Shazam is a strange movie. In fact, if I didn't know better - I would've assumed that a lot of it is inspired from the hit Netflix series - Stranger Things. Don't worry its not scary or horror or anything like that. But it sure has a lot of kids playing the role of getting the better of the bad guys, while one of them is a superhero..well let's just stop here.
Shazam is a fun watch that is fun in bits and parts. It starts off slow and many scenes are pointless, tired even. There's no sense of flow, nothing links to anything and the weakest of storylines is put together just to make our guy the superhero. At this point, you wonder what the big hullabaloo is all about - taking a page from Marvel and going the humor route, making this a lighter watch and all that talk. That's when Zachary Levi steps in and the character goes into a whole different mode.
Some parts post this are hilarious. Other parts tend to drag and that's a pity because they really could've been much quicker and snappier. Even the action, that is thrilling at one point, seems to stretch on and on towards the climax. DC can clearly take a lot more pages from the Marvel playbook but at least this is a start. Better editing and a more coherent flow to the storyline would've certainly helped. A little more intelligence in the dialogues, witty exchange between characters would've really made this one stand out.
Seen as a standalone children's movie albeit with some ugly and scary looking creatures, Shazam would mostly fit the bill. However, as competition to the Marvel juggernaut, it doesn't pose much of a threat. Still, its a better bet than some of the other drivel DC has been dishing out and it does try to take things on the lighter side rather than being brooding and unnecessarily dark. A step in the right direction but still a long way to go for DC.
