Johnson Thomas
The little known DC comic book superhero gets a cinematic turn with Shazam!. This film is more suited to a younger (or young at heart) demographic mainly because of its broad comedy and strong emotive thread that has hero and villain as victims of callousness by family.
Billy Batson aka Shazam! (Asher Angel/Zachary Levi) has a strong urge to reunite with the mother he lost touch with during a carnival while the adult Dr Thaddeus Sivanna (Mark Strong) is still looking to prove himself to his derisive, dismissive father and bullying older brother.
The hero and villain here both have emotional issues to deal with. One veers towards the good while the other obviously has to take on the mantle of evil. Billy gets a foster family of five kids who all but envelope him with their love and appreciation – protecting him from evil and temptation while Thad succumbs to evil’s lure without much of a fight- wanting to take the quickest and easiest way to become all powerful and prove his family wrong. Then there’s Billy/Shazam’s conflicting relationship with his disabled foster sibling, a superhero geek, Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer), Billy's desperate desire to be reunited with his mother and his developing attachment to his newfound family. The seven deadly sins play an important part in the fight of good versus evil with the villain using them as his guide while the superhero uses the goodness of his siblings and their newfound superhero abilities to combat each deadly avatar.
The power of Shazam! includes the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus ( lightning), the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. While the CGI is neither original nor distinct enough and the writing gets a little too protracted in its assay, the performances delight. Angel, Levi and Grazer have enough ebullience and wit to spread delight regarding their wondrous powers.
Strong makes his intensity and taut irascibility work to his advantage while the foster parents and other siblings make their presence felt with their subtle comic flashes and amiable infarctions.
The film obviously needed a tighter edit as it becomes a little too tedious towards the end. Also, the showcasing of the powers has little clarity and feels terribly jumbled up. Nevertheless, this is a kid-friendly entertainer and is sure to drum up a storm in the kiddie universe!
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2ORkv0Q
via Today’s News Headlines
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