I must learn not to believe trailers. Trailers often lie. After watching the trailer for this and seeing the poster of Shazam with his bubble gum I thought I was going to see a laugh a minute superhero spoof (and how welcome that would have been at this point) but this movie is not that at all.
Of course I should have realised that DC do not really have a sense of humour. And that they were not going to make proper fun of their potentially valuable property and invite fan hatred. Pity.
So instead of a hilarious slapstick-rich superhero takedown we get an almost reasonable if cliched juvenile superhero movie, that can't decide what age kids it is aimed at (but it is not aimed at adults, that's for sure). I think most kids would be bored by the first hour and be wondering like me, when is the action going to start? When will we actually see our superhero?
- The first hour, or at least it seemed that long, was a slow set up (see above) about a more or less old-time Disney style (foster) family and a boy's journey of self-discovery. This was quite well done if that is what you are looking for.
- We get school bullies who are not given any characters, or resolution or comeuppance
- There is a lovable disabled character (the best actor in the movie) who is healed when he transforms into a superhero - this maybe raises a few questions for anyone with a disability in the audience. He has a crutch, just like the son in Breaking Bad, and likewise looks touchingly delicate and likewise is extra smart
- There is a bargain basement wizard and some monsters that are very lacking in inspiration or originality. Maybe they should have moved a bit further from the comics with these? I haven't read the comics so I'm sticking my neck out a bit here
- There is a villain who is a straightforward old style supervillain not a million miles from Lex Luthor. His shtick is that he is voluntarily possessed by an evil power enabling him to call up the monsters. He is competently acted and does have the best outfit in the movie.
- The odd bit of attempted humour like the hero complaining that he can't hear the villain's speech during their final showdown falls flat because it doesn't fit in with the tone of (nearly all of) the rest of the film. I would like the film to have been full of this sort of thing and stuff like Shazam splatting against the skyscraper. And the wizard staff joke? Just no. OK I admit that made me smile in a sort of nostalgic-for-Carry-On way. Even Rob Jones only chuckled gently here and there though he was quite happy with what he saw
- Oddness - maybe it's me but why were the two boys playing an ancient game on the computer? Looked like Street Fighter or Mortal Combat. The movie is clearly set in the present day. Probably a comics reference that went over my head, right?
- I did get the 'Big' reference with the floor keyboard. That was quite a nice one.
- There was a woman scientist near the beginning of the story who is disintegrated by the magic door. She knows too much about the villain so this is just plain convenient. And leaves no adult female characters in the film except for the foster mom. Also some hapless person on a train gets disintegrated later on. No one seems to care about this.
- Some of the FX look cheap (not watched in 3D) and I gather the budget was not enormous.
- I can honestly say my favourite part of the movie was the end credits with cartoon drawings accompanied by The Ramones. This should have been way more fun. It was far from 'too facetious'.
