“Shazam”

I don’t have much memory of Shazam or DC’s Captain Marvel as a kid except a rubber action figure and maybe a cheesy tv show. Thus far, many of the DC hero films have been dark and somewhat joyless. They’ve been improving lately, but this one goes full tilt in the other direction and has made a super-hero film almost geared towards kids. Not to say, that adults won’t enjoy this as well. I did, for the most part. The set-up took forever and honestly, I was pretty bored for about the first 45 minutes. Not a good sign, but once the hero arc kicks in, it begins to perk up and get a lot more fun. Zachary Levi who is essentially playing a 15 year old boy as an adult does a very good job and really has fun with it. There is a little “Big” in this. What I liked about the look of the special effects is that it did remind me of the old Saturday afternoon crap movie/tv shows mainly because the FX were so cheap. 1980’s Flash Gordon came to mind and of course, there was a Queen song in the film, just like that film. The movie had a nice message and pretty sweet at times. It didn’t resort to cheap plot cliches such as the evil foster parents. I liked that. The movie is at its best when they ramp up the comedy esp. when Levi is Shazam. There are some scary moments in this that might scare the younger set, but I think a 10 year old can handle it. Maybe not 8 or younger. It’s fun.

Rating: (**1/2)