“Billy
Batson, I choose you as champion.” ~ The Wizard
“Dude, just
messing around! You look at me and you’re like, ‘why so dark? You’re a disabled
foster kid, you’ve got it all’!” ~ Freddy Freeman
“You will
beg for mercy…” ~ Sivana
“Are you making some, like, big evil bad guy speech
right now or something? You’re like a mile away from me, and there’s traffic
and cars and stuff! All I see is mouth-moving.” ~ Shazam
“…as I feast on your
heart.” ~ Sivana
“Awww, whatever, screw it!”~ Shazam
The
adventures of Billy Batson, aka Shazam, previously also known as Captain Marvel
(no, not that Captain Marvel) have been around for decades, a magical take on
the superhero genre featuring a teenager able to transform into a hero of might
with just the uttering of a word. Initially appearing in Fawcett Comics and
later folded into the DC comics world, the character has been capable of going
toe to toe with Superman, a hero with the wide eyed imagination of the youth he
otherwise normally is. The comics version can be, well, rather convoluted in
his backstory. Now the character turns up in the DC cinematic universe in a
light, fun romp that features a dual performance for the title character by two
actors, and one seriously scene chewing villain played by an actor who
specializes in that sort of thing. Shazam!
(the exclamation mark is indeed in the title) makes for a good addition into
the DC world of film.
We meet a
young Thaddeus Sivana in 1974, transported to a place called the Rock of
Eternity, an ancient magical temple, by an ancient wizard named Shazam (Djimon
Hounsou). The wizard is seeking a new champion, pure of heart, after his first
one turned evil (a harbinger for a sequel). Sivana is tempted by the Seven
Deadly Sins, spirits trapped within rock in the temple, and so the wizard
banishes him back to Earth. Thaddeus is not pleased by the turn of events, and
so is doomed to end up one day being played by an actor who specializes in
playing nasty fellows.
In the
present day, we meet the orphaned teenager Billy Batson (Asher Angel) as he
ends up in a foster home while seeking out his mother. He makes friends with
another resident, Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), a disabled teen with an
interest in all things super hero. Sivana, who’s grown up into the thoroughly
disreputable Mark Strong (having a ball chewing the scenery), has been obsessed
with returning to the Rock of Eternity. He discovers a way, frees the Sins,
becomes their champion and gains powers. The dying wizard selects Billy in the
midst of an act of bravery into becoming his champion- with the uttering of his
name, Billy becomes an adult hero (played by Zachary Levi), gifted with strength,
flight, and other abilities, taking on the mantle of Shazam. Of course it’s
just a matter of time before Shazam and Sivana cross paths.
A live
action adaptation of the characters has been in development for a long time.
Earlier ideas included Dwayne Johnson playing the previous ancient champion and
antagonist Black Adam (he will be playing that role in a solo film and the
inevitable sequel to this one). That character is referenced in the story, but
it’s another villain for Billy Batson that takes centre stage, as well as a
cameo by yet another. The story, by Henry Gaydon and Darren Lemke, takes much
of its inspiration from the comics material, updating it for contemporary
settings, with the themes of power and worthiness, the wide eyed view of a
young teenager in an adult body (and more of that as the story goes along), and
the bonds of family- even a less formal one- playing out throughout the film.
The script
has a light touch- there's none of the nihilistic tone of Suicide
Squad or the brutal, dark tone of Batman
V Superman. It’s a film that has fun with itself and the superhero motif,
even while taking it more seriously as needed- when the villain raises the
proverbial stakes. But not too seriously. It is, in effect, the comic book
version of Big, except instead of Tom
Hanks, we get an adolescent turning into a muscled hero who can fly (after a
few hard lessons). This is a welcome thing. And the film sorts out what in
comics can be an ungainly concept. Having had read some of the older material
for the character, with its group sharing of the power among family, I found
that older material to be, well, rather cheesy. The story as told here
streamlines and makes welcome modifications to the dynamic of, well, the Shazams,
with a contemporary feel. A teenager gifted with amazing abilities might have
fun with it all at first, and not take things seriously, but rises to the
occasion as things go along, and that’s how the film follows its protagonist as
he shifts back and forth between teenager and adult.
Director
David F. Sandberg has a background in animation and short documentaries before
a couple of previous feature films, neither of which I’ve seen. And yet that
kind of eclectic background in a director is an asset. It’s something that’s
been a blessing for the Marvel cinematic universe directors, all of whom have
come from backgrounds that you wouldn’t really expect for a blockbuster film
director, and all of whom have done well with it. Sandberg does the same here
with how he helms the film. The CGI has been well established in multiple
studios by this point so that fantasy plays out before the audience as if it’s really
happening.
The
superhero genre with amazing abilities is well rendered- in this case fight
sequences between characters of great strength feel real, and Sandberg handles
such sequences well. And he doesn’t let the characters get lost in the muddle
of action, which can happen with, well, a director like Michael Bay, if he was
ever let loose on either comic cinematic universe. What I liked was how a
magical place like the Rock of Eternity, often referenced in comics but new to
the film world, is rendered in this film. It looks like what you expect, but
with touches that the production team came up with that give the place its own
signature. The casting department, in choosing not only the two actors playing
the two halves of Billy Batson/ Shazam, also did well in choosing actors who
play two counterparts of one character as the film goes along, separated by age
but feeling quite plausible as the same person.
