“Shazam!”

In the past five years, superhero movies have been on the rise. It’s even gotten to the point where I’m a little tired of them. Every three months, I have to check the sequence of Marvel or DC to make sure I’m caught up before I dive into the latest and greatest.

Regardless of the constant onslaught of superhero films, I do have a love for the overly enhanced CGI and effects and I can definitely appreciate when a unfamiliar hero rises from the ashes.

I had never heard of Shazam before I saw the beautiful eyed Zachary Levi don the tights and share his infectious humor and child like innocence. It was a superhero film that required little to no commitment. It was something you could watch alone or with the entire family. Behind the cliche man to marvel story line, there was a lot of heart, love and laughter.

Summary: A part of Shazam’s appeal is that it’s woven with some familiar faces yet a lot of new talent as well. We start off with Djimon Hounsou, the first Shazam we know of, as the last remaining wizard protecting the world from the seven deadly sins. In his attempt to find his legacy, Shazam tests dozens of men and women to determine if they’re pure-hearted. One of his subjects, who becomes Dr. Sivana, develops malice towards his methods and craves the power of the seven sins. After releasing the sins and absorbing their power, Sivana goes to wreak havoc. With the last of his remaining strength, Shazam finally transfer his power to a mischievous yet good-natured orphan teen, Billy Batson, who is trying to find the family he lost when he was a child. Throughout the film, we follow Billy as he discovers his powers and the typical “what it takes to be a superhero” montage ensues. Billy as the new Shazam goes to toe to toe with Sivana and his band of sins only to find that he’s not powerful enough on his own. Remembering that the original wizard once held the responsibility of protecting the world from the sins with six others, Billy/Shazam chooses to share his powers with his foster siblings to become the Marvel family.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t too thrilled about the villain. While I think Mark Strong’s portrayal of Dr. Sivana was a perfect choice, his backstory and motivation just seemed weak. As a child, he was told that he would never be anything. As a adult, he had clearly achieved intelligence and power and even recognition and still felt the need to use the power of the sins to toss his brother out of a window and have his dad eaten. With all of his power, he didn’t really do anything special. He just seemed forgettable.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this movie. The story line and main characters were realistically written. Unlike the typically hero film, we get to experience the reality of from zero to hero. Buying alcohol, going to strip clubs, financial gain, raiding ATM machines, and school popularity to name a few. I would have like to see a stronger villain but for a lighthearted film, this was still pretty decent.