1970s television taught me that the guy who yelled, “SHAZAM!” turned into Captain Marvel. Wha..? Gee, that’s quite a twist on what we learned from movies a month ago, huh? Of course, 1960s television taught me that the guy who yelled “SHAZAM!” was a lovable marine corps yokel destined to die in Vietnam. In addition, the 1990s taught me that Kazaam was something never to be uttered or spoken of ever again. I suppose that’s irrelevant … or is it?
The story as I learned it early-on was that slow-witted Robby-Benson-wannabe Billy Batson (Michael Gray) would yell “SHAZAM!” and then a thunderbolt would happen and an adult in a tacky red Halloween costume would appear in his place. The best part of the show was not the lame adventures Cap’n Billy would have to fight evil or escape a parking ticket or whatever, no, the best part was that every week Billy would get in over his head discussing philosophy with cartoon characters. Don’t get me wrong, 70s Billy could get in over his head trying to use a soda machine, but the show sought to periodically embarrass him with a jam session consisting of Billy and the Elders: cartoon depictions of Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury. You know, I think one of those guys actually existed. Anyhoo, Billy used to show up in the van where the Elders hung out with his queries about plagiarism, “take a penny, leave a penny,” or getting to second base and the Elders –who had nothing better to do- would discuss issues long enough for Billy to say, “I don’t understand” (a thankfully brief wait for the viewer), then Atlas would shrug and they’d all give him advice. It was a pretty good time if you were into Billy’s “dunno” look.
Thankfully, now the Elders have been reduced to an old guy with a stick who summons random unworthy children to a secret lair just long enough for the kids to prove themselves lacking; then stick dude (“The Wizard”) banishes them not unlike Willy Wonka wondering why he bothered with the little creeps. One such child was Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), a man obsessed as an adult with finding the secret wizard lair he visited as a child and capturing the power within. At first, he doesn’t really care about the source of the power, so when Dr. Sivana finds the “in,” stick dude takes a backseat to the personified powers of the seven deadly sins, who also hang out in statue form in the wizard cave. Personally, I would love to know what exactly are the superpowers of gluttony or sloth, but that’s a different movie.
By the time new Billy (Asher Angel), a single-minded and fairly self-centered orphan, does a good turn, Wizard Djimon Hounsou ain’t too picky any more. It’s pretty much: “You’re my guy. Here’s the stick. Good luck with evil. I’m outty.” Shazam! does not lack for amusement; when Billy is summoned, his subway car empties and the train stops at what appears to be Hell. Billy immediately checks the subway map before exiting. You can practically read the kid’s thought bubble, “I’m in Philadelphia … this is clearly the netherworld … I must be a Lincoln Financial Field.”
Long story short, after meeting the Wizard, all li’l Billy has to do is call out “SHAZAM!” and he turns into Zachary Levi in a tacky red Halloween costume. “Shazam” is imbued with a variety of superpowers, the foremost among them being immaturity, which he has in spades. I understand that emotional growth is part of this tale –an important part- but getting Billy to own up to some responsibility was quite a chore. Billy lives in the world’s best foster home and yet, sadly, he constantly seeks his birth mother above all else. I can’t fault the kid for said desire, but at some point he’s gotta recognize the good stuff from the people in his life. Also, it would be nice if he noticed that being able to leap tall buildings and lift city buses are not skill sets that exist simply to get one in the Guinness Book of Records. This revelation came a tad too late for my patience.
Other than my occasional frustration with Zachary Levi, Shazam! is indeed a fun film. Shazam! has no idea what his powers are, so every situation relies on a grown man wearing a red suit and a cape taking his cues from comic book obsessed tween – which is an amusing premise with sporadically amusing results. Discovery of talent and subsequent application of said talent is one of the best things movies do. Sure, the 1970s television show still comes to mind as while so much has changed in the 2019 movie edition, the kid yelling “SHAZAM!” is still a yokel destined to die in Vietnam. Wait. Scratch that. Wrong guy. This film is essentially an exploration of new power from a basically-good-yet-immature mind. That scenario lends itself to all kinds of comedy depending on what our teen hero values. Spider-Man has already explored this territory generously, so I set the bar there. Spider-Man wants to get the girl; Shazam! wants to be seen as a hero. There are worse aspirations.
“Say my name and you will be granted succor”
Croaked the guy resembling a medieval trucker
There’s shoddier blamblam
Than yelling “SHAZAM!”
The wizard could have gone by “Mutherf***er”
Rated PG-13, 132 Minutes
Director: David F. Sandberg
Writer: Henry Gayden
Genre: Not-ready-for-prime-time-heroism
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Escapists
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Aren’t you sick of superhero films yet?