And
speaking of the cast, all of them do well in their roles. Djimon Hounsou has
appeared in both cinematic worlds- playing a supporting role in Aquaman, and a villain in Guardians Of The Galaxy and Captain Marvel. Here he gets a more
sympathetic role as the ancient sage Shazam, a wise and long lived shaman who’s
essentially the all seeing teacher (the Yoda of the film), albeit one who has
regretted a long ago choice as a champion. His wizard is one weighed down by
responsibility, and that’s how the actor plays him.
I mentioned
that in the comics, the Shazam world could be convoluted, with multiple
characters gifted with an aspect of the character. Most notably those are two
characters, Freddy Freeman and Mary Batson, each given by Billy the powers he
possesses and taking on heroic roles, but there are others. In the film
adaptation, several of these take place, and it’s these two characters whose
parts are played by four people. Mary Batson is Mary Bromfield this time out, a
foster sister for Billy played by Grace Fulton when we first meet her, and an
adult version played by Michelle Borth. Fulton’s take on the teenager is a
sensible den mother sort of teen- taking care of her foster siblings and
pondering her academic future, but down to earth, sensible, and grounded. Her
adult, powered counterpart maintains these traits in terms of her personality,
and Borth adds courage to the mix as well. The two actresses have enough of a
common look to them that they feel like two versions of the same person, years
apart in time.
The same
applies for Freddy Freeman, who we see in most of the film played by Jack
Dylan Grazer. Freddy may be disabled, but that doesn’t stop him from getting
through life with spirit and energy. The youth quickly becomes Billy’s friend,
a source of help thanks to his general knowledge of superheros (he can be described
as something of a geek. Grazer gives his take on the role a snarky, gleeful
touch at times, relishing the idea of helping a hero find his way. And as the
film carries on and we see an adult version of the character, this time played
by Adam Brody, that snarkiness is still present. Brody, once a member of the soapy
The O.C., is probably an ideal choice
at this stage for a geeky sort of kid in an adult body. The bantering energy
between Billy and Freddy, played out between four actors, is one of the treats
of the film as a whole.
It’s the
villain who gets to be another of the strong assets of the film. Mark Strong is
one of those actors who you love to hate when he plays an antagonist, something
he often does, but not always. He gives a touch of ruthless menace to such a
character, and that’s what he does here as Sivana. His character is quite
different from the comic version, a mad scientist of short stature and pure
ugliness. This Sivana, a brilliant scientist, is obsessed with what he briefly
grasped, withdrawn and isolated from an abusive family, and, well, taller and
more photogenic than his comic book counterpart. He straddles the line between
science and magic, seeking power but not respecting the scale of that power.
For him, the ends justifies the means, and Strong plays to that, all the while
chewing the scenery in a delightful way and menacing the film as he goes along.
With two
actors playing the same character at two ages, what becomes pivotal in a story
like this is that the audience buys it. If the two actors aren’t playing the
role with the same fundamental traits, the audience won’t. In this case they
do. Asher Angel starts out as something of a delinquent, isolated with a
troubled family history, finding a family in the oddest of places. And it’s an
act of bravery- drawing bullies away from his foster brother- that shows his
true nature. Fundamentally the youth is a good person, something that Angel
brings across. And he feels like a believable teenager, the sort willing to
goof off and not quite think things through, and yet when called for able to
improvise.
Zachary
Levi takes such qualities in his version of Billy, the adult sized hero. He
might physically be an adult, but the character is still a teenager in terms of
personality, with a wide eyed not quite thinking things through energy at
first. Levi plays to that with a goofy sort of touch in how the character
learns the ropes, confronting a real villain with a total lack of respect. Levi
and Angel have enough of a physical resemblance that we can buy them being the
same person, and given their way of playing the role, they give Billy the same
mannerisms throughout. This is not Levi’s first foray into comics lore, having
had played Fandral in Thor The Dark World
and Thor Ragnarok, but here he gets
centre stage. A question left unresolved for now- how on earth do you deal with
the idea of a love interest? Because a teenage girl hanging around with an
adult Shazam is going to end up looking quite creepy, and would a grown woman
be able to relate to a teenager who occasionally looks like a body builder
adult in red? Because he’s still a teenager in mindset. We’ll see if the story
goes in such directions in a sequel.
A new
character successfully enters the comic book adaptation with Shazam! Characters who can often be
ungainly and cheesy in the older source material work quite well as adapted
into the story. The dynamics of two halves of the same person, years apart in
terms of age, played by two actors, works throughout the film. The thematic
grounding of family that’s part of the character history establishes itself
well. And the concept of a teen getting used to incredible power before
realizing that he has to take things seriously plays out very well. The cast
take to their roles in the right way in each case, especially the two actors
playing the title character. And when you mix in a veteran character actor who
seems to be having a ball glaring and menacing his way through the film as the
villain, the combination makes for a welcome new addition to the DC cinematic
universe. Though it leaves one wondering when the inevitable parody will turn
up with a teenager yelling a magic word, getting struck by lightning… and
ending up a charred corpse instead of a superhero adult.
