Shazam! [Blu-ray] [2019]

A funny dc movie not a brilliant film but a good laugh

A dc comics superhero movie. It stands alone from any others, so you have no requirement to have watched any other one in order to get into this.Shazam is a superhero who has been around for almost as long as Superman and Batman. And actually outsold the former at one point. He is actually called Captain Marvel, but since Marvel comics copyrighted that name first, DC can't use it on the big screen. The character's publishing history is well worth a google, for the full story.Shazam is Billy Batson, a teenager who just has to say the word in order to turn into him. And get all sorts of superpowers as a result.This is an adaptation based on the most recent comic book take on the character, which appeared as part of DC's 'new 52' range earlier this decade.Billy was separated from his mother when he was young, and never found her again. He has bounced from foster home to foster home ever since, but all he cares about is his quest to find her. Living in Philadelphia, he finds himself placed with a new foster family and their other kids, one of whom is Freddy Freeman [Asher Angel] a boy who walks with a crutch and knows all there is to know about superheroes.Which is handy for Billy, because as much as he'd like to get away from this and carry on his search, when he finds himself with the powers of Shazam, Freddy is the only one he can turn to for help and advice.Initially he discovers that with great power, you can indulge in great irresponsibility. But when he meets Dr. Sivana [Mark Strong] a man who has waited decades to get his hands on what Billy has, he has a supervillain to deal with. Can he learn how to be a superhero?Two words best describe Shazam. Fun. And heart. For it has both of those in abundance. It does take a while to get going, because it has set up to do. And this part of the film could do perhaps with being slightly shorter. But once Billy has the power, and Shazam appears [Zachary Levi], the fun really gets going. All thanks to the latters excellent ability at playing comedy, and also portraying superbly a young boy who suddenly finds himself grown up. That may sound like a certain other film. But it's not. Although it's clever enough to acknowledge that...What makes it as well is Billy and Freddy's chemistry, and Asher Angel really does some great work in his role, making him just as important a character.It does follow a standard origin style arc, and a standard heroic character journey as well. But you will be having too much fun to notice or care about that. You will care about these characters, and be punching the air at their triumphs.It does have a slightly overlong final act set piece as well. And it's a twelve certificate because of a very small handful of bits of mild bad language. Plus a few scenes involving monsters that might not be good for young children to watch. And it might put them off Santa as well. But that's that as far as criticisms go. You want fun rather than dark and gritty from things like this, then this delivers in spades. And it's a great watch. Well worth giving it a go.Do keep watching during the end credits for an extra scene in the middle of them. Which is important. And one at the very end. Which isn't important. But is fun.The first half of the end credits are brilliantly done as well, and hugely entertaining.The disc has the following language and subtitle options:Languages: English, Castilian Spanish.Subtitles: English, Castilian Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian, Swedish.The disc goes straight into the main menu once loaded with no ads or trailers.The only extra is 'The legacy of Shazam!' A featurette that looks, via Zachary Levi and some of the producers, at the origins of the character and the movie. This is a really good watch, and far too short at just five mins.

First, a lot of really genuinely good comedy. You aren't going to laugh at dirty jokes, you aren't going to laugh at corny jokes, you're going to laugh at genuinely well written and performed comedy. In fact, probably soon to be one of the most iconic comedic moments in superhero movies to date with Shazam and his foe.Second, this movie has more than one cameo. The entire team did a great job of keeping a secret cameo (and it's not the one that people might think of at the very end).Third, this has such a great portrayal of Foster families. Very often movies have these really negative, terrible portrayals of Foster kids and the families they go into. The family that Billy gets into genuinely care about each other. It's easy to see why Billy would want to accept them. Especially after you find out some information which I will not reveal here.One common criticism is that this movie forces drama between the comedic parts and that it doesn't work well. This is only somewhat true. The drama is believable, but it's a little forced, but let me play devil's advocate. We have got very used to incredibly great dramas, but not every movie can have this. It's a superhero movie. In all honesty, the drama in most superhero movies always comes second. It is never really that captivating. This shouldn't be held up to the standard of great dramas films. Really, no superhero movie should. With that being said, I find the motivation for the villain to be persuasive. Imagine that you are a child that is being bullied. Typically if you cannot rely on your family and friends to help, you're going to probably grow up with anger in your heart. In this case, he has no friends and his family ARE the bullies. Someone criticized this, but they're completely wrong. That's a strong motivation to be someone who wants to take his anger out on others (especially family).Another thing I love about this movie is that Billy is never really just motivated to start doing good. He shows that he is willing to do good. He protects Freddy from being beat up, but only when it's gone too far. He's chosen by the Wizard not because he is some perfect, good-hearted child, but because he has the potential to be exactly that. The fact that he's willing to protect Freddy from bullies and that he gets his powers, then doesn't immediately start to save everyone shows the writers knew exactly what they were doing. This isn't some shortcut to being a good person. It doesn't show that he does all of the very funny things he does just to.make the audience last. He's learning. He's still not perfect. It's only when he has to save people from a problem that he created that he even remotely starts to start trying to understand the responsibility he carries. It's not until he begins to accept his foster family as his real family does he really understand the importance of helping others. You have to remember that he's always been a loner. He's never really experienced love since.. well, you'll see, but NEVER. In fact, I don't even think he's fully understood by the end of the movie. He's still learning. And why wouldn't he be? He's only 14.This movie is absolutely great. It's much more than okay. It's honestly better than most comic book movies I've seen in awhile, but for different reasons than the other traditional superhero movies (like I said, this movie has those traditional elements, but also much more).

Movie was great but was disappointed to find out it was being show on normal TV for free on the same night after Id paid for this

Great DC film and entertaining and funny