Growing up Super

SHAZAM!

25th FRAME RATING 8/10

QUICK TAKE Delightfully fun subversion and at the same time affirmation of timeless superhero tropes.

Almost 4/5th of the way into Shazam! we see a little boy playing with his Batman and Superman action figures as he makes them fight each other and then suddenly he spots the film’s titular superhero outside the window. His jaw drops, he goes ‘WHOA!’ and also drops the two action figures. If that is not the most meta and stealthily self deprecating DC Movies gag you have ever seen, I do not know what is.

But DC is not here to knock on its iconic supers with Shazam!; it is here to make you look at the superhero story through a child’s eyes again and make you realise just how much gosh darn fun it can be. In a young cast that reminds you oddly of Modern Family meets Malcolm In The Middle and a fabulous Zachary Levi, it finds the perfect allies to do so. Shazam! starts off pretty self serious as we are witness to a dark origin story in the opening sequence but its self awareness shines through the entirety of the runtime as it keeps reminding you, without any cynicism, that being a superhero is fun, it is often funny and yes, there is responsibility too.

What helps the film break DC’s usual brood mood framework is some fun sitcom style writing and two outstanding young actors in Asher Angel (who plays Billy Batson who gets the power to turn into Shazam!) and Jack Dylan Glazer (who plays Billy’s foster home buddy and resident nerd Freddy Freeman and gives off very strong Frankie Muniz as Malcolm vibes). Their chemistry as young teens who are struggling with the typical teen issues but are also goofs at heart (Freddy is a nerd but he’s cool with obliterating Algebra homework using Shazam’s superpowers) works very well, and if it reminds you of a bit of Spider-Man, well that may not entirely be by accident. The rest of the cast fill in nicely like a menagerie of Wes Anderson characters and their relative obscurity plays into the film’s need to keep it grounded to an underdog feel. Mark Strong as the villain is never excessive and when his role threatens to be, the writers gently introduce some pathos to make it eminently enjoyable. The setting – Philadelphia – also makes for a nice break from the typical New York or some West Coast City skyline (Philly is an underrated city when it comes to setting movies in it, although this writer must admit to having a personal bias because I spent a couple of years there).

Director David Sandberg who’s earlier slate of work includes mostly horror titles looks in complete control and part of the trick is that he never lets the film become too self serious. Keeping things the fun kind of dumb and yet imbibing some heart into it is its own kind of superpower.

P.S. Do not miss the end credit and post credit scenes, but most importantly there is a great cameo in the final scene that just revels in the meta and in one split second establishes everything Shazam! as a film wants to be.