Say the magic word: Shazam!

Based on the 2011 DC Justice League The New 52 story by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, “Shazam!”  manages to combine not only the origin story as narrated by these two gentlemen, but also the comedy elements of the early Captain Marvel stories in Whiz Comics since 1939, and superhero growing pains, bringing the C. C. Beck and Bill Parker creation up to date in the 21st century.

After several aborted attempts to get the movie made, “Shazam!” finally debuted in cinemas worldwide during the first weekend of April 2019. Directed by David F. Sandberg, and written by Henry Gayden and Darren Lemke, the DC movie stars Zachary Levi as Captain Marvel and Asher Angel as Billy Batson.  There is a yin-yang between comedy in the early comic books by Fawcett Publications since 1938 and The New 52 dark universe, with no shortage of special effects from playfully cast lightning by Captain Marvel to the animated looming Seven Deadly Sins, ready to unleash havoc courtesy of Dr Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong).

Zachary Levi with Mark Strong in "Shazam!" 2019

“Shazam!” introduces the background story of Thad Sivana, a miniature monster in the making who causes a serious car accident, almost killing his brother and father, who is the owner of a major conglomerate. Young Thad ends up journeying to The Rock of Eternity where he encounters the wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou), only to find himself discarded by the ancient mage who is seeking a young boy to succeed him. Once Thad is sent back to his immediate present, castigated by his father, he then spends the rest of his trying to regain access to the mysterious location which remains concealed by magic. In steps Billy Batson, whose life story is also told in a brief flashback before he finds himself adopted by Victor (Cooper Andrews) and Rosa (Marta Milans) Vasquez, who are foster parents to five other children. Billy quickly becomes close to Freddy Freeman, who is slightly younger than him, plus Mary Bromfield, who is on the verge of graduating from high school and applying to colleges. Still unsatisfied with his position in life as a teen, Billy continues to seek out his real mother, eventually finding her. To his shock, Billy learns that his mother, who does not make good choices when it comes to boyfriends, was in her teens when she had him, and that his father is in jail in Florida.

Once Billy discovers himself in the role of a superhero after making the same journey to The Rock of Eternity and becomes the Chosen One by the wizard Shazam, he is not fully aware of the potential of his new abilities; he does not know what he can really do, although he delights in generating electricity, using it to charge people’s cell phones as he walks past them in public. Captain Marvel continues to go about his daily routine, accompanied by Freddy most of the time while preventing crimes such as handbag thief and a convenience store holdup. Once Captain Marvel discovers who his main enemy is – Dr. Sivana – he must engage in the most important battle of his life – leaving his childhood behind temporarily to save the world from destruction. At this point, it is the wisdom of Solomon that really kicks in to Billy when he learns how to remove the evil magical force from Sivana.

“Shazam!” references Tawky Tawny the tiger, in the form of the plush toy tigers prizes at the balloon and dart booth during the Christmas Carnival, along with Mr Mind, the worm during the early part of the movie, characters in the original Whiz Comics publications. What is noteworthy in “Shazam!” is that like “Adventures of Captain Marvel”, the superhero’s name is never formally introduced to the audience; it even goes further to never refer to him as Captain Marvel at all, possibly to avoid confusion with the Marvel Comics “Captain Marvel” movie released only weeks before “Shazam!” Instead a variety of nicknames are given to him: Captain Sparklefingers, even more simply- hero. Billy is only supposed to say the word Shazam in times of need, not as a means to impress others around him, certainly not himself. At one point Freddy speaks to his foster brother Billy like an authoritarian figure, much like Jackson Bostwick’s Captain Marvel, or even John Davey’s Captain Marvel from the 1974-1977 television series “Shazam!” Billy might be Captain Marvel yet even after his initiation, still has to work hard on understanding the powers bestowed upon him and the responsibilities that come with having these powers, the properties of the thoughtforms who have seemed to disappeared in the distant past of human history (or did they?). Zachary Levi, at age 38, looks younger than his age, and with his “big kid” personality, really does come off as a 14 year-old inside his 6’3” frame. Like Tom Tyler in “Adventures of Captain Marvel” (1941), he pulls the same expression,  looking at himself then his surroundings. Yet the resemblance to Tom’s Captain Marvel stops there, reverting back to more childlike superhero as he was originally intended to be in Fawcett Publications rather than a World War 2 era superhero who uses a machine gun to vanquish his enemies, and throwing them off tall buildings.

Mark Strong pulls off a formidable Sivana, able to unleash the Seven Deadly Sins whenever he chooses, using his demon eye which glows blue. At times he takes on the appearance of Aleister Crowley(early 20th century ceremonial magician and founder of Thelema) on steroids. Unlike the comic book Sivana who is short in height, Mark Strong is 6’2” in height, making him a substantial physical adversary of Captain Marvel. The movie soundtrack includes Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” which plays as Freddy tests Billy’s new powers as Captain Marvel, and “Do You Hear What I Hear?” sung by Bing Crosby during the Christmas holiday with the Vasquez family. The top-notch production team of “Shazam!” includes Peter Safran, Geoff Johns and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

How many families do you know of who discuss superheroes and their various powers at the supper table?