Since the less than stellar reception of the ultra dark Zack Snyder directed Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman, WB has tried to steer itself in a different direction with its superhero movies. Gone is the over reliance on the “shared universe,” and more focus has been put into simply trying to make decent, individual, standalone movies. That’s a good first step. Also gone is the brooding darkness, replaced with the lighter comedic tones of Patty Jenkins’s Wonder Woman and now Shazam!, which is the second step in the right direction. Shazam is based on a hero who is actually called Captain Marvel (name changed now for obvious reasons, although he did come first, created in 1939), and who is a ten-year-old boy named Billy Batson, given his superpowers by a wizard- whenever he calls out “Shazam!” he transforms into a grown man with the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, and the power of flight. If there’s any concept that deserves a light touch it’s this one, and thankfully the movie knows it, leaning into the Big-esque nature of it all. Asher Angel plays Billy, now 14 and an angry foster kid who wants to find his long lost mother. Placed in a new group home with five other kids his age and younger, he turns away from them, but when given his powers by the wizard (Djimon Hounsou) in a freak incident, he teams up with Freddy (the charming Jack Dylan Grazer) to let loose with his new abilities. Zachary Levi plays the adult Billy and is utterly delightful in the title role, expressing giddiness and awe at his new status and body, much like Tom Hanks did in Big (there’s even a quick nod to a floor piano in an amusement park). He also has such a natural rapport with Grazer that not for one second did I think Freddy wasn’t interacting with the same character, even though there is a frequent shift back and forth between ages. The interplay between all the foster kids is the best part of the movie, and it’s kind of a shame it has to be interrupted by Mark Strong’s lame villain (he plays Dr. Sivana, who was Captain Marvel’s archenemy in the comics, but here is just a guy whose entire motivation is jealousy over not being chosen by the wizard as a kid), but I suppose Billy has to learn how to use his powers responsibly somehow. Still, Levi and the younger actors make the movie shine for the most part, guided by sure handed, earnest direction from David F. Sandberg, who imbues the film with a reverence for superheroes in general (this is a world where Superman and Batman already exist, so one more hero walking around doesn’t faze a lot of people). I enjoyed Shazam for what it was (but I do wonder how they’re going to get many sequels out of it when they chose to start Billy off as 14 instead of 10- the whole point is the wonder of a child turning into an adult, not a teenager).
AVENGERS: ENDGAME * * * (Dir. Anthony & Joe Russo)