Shazam: Plot, cast, parents guide, reception

Superhero movies, a sub-genre of action films, have become popular and are heavily patronised by the audience. Shazam, just like various similar movies, depicts a stock character that possesses superpowers and abilities beyond those of ordinary people and uses his or her powers to help the world. By rescuing the world, such characters become a hero of the world.

Shazam is a superhero movie produced for cinema release by New Line Cinemas, The Safran Company and DC Films, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Pictures. The story was created by Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke, both American screenwriters, and was released to the Chinese audience on 28 March 2019, and 5 April 2019 for the US and Canadian audiences.

Origin

The movie is based on the DC Comics character of the comic book, Captain Marvel, who is also known as Shazam. The comic book depicts the story of the alter ego of Billy Batson, a boy who, by speaking or thinking the magic word “Shazam’, can transform himself into a costumed adult with the powers of superhuman strength and speed, flight, and other abilities. The character battles an extensive list of enemies and confronts them by sharing his magical power with other children.

Plot

Billy Batson is an abandoned child turning out to be a pain in the neck to Child Services and the authorities in the US city of Philadelphia due to his dogged and wilful search for his lost mother. Brought to a foster home, he meets Freddy, who becomes his best friend. But while still searching for his mother and struggling to adapt to the foster home, Billy finds himself selected by the Wizard, named 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. In the 14-year-old’s case, all he needs to do is shout out one word to transform into the adult superhero “Shazam”. Still a kid at heart, Shazam revels in the new version of himself by doing what any other teen would do- having fun while testing his newfound powers.

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. He must work to master his powers and prevent the sinister scientist, Dr Sivana, from gaining powers of his own. Billy and his foster brother, Freddy Freeman, must discover the former’s new powers to stop the evil scientist and the Seven Deadly Sins.

In the end, Billy and his siblings are hailed as heroes as they deal with Sivana and the sins.

ALSO READ: Avengers: Endgame: Review, awards, soundtrack, characters

Main Cast

• Zachary Levi plays the role of Shazam, the wizard’s champion and Billy’s superhero alter-ego.
• Asher Angel acts as Billy Batson, a troubled orphan searching for his biological mother and is subsequently chosen by the ancient wizard Shazam as his champion.
• Mark Strong performs on-screen as Dr Thaddeus Sivana, a scientist who was turned down as a potential champion and becomes a host for the Seven Deadly Sins.
• Jack Dylan Grazer is Frederick “Freddy” Freeman, Billy’s foster brother, who mentors him on the use of his newfound powers.
• Djimon Hounsou plays the role of Wizard, the last surviving member of the Council of Wizards, who has spent centuries in search of a “pure of heart” champion to whom he can pass on his powers.
• Faithe Herman acts as Darla Dudley, Billy’s younger foster sister.
• Grace Fulton performs as Mary Bromfield, Billy’s older foster sister.
• Ian Chen is Eugene Choi, Billy’s younger foster brother.
• Jovan Armand plays Pedro Peña, Billy’s older foster brother.
• Marta Milans appears on-screen as Rosa Vásquez, the foster mother of Billy and his siblings.
• Cooper Andrews acts as Víctor Vásquez, the foster father of Billy and his siblings.
• Adam Brody plays the role of the adult superhero Frederick “Freddy” Freeman.
• Meagan Good is the adult superhero, Darla Dudley.
• Michelle Borth plays the adult superhero, Mary Bromfield.
• Ross Butler appears on-screen as the adult superhero Eugene Choi.
• D. J. Cotrona is the adult superhero Pedro Peña.
• John Glover plays Mr Sivana, the estranged father of Thaddeus Sivana.
• Ethan Pugiotto acts as the young Thaddeus Sivana
• Natalia Safran is Thaddeus Sivana’s mother.
• Caroline Palmer is Marilyn Batson, Billy’s biological mother.

Reception

Shazam was well-received by movie critics, Hollywood enthusiasts, and the world’s audience. It got good reviews from renowned critics. The average rating was 75 per cent on a scale of 100 per cent or B- on a scale of A-E.

On Rotten Tomatoes, a movie review website, the film got a rating of 90 per cent, with an average rating of 7.3/10, based on 415 reviews. The website’s review read: “An effortlessly entertaining blend of humour and heart, Shazam! is a superhero movie that never forgets the genre’s real power: joyous wish fulfilment.

Metacritic, another movie review site, rated the movie 71 out of 100, based on 53 critics, saying it got “generally favourable reviews”.

ALSO READ: Army of the Dead: Origin, plot, cast, budget, parents’ guide

Reviewers on PostTrak rated the film an overall positive score of 83 per cent, with a further 61 per cent saying they will “definite recommend” it.

On CinemaScore, the audience graded the film an average grade of “A” on an A+ to F scale.

With regards to renowned film critics, Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com said that “while Shazam! is goofier (and darker) than it may look, you’ll wish its superhero came with a little more spark.”

Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter described the film as “Big on steroids” and praised the tone and performances, while Alonso Duralde of TheWrap wrote: “If the Wonder Woman and Aquaman movies represented DC Comics’ first big-screen steps away from the austere colour palette of the Zack Snyder movies, Shazam! takes us deeply into primary colours in a single bound… this new DC entry has a lovely lightness, both in the visuals and in its tone.”

Giving his own two cents, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The AV Club rated the film a “B−”, writing: “…while the story of an extremely overpowered champion rising to challenge a one-dimensionally sinister baddie might seem like the epitome of simplicity, Shazam! is still a modern-day tentpole blockbuster, overburdened with backstories for both hero and villain and subtexts that it can’t (or won’t) fully articulate.”

Box office grossing

The prominent movie critic website IMDb said the movie grossed $140.4 million in the United States and Canada and $225.6 million in other territories. This means that it generated a worldwide total of $366 million. Also, according to Deadline Hollywood, the film made a net profit of $74 million.

The movie got nominated for several awards, including the Golden Trailer Awards, MTV Movie & TV Awards and Saturn Awards. It won the “Best Category” award at the National Film and Television Awards in December 2019.

Parents Guide

Shazam is classified as PG-13. This means that persons under 13 years cannot watch it without proper parental guidance.

The movie is classified PG-13 because it contains the following: strong language, violence, gore, sensuality, profanity, alcohol, drugs and smoking, and frightening & intense scenes.

ALSO READ: Captain Marvel: Real name, movie, cast, powers, comics

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tLfAm5isoF6YvK570qGYs5mdYrqwwsieZg%3D%3D