On April 5, 2019, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) released a superhero movie that was very different when juxtaposed to previous superhero movies starring darker, more serious heroes like Batman, Aquaman and Wonder Woman. Shazam! features a superhero in the form of a 14-year-old foster kid named Billy Batson (Asher Angel).

When we first meet Batson, we find that he has run away from foster homes in six counties in search of his mother. In his latest foster home he meets his newfound best friend, Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), as well as four other foster siblings: Darla Dudley (Faithe Herman), Mary Bromfield (Grace Fulton), Eugene Choi (Ian Chen) and Pedro Peña (Jovan Armand).

When Freeman gets into some trouble with bullies, Batson jumps in to defend his foster brother, but ends up getting chased onto a subway, where he gets transported to the Rock of Eternity (a sort of hub for magic in the DCEU) and meets a wizard who passes on powers to change into a superhero by saying one word: “Shazam”.

With his newfound ability, Shazam (Zachary Levi), enlists the help of Freeman to help navigate how to use his powers, which he ultimately uses to go up against the villain of the movie, Doctor Sivana (Mark Strong).

One thing this movie presents, that a lot of superhero movies lack, is a villian that is given a backstory and shows the audience exactly what went wrong in his life to make him turn out the way he did, which, in Sivana’s case, was the absence of support and encouragement from his family, which twisted his mind and influenced him to make every wrong decision.

Sivana was clearly meant to be a sort of “black mirror” version of Batson in the sense that if Batson had been unwilling to open his heart to his newfound family, he could have just as easily turned into a version of Sivana.

The diversity of the characters in the movie was extremely representative with almost every kid in Batson’s foster home being racially diverse as well as a character who was disabled (Freeman), who all were valued members of the family.

Levi said in an interview with BUILD Series, “Having an incredibly diverse ethnic cast, and having people being able to see themselves represented in a number of different ways including being a disabled kid as Freddy Freeman is, and being foster kids all through the movie. If we can keep making movies where people feel seen and loved and included, that’s the kind of movie I want to make.”

While the movie has been advertised as a lighthearted, goofy, superhero movie, audiences will find that the importance of family is extremely prominent throughout the entire film. The director of the film, David Sandberg, did an excellent job in perfectly balancing the darker, more meaningful tones of the movie, with the comedic side of the movie shown in trailers.

“I think it’s incredibly important that along with all of the very deep and very important films that are made, it’s also important to have movies that are eliciting joy in people to bring them back to places like hope and love and kindness and empathy,” Levi said.

The performance of the cast was outstanding with hilarious comedic timing balanced with emotional lines delivered in a way that really showed what the character felt. The only technicality in the performances was the behavior of Batson’s character as he transformed from his usual self to his super-powered alter ego. This difference of character, while definitely noticeable, can easily be blamed on the fact that as a 14-year-old, Batson was most likely more confident in himself in a superhero’s body.

The movie easily made up for this in the outstanding visual effects and soundtrack, especially in the transformation of Batson to Shazam and back. With songs like “Don’t Stop Me Now” (Queen), “Eye of the Tiger” (Survivor), “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” (Ramones), and “My Name Is” (Eminem), the movie had a very distinct atmosphere that was present throughout the entire movie and even present in most of the trailers leading up to the release of the film.

All in all, Shazam! presented a different kind of superhero movie that was thoroughly enjoyable throughout the entire film in a way that made you not want to have to leave the theater for any reason, and was also able to represent a diverse cast that gave great performances that gave the audience a way to connect with them in some way, shape, or form. Clearly, the DCEU is happy with the success of the film in the box office, reviews and audience ratings as they have announced that they are currently writing a sequel.

Click here to view the trailer for Shazam!.

Click here to purchase tickets to Shazam!.