Shazam! (2019)

Shazam! You can tell when a studio is confident in their film when allowing reviews 2 weeks before it's wide release and DC Films rightfully should be confident. This is one of DC's best movies to date. If this is the direction DC is going, then they are trending upwards big time. Shazam's origins is exactly how a kid would react, go about discovering his powers, and learning to be a hero. The movie pokes fun at some superhero tropes, most notably a scene with Mark Strong and Zachary Levi during the final fight. The jokes are funny and land every time. I haven't genuinely laughed in a DC movie like that in a long time. CGI is excellent. The movie keeps it's comedy roots with Shazam, but also keeps it a bit dark as well. Blends both the dark of the DCEU and comedy of Shazam very well. I believe there was some nods to Black Adam, but they never actually say Black Adam.

Let's talk about Shazam! Zachary Levi is the perfect embodiment of the character. His acting in on point and he plays a 14 year old kid who gains superpowers perfectly. I thought he did a better job playing a kid than the teen actor did. The teen actor, Asher Angel, does a very good job as well. For me, when he is Billy Batson, he is a bit unlikable. However, as soon as he transforms into Shazam, he is the best character. Shazam is not over powered. He struggles to fight the main bad and still hasn't discovered his full potential by the end of the film. His character has great character development with more room to grow.

Now, my favorite character in the film is the best friend of Billy Batson, Freddy Freeman who is played by Jack Dylan Glazer. His acting is phenomenal. He can play the comedic part and dramatic part perfectly. Honestly, he steals the entire movie for me.

Mark Strong as the main villain, Doctor Sivana, was was legit scary. His first scene after getting his powers actually caused some horror movie level anxiety. Mark Strong is at his best. They show his motivation, but his is essentially a stock supervillain origin and craving power motivation.

The rest of the cast is great as well. The kids were funny and they all get do some special stuff in the film that I didn't think would happen until the sequel. Story was pretty simple, not much risk taking, but it does it's job. Overall, the film was top notch and is a well put together film, both in the filmmaking aspect and the fan aspect. I highly highly recommend this film. 9/10.

2 credits scenes. One sets up a sequel that I'm not quite sure who the character was. 2nd one is a joke, which is a nod to DC fans. There is also a Superman cameo, but you do not see Henry Cavill's face. Hope that doesn't mean he is out as Superman.