Shazam! (2019)

A newly fostered young boy in search of his mother instead finds unexpected super powers and soon gains a powerful enemy.

Director:

David F. Sandberg

Writers:

Henry Gayden (screenplay by), Henry Gayden (story by)

Stars:

Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Asher Angel

17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Zachary Levi	...	Shazam
Mark Strong	...	Dr. Sivana
Asher Angel	...	Billy Batson
Jack Dylan Grazer	...	Freddy Freeman
Adam Brody	...	Super Hero Freddy
Djimon Hounsou	...	Wizard
Faithe Herman	...	Darla Dudley
Meagan Good	...	Super Hero Darla
Grace Fulton	...	Mary Bromfield
Michelle Borth	...	Super Hero Mary
Ian Chen	...	Eugene Choi
Ross Butler	...	Super Hero Eugene
Jovan Armand	...	Pedro Peña
D.J. Cotrona	...	Super Hero Pedro
Marta Milans	...	Rosa Vasquez

Storyline

In Philadelphia, Billy Batson is an abandoned child who is proving a nuisance to Child Services and the authorities with his stubborn search for his lost mother. However, in his latest foster home, Billy makes a new friend, Freddy, and finds himself selected by the Wizard Shazam to be his new champion. Now endowed with the ability to instantly become an adult superhero by speaking the wizard's name, Billy gleefully explores his new powers with Freddy. However, Billy soon learns that he has a deadly enemy, Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, who was previously rejected by the wizard and has accepted the power of the Seven Deadly Sins instead. Now pursued by this mad scientist for his own power as well, Billy must face up to the responsibilities of his calling while learning the power of a special magic with his true family that Sivana can never understand.

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Plot Keywords:

superhero | caped superhero | dc extended universe | origin of hero | shared universe | 

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Taglines:

He's not so serious

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action, language, and suggestive material

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Site

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

5 April 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam!

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$53,505,326, 7 April 2019

Gross USA:

$140,371,656

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$365,971,656

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., DC Entertainment, DC Comics

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On August 6, 2017, David F. Sandberg posted a mock script page that parodied the rivalry between Shazam and Superman. DC Comics sued Fawcett Comics in 1941, claiming that Captain Marvel was a copyright infringement of Superman, and won on appeal in 1953. Fawcett agreed out of court to pay DC $400,000 and cease publication; DC later licensed (1972) and then bought (by 1991) Captain Marvel from Fawcett, marketing it under the title "Shazam!" DC eventually renamed the character "Shazam" in 2012, retaining a version of the traditional Captain Marvel and his cast in their comics in an alternate universe.

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Goofs

An exterior shot of the school is used twice (albeit from a different/lower angle). The giveaway is a girl wearing a batman backpack runs to the same group of friends in both shots. Then, in a third school shot at the end of the movie, the same group continues walking from where they were, even though that shot was supposed to be a different day.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mr. Sivana: Thad... I said no toys at Grandfather's.
Thaddeus Sivana (1974): But it's Christmas.

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Crazy Credits

There is a scene at the end of the closing credits: Shazam tries to talk to fish.

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Connections

Features Mortal Kombat X (2015)

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Soundtracks

Do You Hear What I Hear?
Written by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne
Performed by Bing Crosby
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Nice addition in DCEU.

If this was the potential of DCEU, why on earth movies like Justice League, BvS and Suicide Squad even exist? The more I watch films like this, the more I think Snyder was the biggest mistake of DCEU.

Good : Zachary Levi is awesome as the adult version of Billy Batson. He can perfectly play an adult who is actually a teenager. His performance is incredible. He has an amazing chemistry with all the other characters which made the experience really good. The movie is an ultimate fun ride from the top to bottom. There's not a single part which felt boring or uninteresting. The arc given to Billy was quite good and we start to like the characters. The comedic parts deliver at its finest. Director Sandberg has shown versatility in a very good way. I have always thought of him as a very good director. His horror films like Lights Out and Annabelle Creation are directed quite well, the major flaws are in the script, if any. Here, there are no such problems with the script, and he understands very well how a certain part of the story is to be directed. Some parts do have a nice horror movie vibe to it, but it is not tonally inconsistent. It knows what it tries to be, and doesn't take itself too seriously. Even at the times it does, it is for a comedic purpose. It never tries to be an epic film knowing that it's not, unlike BvS. It is sure to put a smile on your face throughout and make you laugh a lot. The final moments are crowd pleasing moments done right.

Mixed : It's not a big problem, but I expected more comedy out of this. What I got was great, but I wanted a lot more of funny stuff. The kid playing teen Billy Batson isn't a bad actor. But some of the times, it felt like him and Levi were a little different with each other. It could've been a little better.

Bad : The villain was a clichéd villain. He wasn't interesting as a character like Thanos, Ledger's Joker or Bane. Mark Strong does a good job, but this is a poorly written villain.

Conclusion : An entertaining superhero film which knows what it is, and is quite campy in a good way. It is not wildly original concept of a film. It has some popular tropes of the genre and has a familiar template for an origin story. But it will definitely keep you entertained till the end, and you will end up liking most of the characters. The best thing is, even if you have never seen a DCEU movie, it won't make a difference. It has little to no reference to the previous DCEU films and is its own thing for the most part. Recommended even to those who are not the fan of the genre.

Rating.

Score : 7.8/10

Grade : A-