Review of Shazam! (2019) by Felicityfenwick — 23 Mar 2019

Think a mash-up of "Superman," "Big" and "Jumanji"... Yes, spoilers ahead if you keep reading. I very much enjoyed this film. Zach Levi (from "Chuck") was born to play this role.

My only criticism of his performance is that the younger (non-Shazam) version of himself is cynical, shrewd, and not all that funny - he's been through a lot having been abandoned by his mother, so it makes sense.

When he's in the BIG role, he's much more, for lack of a better word, "goofy." The consistency is not there, but this didn't kill it for me. Much more importantly, the casting director found Jack Dylan Grazer to play Freddy Freeman.

Believe it or not, he's the beating heart of this film. Brilliant work- extremely funny but not in the typical "sassy teen" way. If you can't feel for him, everything else falls apart. I also absolutely loved Cooper Andrews (Jerry from The Walking Dead) and Marta Milans as the foster parents.

They're more tangibly "real" than any other parents in these superhero flicks. Believe it or not, Mark Strong is only OK in this film. Sure, he's the bad guy, and they give him a really good back story which I won't spoil, but he doesn't bring a unique spin to the all-powerful menacing force.

I also liked exacxtly how they acknowledge the other existing DC superheroes in this world - Batman, Superman, etc. are a "thing", but they handle it in a very organic way - if you're a fan of thse things, you'll smile.

BIGGER spoiler (without giving too much up).... When the entire family goes through their "thing" toward the end, the casting director did a phenomenal job - all those new parts are all perfectly cast.

Love all those actors - particularly Michelle Borth (Hawaii 5-0) and Meagan Good. Triumphant ending. Recommended for sure.