervillain origin.
Cue to present day, where 14-years old Billy Batson (Angel) is on the lam again. He has been living in foster homes but has a track record of running away as he is constantly looking for his mother. Billy is taken to a new home, with 5 other foster kids. The Vasquez family is hoping to keep Billy, them having been foster kids as well. Billy's new roommate is Freddy Freeman (Grazer), a superhero enthusiast with a lame leg.
The next day at school Freddy gets bullied by two bigger kids. At first, Billy is unwilling to help, wanting to keep a low profile before his escape, but then decides the stand up to the bullies. He then promptly escapes, the bullies in tow, and ends up in a subway. Again, the windows freeze up and he finds himself alone. He steps out to meet the wizard Shazam, who is about to die: Billy is his last hope. The boy tells the wizard he doesn't know if anyone is a person like what he is looking for but ends up grabbing his staff and saying the magic word, the name of the wizard Shazam. This transforms him physically into Captain Marvel (Levi). Mentally, he still is the same 14-year old kid. The wizard dies in the process, leaving Billy alone to figure out his new powers.
As Captain Marvel, Billy returns back to Earth and skulks to his new home to find Freddy. He hopes the superhero enthusiast to teach him how to handle his powers. Freddy is more than eager to help out, but their first problem is Billy's new appearance: is it permanent. No, as it turns out, he can turn back by saying Shazam! again. But before that happens, the youngest of the kids living at home, Darla (Faithe Herman) finds out that his new big brother is a superhero.
The boys begin to test out Billy's new powers. They end up doing viral YouTube videos of their training sessions, figuring out him to be super fast, super strong, having lightning powers and even bulletproof. They just don't really know what to do as a superhero yet, so they end up doing money by performing superhero feats, like supercharging peoples phones, for petty cash.
On a side note, a running joke in the movie is the name of Captain Marvel. The kids are trying to figure out a superhero name for Billy and try several different ones. It is very intentional they never call him Captain Marvel because of the current Marvel superhero with the same name with better name recognition. I don't know if this version of Shazam! will ever be called with his original name. But I don't think that really matters either that much.
Around this time, we find out that Thaddeus Silvana (Strong) has been researching his mysterious transportation his whole adult life and has now found a way of getting back to the Wizards realm. There, he takes the power gem and becomes a vessel for the sins. Back in Earth, the sins inform him that there is a champion he has to defeat and it doesn't take him long to find Billy Batson. He proceeds to take Billy's new foster siblings as hostages and to save them, he agrees to follow Silvana to the portal.
At the lair, Silvana releases the sins as is about to take Billy's powers, when the kids, now all being aware of Billy¨s new identity, end up interrupting him by throwing a Batarang to his head. This is the point, where they learn that he becomes vulnerable when the sins leave his body. Together with Billy, they escape back to Earth, ending up facing Silvana. Billy figures out, that the best way forwards is teamwork and as he manages to steal the wizards' staff back, he gives superpowers to his siblings, turning them into adult versions, again with kids minds. Together, they end up defeating the sins and Silvana, becoming true heroes in the process. And Billy has learned a lesson on the value of home and friends.
By all counts, Shazam! is, even perhaps against odds, one of the better superhero movies released in recent memory. What's even more peculiar about it is, that it in many ways reminds me of those 1980's kids movies, which often have a surprising edge about them. The way it's been written, directed and acted feels like a continuation of that line of movies in a very good way.
Unlike some other modern iterations of DC heroes, Shazam! is not interested in being cynical or edgy. It's also not, like Marvel movies, interested in being stuffed full with special effects and cheap one-liners. In many ways, it almost parodies the humourlessness of DC and the one-liner obsession of Marvels. Shazam! manages to find its place by bravely being a bit different but in some ways very similar to both brands, which really helps it have an identity of its own despite it still belonging in the current iteration of DC heroes.
Shazam! is the kind of a movie. that knows it has a pretty basic story to tell. But what it does with the basic story it does very well. Director Sandberg has taken all the tropes on how a superhero is born, in a bit similar way as Raimi did with his take on Spider-Man, and turned them into a charming, well-acted and directed movie about a boy who suddenly becomes far more than he could have ever hoped. And on the subject of tone, in many ways Shazam! manages to feel more like Superman than the current movie iteration of Superman does. This is somewhat ironic, as Captain Marvel was at one point sued by DC for being too much like Superman long before they ended up buying the character rights.
Shazam! is not a perfect movie, but it does show there is room for all kinds of styles in the genre. You can do stuff that differs from morose seriousness and bland brand CGI spectacle. In other words, you can do movies that have a bit more heart in them despite they'd be a part of the same universe.
A sequel for Shazam! is slated for around 2023. It'll be interesting to see if it manages to capture the lightning again.
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