Shazam (2019)

[baumer]

Discuss

[fabiopazzo2]

B  

 

after JL and Aquaman a good film from Dc.

 

 

[Avatree]

Hands

Lightning with my hands

Lightning with my hands

 

 

Enjoyed this massively. Has a real kicker about 2/3 the way through and just feels like so much more a complete character than other CBM movies. Best superhero film since Guardians of the Galaxy? If it's not then it's tying with Logan.

[kaijukurt]

I liked it! Good movie.

 

Best aspect for me was the humor, which it had a lot of. Especially the jokes poking fun at being a superhero. 

 

Surprisingly though, more crude humor and potentially unsettling scenes/deaths than I imagined. 

 

The characters are likable, and I always enjoy Mark Strong in villainous roles. 

 

I do think the Seven Sins came off more as demon goon fodder rather than some terrifying presence though. 

[Mulder]

2 hours ago, kaijukurt said:

I liked it! Good movie.

 

Best aspect for me was the humor, which it had a lot of. Especially the jokes poking fun at being a superhero. 

 

Surprisingly though, more crude humor and potentially unsettling scenes/deaths than I imagined. 

 

The characters are likable, and I always enjoy Mark Strong in villainous roles. 

 

I do think the Seven Sins came off more as demon goon fodder rather than some terrifying presence though. 

I agree in the final act they got a bit mook-y but in the opening act they're ominous as hell imo.

[Avatree]

yes I didn't realise they were meant to be the 7 deadly sins until they were about dead. They all appeared exactly the same so didnt understand how each of them "represents" a different sin.

[kaijukurt]

1 hour ago, Avatree said:

yes I didn't realise they were meant to be the 7 deadly sins until they were about dead. They all appeared exactly the same so didnt understand how each of them "represents" a different sin.

 

Well, the greed one had 4 arms/hands (makes sense for greed to be grabby) and what I assumed was gluttony was round and had a huge mouth (which opened up in the third act).

 

1 hour ago, Mulder said:

I agree in the final act they got a bit mook-y but in the opening act they're ominous as hell imo.

 

Oh yeah they were definitely imposing in the first act as statues. Creepy indeed, in a good way. 

[TMP]

Seeing disabled, picked-on foster child Freddy Freeman finally feel powerful for the first time in the third act perfectly encapsulated why super heroes are important.

What a great movie. Genuinely funny, surprisingly humane, and built largely around character work and not on needlessly over-complicated plot machinations, none of the emotional beats felt manipulative or needlessly saccharine like so many movies dealing with subject matter like foster families can, and it's refreshing to see one of these where you can tell the action wasn't entirely made by some second-unit pre-vis team. It feels so much more than just a "fun" superhero film. Also surprised by Sandberg's horror roots shining through as often as they did, and surprised at how much I dug Mark Strong's turn as Sivana. 

Also, that shot where he jumps off the roof and shouts Shazam!, bookended by the scenes it was, is one of the best shots in any of these live-action funnybook movies in ages.

[CoolioD1]

this was cute. the shazam family (shazamily?) at the end had like a disney channel movie vibe. whole movie is corny in a fun way and that just kinda tilted into being corny in a lame way.

[DeeCee]

It just didn’t work as well for me. I had zero knowledge of the character before seeing it unlike all of the previous DC films. 

 

There was just to much of a disconnect between Billy as portrayed in the film and Shazam! as portrayed. They didn’t feel like the same character. The characters were also played up to be too naive and stupid at times that it was cringeworthy. 

[cookie]

This was pretty charming. A little long in the tooth at times but I really enjoyed everything in it. Would put it above Wonder Woman honestly.

[CJohn]

The body double Superman cameo has to be the most embarassing thing ever put into a movie.

[lilmac]

Grade: B

 

Definitely worked in terms of humor and the story. 

 

How characters reacted to supernatural events (casual) annoyed me. Even in a world where Superman existed, I still wanted more believability from the extras. 

