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Review by Rishi Kapoor

I was little skeptical about this DCEU flick after watching few from their stable in the past like Suicide squad ( well cut promo with brilliant star cast but bad product ) but I would definitely say they’ve found their stride in these last few years. From standalone films like Wonder Woman and Aquaman, they’re proving that taking a step back is sometimes the best thing to do. This being the latest offering and I am sure audience will have a blast watching the same.

When William “Billy” Batson (Asher Angel), a 14-year-old orphan who was abandoned by his mother as a young child, is unexpectedly transported to a magical location known as the Rock of Eternity by an ancient wizard named Shazam (Djimon Hounsou), he is given superpowers including super-strength, super-speed, flight, resistance to bullets, the ability to shoot electricity from his fingers and (of course) the ability to assume the form of an adult in a delightfully retro costume with all of said powers whenever he says the name “Shazam!”.

Opposing Batson, however, is a supervillain with an unusually well-developed backstory. Indeed, not since Killmonger in “Black Panther” has a supervillain been as sympathetic as Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), who endured horrific psychological abuse at the hands of his father and older brother in 1974 as a child in upstate New York.

Shazam! is an altogether different experience – both in tone and in scope – from previous DCEU entries, and this includes the largely beloved Wonder Woman and the box office smash Aquaman. It is, at the risk of invoking the wrath of fans on both sides, to the DCEU what Thor: Ragnarok and Spider-Man: Homecoming were to the Marvel Cinematic Universe – lighter, less angry, and positively delightful. It seems content to be a happy movie about why kids love superheroes and wish they could become heroes themselves.

The best scenes in the film involve Batson in adult form as the superhero Shazam (Zachary Levi), learning how to use his powers and exulting in the coolness of it all with his foster brother and best friend Frederick “Freddy” Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer). The performances by Levi, Grazer and (in non-superhero form) Angel are all bonded by a fantastic script by Henry Gayden and the skillful direction of David F. Sandberg. A sweet , funny movie which is a good watch