So, my family, who mostly harbor a dislike of Batman and Batman-associated media, had a really positive reaction to the Joker trailer.
Also, Pet Sematary... was a gorgeous, atmospheric film that was really hampered by a very pedestrian, generic horror movie script. Big disappointment. I feel like there's a thoughtful horror-drama in there somewhere that would live up to the fantastic set design.
Aquaman (DVD) - Watched this with the family last night. Enjoyable popcorn flick with some cool visuals, but nothing more (it was better than some of the other DC stuff, though).
Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)
Shazam was cute. Nice to see a DC movie that's just silly, irreverent fun. It wasn't trying to compete with Marvel. It wasn't trying to be atmospheric and grimdark. It was just sort of a family film and coming-of-age story that used the superhero concept as a metaphor. Very refreshing.
@Frigate Yeah, even not being a Transformers fan, I still really enjoyed Bumblebee. Very much a call back to children's adventure films from the 80's.
So, I booked my ticket for Avengers: Endgame on the 28th. Might as well go see it opening weekend, considering it'll be the big thing people are gabbing about for a while afterward, and I expect the spoilers to flow like wine across the net.
I came back from Shazam! and like most others who have already reported, I liked it.
However, the movie doesn’t stand up under close inspection and granular criticism — the origin story is basically predictable, the tone is all over the place, and the protagonist is definitely inconsistent in his personality when he’s in his teen body and when he’s in his superhero body. The two actors just didn’t quite gel as the same person.
The villain is good, I liked the portrayal of the sins, but his motivation and his backstory is very shallow, and this despite the movie spending quite a bit of time in the first act trying to paint the picture of his fall into madness. It just doesn’t quite work.
And it’s too bad, because the villains powers and connection to the 7 deadly sins is novel and feels fresh, but falls flat in the implementation department.
The same applies to the hero as well, there is a lot to be excited about with regard to his interesting powers (apparently inherited from the Ancient Greek Gods - a narrative piece that definitely needed a little more time and explanation) and the whole changing back and forth from boy to man thing. But in the end it feels like there was a little untapped potential there as well. We do get to see him finally flex his superhero muscles, so to speak, but he never sheds the ‘bumbling idiot’ personification, even when he has the inevitable ‘Aha!” moments that these heroes always have in their origin story.
The best part where there is a twist at the end during the climax is also an interesting idea that I didn’t see coming, but it ends up feeling rushed and a little bit tacked on. Perhaps the inevitable sequel will explore these things more and realize the actual potential of these ideas.
Yet, with all these complaints, I’d say it was one of the better superhero movies in the past couple years. With a protagonist and a setting most of us know little about, it brings enough newness and freshness to the genre and that alone keeps it interesting. It manages to be both derivative and unique, if that makes sense. And rhere’s enough humor and cgi magic on the screen to make up for the lapses in acting and plot development.
In my opinion- I’d put it on equal footing with Captain Marvel and maybe just a hair below Into the Spiderverse, but better than Aquaman, Black Panther, and Ant-Man and the Wasp.
It’s worth seeing just because of the new things it tries though.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution In the most recent depiction of the origin in the comics I read (which didn't even get its own book), Billy was far more of a prick leading up to meeting the wizard. They made him a nicer kid in the film which helps tie it up to the bumbling Shazam persona, which was never really a comic thing. He was often star-struck by the other DC heroes early on, but he usually kept up a fairly adult front.
I agree that there are those narrative threads that could do with fleshing out, but it's a two hour movie already...
On the whole I did really enjoy it though.
I am hoping Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam movie happens - and that they don't soften the character too much in the wake of Shazam's success.
Also, I absolutely did not see the Mr Mind thing coming! 😂😂
@Th3solution I agree that there was a definite sense of disconnect between the actor for Shazam and his child form. The casting wasn't great in that regard, as it felt like two different people. I thought the casting for Darla's Shazam form was much stronger, as I could buy that she was an adult version of that character. And, yeah, the villain isn't great, but the last great villain I've seen in a comic book film was Heath Ledger's Joker, and the force of that portrayal was almost entirely down to the acting on display.
The mythology itself is bunk, of course, but, again, that's standard for superhero fare. I like that it shifted the focus away from the fantasy set-up to use its concept as a metaphor for coming-of-age. A bit like Spider-Man in that regard, actually, but more explicit.
The concept of the superhero itself in this film is incredibly uncreative, and doesn't have the design uniqueness of the best classic superheroes.
(I apologize now for the long Shazam post, but I gotta get some stuff off my chest before I forget) @KALofKRYPTON Yeah, I had absolutely no preconceived ideas about the Shazam character or its universe before seeing the movie. I didn’t even see the other Shaquille O’Neal rendition, which is supposedly just plain awful. Sometimes going in blind is good for these things and sometimes it hinders picking up on the lore and Easter eggs (wow, a timely use of phrase 😉). As for Mr. Mind, I had no idea who he was until I just now googled him. I completely expected the end scene to be the Joker talking to him from the next cell. I figured that would have been the predictable segue into the upcoming movie. So kudos to DC for being unpredictable.
