Review of Shazam! (2019) by 43In2014 — 04 Apr 2019
The short review: A funny superhero origin story that gradually loses its shine due to lack of seriousness and later becomes something akin to a Power Rangers film. The kids would love it!
Related media: I have not read the comics on thisThe short review: A funny superhero origin story that gradually loses its shine due to lack of seriousness and later becomes something akin to a Power Rangers film. The kids would love it!
Related media: I have not read the comics on this hero nor watched cartoons based on this character.
What's it like?: This film has elements of past films where teenagers are suddenly given powers (for example Spider-man's story), Big (1988) and films on Power Rangers.
Mid- or post-credit scenes: There's one in the middle and one at the end (that has a great punchline).
Positives: 1) The film is funny in many places, though this becomes less frequent over time.
2) The caring nature of the foster home's parents is an inspiration to all. If only all foster homes are like that!
Negatives: 1) The film lacks sharpness. There are many instances where Shazam! could have been killed off, but wasn't, simply because this is a children film. Relatedly, the villain is not clinical enough and seems to do the cliche over-confident villain thing of taking his sweet time to kill off our hero. Boohoo!
2) The 'S' in Shazam! is referring to the wisdom of Solomon. Despite being given the powers of Shazam!, this hero did not get all that wise! He remained a dumb kid, doing dumb things in dumb ways. Sure, there were instances where he had showed wisdom, but they were not beyond the level of an adult nor at the level of a superhero. 3) The film's running time could have been compressed by some 30 minutes. A few tropes are repeatedly shown and everything just moves somewhat slowly, as if the film is meant for kids.
4)Shazam! foster brother, Freddy, is a rather irritating character.
5) Late on, the story degenerates into a Power Rangers trope, which is both interesting and disappointing. If the film had been more clinical, then this would not have been necessary.
How would the different age groups rate it?
Children: Excellent.
Teens: Good.
Young adults: Good Medium age adults: Average.
Old adults: Average Rating: 3/5 (no half scores). Skip it. Save your money and watch it on TV.
This review of Shazam! (2019) was written by 43In2014 on 04 Apr 2019.
Shazam! has generally received very positive reviews.
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