Shazam!

RATING: B+

If you thought Aquaman was an odd choice for the DC Extended Universe to go next after the failure of Justice League, their next stop is even weirder in theory. This superhero movie centers around a hero who was once known as Captain Marvel back in the comic-book days... until Marvel Comics got more popular and they had their *own* Captain Marvel, whose movie we also got recently. Then he became known as... Shazam. 

Yup, what a heck of a superhero name. Actually, that's not really his name... it's the name of the "wizard" who bestows the powers on the main character, Billy Batson. And the ridiculousness of all of this is noted by the movie. The idea is that you say the word "Shazam," and then suddenly you get embodied with various superpowers like super strength, flight, and being bulletproof. Yeah, that sounds a bit like Superman, but "Shazam" isn't quite as invulnerable... and he's a character that's more easily identified with. And this guy can also shoot lightning out of his fingers. Oh yeah, and if you're a bit young for the whole hero thing--14, for example--saying "Shazam" transforms you into a physically perfected adult version of yourself. 

Yes, our main hero character Billy Batson is actually a 14-year-old. And he's a foster kid who's been in and out of a bunch of them. In this latest one (a group home), he gets paired with Freddy, a guy who's a total superhero nerd. And then one day he gets approached by the aforementioned "wizard," who is actually dying and passes on his abilities to Billy. And now Billy, who knows absolutely nothing about superheroes, needs Freddy's help to figure out the whole superhero thing. Eventually, he'll have to face down his first foes... in the form of one Thaddeus Sivania and... the Seven Deadly Sins. Yes, *those* Seven Deadly Sins. More on that later. 

This movie is quite a bit of fun. There's plenty of humor to be had--whether it's Billy and Freddy testing out possible superhero abilities, or the film poking fun at its own concept occasionally, or just other amusing things. However, there are a couple of key differences here between this and the last couple of DC films which tried to insert this. It's more organic, for one thing; the light-heartedness does not feel out of place, like it sometimes did in Justice League. But this one also becomes the first installment in the DC Universe to adequately balance the light-hearted material with some of the darker material that they're known for. Justice League failed at this, and Aquaman didn't really even try, choosing to opt for the former instead. 

Another area where this movie is an improvement over previous ones in its villain; some people griped about Marvel villains for a while before Thanos showed up, but DC's actually arguably had a much worse rut. Steppenwolf was a complete failure. Aquaman's best villain wasn't even the primary one. And don't get me started on Suicide Squad. But while Sivania isn't spectacular or anything, he's a lot better than anything DC's had in quite a while. This in part because Mark Strong brings a certain presence to the role, but it also helps that this villain has a well-done backstory that helps explain his motivations--or at least, why he's as twisted as he is. 

However, one of the main issues with this movie is the side antagonists--the Seven Deadly Sins. I'm aware that they were part of the comics that this is based on, but given their religious origins, their presence in this is kind of bizarre. Here, they're essentially just generic monsters that are indistinguishable from each other. And there's not exactly a whole lot of connection to the vices whose names they share (although someone does get consumed by Greed--literally). I get that they were a part of the comics, but they could've made these "Deadly Sins" monsters more coherent--or just replaced with them with other supernatural baddies that still turn Sivania to the dark side. 

There's another part of this movie that's a little head-scratching. Basically, Freddy tries teaching Billy how to be a superhero, as previously mentioned. However, in the application of using the newfound powers/testing them up, the two divulge in some non-heroic silliness, taking advantage of the situation (played mostly for laughs as well as part of "the hero's journey"). However, later Freddy calls Billy out on his actions and recklessness--which makes no sense because earlier in the movie Freddy was encouraging (or at least not discouraging) these actions in the first place. 

Despite some such misfires, Shazam is still one of the best things to come out of the DC Universe--and even though that might not feel like saying much, this is still genuinely a good movie. It's fun and exciting, and doesn't stink of mediocrity (Justice League), silly writing (Aquaman), or incoherence (Batman v Superman). The DC Universe now has one more good thing going for it besides Wonder Woman. The DC Universe still feels like it's in a bit of limbo, but it does seem at this point like they're better at stand-alone movies than at trying to rip off The Avengers.