But since you have a good knowledge of the source material, I’m wondering are Billy’s powers based on the Greek Gods Zeus, Hercules, Mercury, etc. in a meaningful direct way in the lore, or is it just a metaphor? In other words, is it — “You have powers LIKE these people had” or is it “You have inherited the ACTUAL powers of these people” That’s kind what I thought was an interesting concept that was really glazed over without explanation.
But like @Ralizah says, there was focus away from explication of the lore and mythology in favor of character focus and the coming of age story, which I can respect that and there is only 2 hours to squeeze it all in. (But yeah, Spiderman: Homecoming did ‘coming of age’ better, I think) But they spent a good 20 - 30 minutes trying to show the origin of the villain and it still felt a little disingenuous and campy. I mean the implementation of the dad and the brother picking on the little boy was so cringeworthy and forced, that it may have been better to just leave the whole car wreck scene out and have him show up as an adult searching for the wizard and taking the powers of the 7 deadly sins. I suppose what they were going for was a contrast of the two young boys, the one evil and the one good, and how “family” is what you make it and a person’s genetic family isn’t always their best “real” family with the contrast of the villian’s dad and brother. Either way, I would have rather had that time spent more on the background of the wizard and the council. It short-changes the big payoff at the end I think.
And on that subject since I don’t know about the original comic books, are we to expect that there will be propoagation of the foster kid Shazam team? Was that a one-off or are the Shazam comics really about a full group of Shazams that continue to have ongoing adventures together as a family of superheroes? I think it’s an interesting approach, and again, the movie doesn’t really say this explicitly but it’s implied that each kid got one of the superpowers, and the main Shazam Billy has all of them (flight, strength, electricity, super speed, and ... I guess that older girl got the wisdom of Solomon?? Is that a superpower? See, it frustrates me that none of this is explained). Not to mention I think the wizard said the original council had 7 members and he only had 5 foster siblings. Where are the other two? And he destroyed the staff, so I guess those last two wizard council members are just out of luck for ever coming back. As an aside on the subject of the kids turning into Shazams, it was eerily close to looking like the Power Rangers 😂
And speaking of campy - I would have liked the costuming to be less literal with the old comic feel and a little more modern and sophisticated looking. I realize Shazam’s bright red outfit and electrically lit bolt on his chest is partly a narrative piece and symbolic of DC saying “we’ve heard the critics and we’re not going to be so dark and grim and we are going to be more cartoony and lighthearted and fun.” But I’m trying to imagine Shazam in future movies standing in with the modernized design of Batman, Superman, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman, and he is really going to stick out like a sore thumb. Maybe he and Flash can hang out together the whole time. 😄
And there are certainly enough DC hero references that it seems a given that they get together because Superman comes to lunch after all.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution Powers wise, yes, sort of. More of an interpretation 8of the classic Greek/Roman/Abrahamic figures as powerful magical beings rather removed from their religious beginnings. As for the rest of the family, yep - that's from the comics. I didn't expect it in the first film though! It's something they did in the newer Shazam (post Captain Marvel) origin very much in homage to the Silver Age stuff where every hero had a similarly powered 'family' (look up Comet the Super horse 😉) I loved that they put Mister Mind in there, it's so ridiculous. It makes me suspect that Black Adam will very much be it's own thing and possibly bring Shazam in to it at a later stage.
I don't like the costume. It looks a lot better on screen than the leaked set pictures, but yeah. Looks a bit too cheap, and the muscle suit is way too obvious.
It is pretty close to looking like the newer comic stuff with the glowing bolt, but by then the Cape was far more substantial and he often made use of the hood.
I do sort of wish they'd gone with the classic buttoned tunic look in some way, that could've come across as better looking without being quite so cosplay looking.
As for fitting in with the rest of the DC characters; no one in Hollywood is shy of a redesign for aesthetics/marketing reasons. I'm surprised that the Justice League Superman suit looked as good as it did on screen given the tone of the picture. It's a horrid costume that. And a really nonsensical iteration in the context of Snyder's films. I think more than anything, they'll need to 'adult' Shazam (I do hate calling him that... 🙄) up a bit. In the comics he becomes pretty competent very quickly, and as I said before - largely puts out a relatively grown up persona most of the time.
But then, he does encounter Black Adam very quickly.
@KALofKRYPTON Thanks for the info. That helps to know some context. I did look up Comet the Superhorse which led me down a bit of a rabbit hole and onto a pretty hilarious article on Cracked of the creepiest superheroes of all time. 😂
I’m not expecting Comet to show up in the next Justice League movie.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
I'm tempted. I reckon if people if the mindset of my and friends, the plan would a slow leisurely burn until Batman Forever then get close to steaming drunk for Batman & Robin. It'd be a blast! 😂😂
PSN: KALofKRYPTON (so you can see how often I don't play anything!)
Twitter: @KALofKRYPTON (at your own risk, I don't care if you're offended)
"Fate: Protects fools, little children, and ships named Enterprise." - Cmdr William T. Riker
Not saying they're both are great but Doctor Sivana and Zod are DCU's best/better villains so far. The rest were pretty crap. Oh, actually Harley Quinn and Deadshot were pretty good as well.
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