Edited April 7, 2019 by lilmac

[filmlover]

Had a blast with this. The Big spin allows it to stand out as a fresh entry from the more serious fare that have populated the genre and it's surprisingly heartfelt too. Loved both Zachary Levi (perfect in a role that John Krasinski would've played a decade ago) and Jack Dylan Grazer (one of the better child actors to emerge in recent years) in this, and their chemistry is perfect. Also enjoyed Asher Angel whenever he was on screen. Mark Strong acts like he's in a completely different movie from everybody else but serves his purpose I suppose. I also actually dug the Shazam Family stuff towards the end, especially since we got to see Adam Brody and Meagan Good get to play superheroes (must be said as well that Brody as the adult version of Grazer is genius casting). It's easily the second best DCEU movie yet after Wonder Woman and I look forward to seeing what direction they head in with a sequel. B+

[La Binoche]

Too long, not funny, its "charm" felt manufactured (referencing a funny and charming movie like Big doesn't make your movie funny and charming by proxy), the "heartfelt" orphan beats stank of "make them likable and give the movie heart!" studio notes. Lame villain, lame mythology with the sorcerer. Epic fail. D- 

[Fancyarcher]

My review.

 

https://dailyuv.com/profile/2232/977140

[baumer]

Not a good year so far for super hero movies. Didn't connect with this one at all.  Way too silly in every way for me.

 

5/10

[John Marston]

 I give this a solid B

 

 

two problems I had

 

 

- The Seven Deadly Sins: Started off pretty menacingly but by the end of the film they were pretty much generic CGI monsters. I am also not sure how they even connected to the seven deadly sins.

 

- The fight between Billy and Freddy when Freddy accuses Billy of being a "bully". Huh, when did this happen? And wasn't Freddy encouraging his behavior just a little bit ago and enjoying the perks of it  and now because he won't show up at the school to show off for him Billy is now a bad person? This whole part felt like there was something missing. 

[Cap]

The movie was such a roller coaster for me of 😍😡😍😡😍. 

 

I hated the first 15 minutes. 

 

But the, the Foster family showed up. All of their scenes were so warm and delightful.  I loved the Foster Parents. And when Billy turned to the kids, told them to say his Name, and they all defeated the bad guy with the power of friendship, all my (and the film’s) sins were absolved and I ascended in that theater. So. So. So. Good.

 

I thought the Deadly Sins designs were a HUGE missed opportunity. So generic and ugly. I also thought the Christmas set dressing did nothing to add to the movie, even if Santa made me chuckle.

 

Mark Strong was so boring. Felt like a 2000s CBM villain. 

 

My BIGGEST issue was they never gave Billy a Steve Rogers “I can do this all day” moment.  I never felt that he was the most pure of heart Or worthy of the title/powers. I get childhood trauma/origin story/growth and change/Yada yada.  But it doesn’t change the fact that halfway through the second act I still thought he was a little shit.  Freddie was RIGHT there, and there’s no way he wasn’t more or as worthy as Billy.  So instead of thinking this was a fun family movie, I spent a lot of time thinking pre-teen/teeanage boys are the worst. 

 

 

 

[Barnack]

On 4/4/2019 at 9:50 PM, TMP said:

Seeing disabled, picked-on foster child Freddy Freeman finally feel powerful for the first time in the third act perfectly encapsulated why super heroes are important.

Feel powerful only once in a magic able body or surrounded with literally Superman....

 

Lot of the humor worked really well but a lot of this was so-so and it had strange balance of what it wanted to be.

 

A bit too rough / vile by moment for a family movie but a lot of it way to childish/underplayed to be really anything else (the 7 sins demon was really badly done, the personality/power of the possessed didn't seem to change with how many were out, their design terrible, etc...), the whole villains there were terrible filler.

 

One really strange aspect if how little the same human in different body did it felt, it seem there were no attempt for the kids/same kids but adult body to share the same personality at all, the voice rhythm, the mood, it all felt very disconnected.

 

The foster family set up was great.