Shazam!

I would like to know why they would end the novel before the ending though. Guess they don't want to spoil the ending?

So apparently they're doing some kind of promotion with Fandango where you can see the film next saturday in select theaters? The rumor I've heard is that they're trying to get as many tickets sold as they can before Avengers Endgame premiers and steals all the market share.

By luck of the draw, I just got tickets for my family with decent seats at my local theater, so... Yay?

Edited by Dirtyblue929 on Mar 15th 2019 at 9:57:27 AM

Makes sense. Endgame is about to be a black hole that absorbs all movie audiences in its general vicinity.

Man if Shazam 2 has the whole Monster Society as the villains, that could open up some hilarious shit. The old Shazam books were completely insane.

Reviews are in and they're mostly positive. Some have spoilers, so beware.

-The Wrap

- Variety

- Telegraph

- IGN

USA Today

There are some more negative ones and the universal complaint among them seems to be Ending Fatigue. But other than that critics are really liking it.

Edited by comicwriter on Mar 23rd 2019 at 3:51:55 AM

In the theatre for the early screening. I think everyone else is in the “Giant-screen” showing because mine is empty save my mom and some dude who just came in.

EDIT: Whoop, a family just came in. So seven people who didn’t wanna shell out for a huge screen and vibrating seats, lol. Ads are ending, it seems, so I’m out for the next 2 hours.

Edited by Dirtyblue929 on Mar 23rd 2019 at 3:59:58 AM

Awesome! I'm glad it seems to be as much fun as it looked from the trailers! I definitely cannot wait to see this movie.

Screen Junkie News is also very positive, saying the movie manages to play the genre's clichés in its own unique way, including in the third act.

Edited by Lyendith on Mar 23rd 2019 at 12:06:41 PM

Mid-credits stinger just wrapped up, holding in a bathroom break for the post-credits. Pretty freaking amazing; possibly the best of the DCEU, definitely my favorite. Will have a more in-depth, spoiler-tagged overview once I’m on a proper computer and not using a tiny phone keyboard.

Okay, my review: Yes, yes, oh my god yes. This is what the DCEU should aspire to be. It was a cheerful, upbeat, heartwarming blast from start to finish that pulled the rug out from under me several times. Absolute reccomendation - if you have the ability to see it, do so, it is great.

So, spoilers. If you have them tagged off by default, your loss:

And one thing I think I can predict about sequels — the wizard was part of a council of, IIRC (I might be wrong on this), seven wizards, to match the seven sins. But the Shazam Family only has six members. My guess? Black Adam will, after his rumored solo origins movie, be introduced as an antagonist who pulls a Hazy-Feel Turn into the team's begruding, anti-heroic Seventh Ranger.

Edited by Dirtyblue929 on Mar 23rd 2019 at 10:26:52 AM

I saw it too and dear God, I love it. Zachary Levi was born to play the role of Captain Sparklefingers.

One thing that was kind of weird was the level of violence: the Seven Deadly Sins are obvious horror creatures and the scene where they devour an entire boardroom, including Sivana's brother and father, is completely out of a horror movie. At one point, they devour a guy's head. It shows us exactly how dangerous the Seven Deadly Sins are, but it's also kind of offputting, as if it belongs in a different movie altogether. But I guess that's what they get when they hire a horror director (see: the Trench in Aquaman).

But oh my god, did I love the entire Shazam Family. Especially Darla. Meagan Good plays a great Shazamified version of Darla and she and young Darla are just so cute. And Adrian Brody as CM 3/Shazamified Freddy Freeman was awesome, too, as he finally gets to fly around like he always wanted to. Most superhero movies are male power fantasies, but those power fantasies are most often given to adults who already have power — this is the first film I've seen that gives a power fantasy to children and says, "Yes, you can fly! You have superspeed! Have fun with it!"

So is Sivana anything like his comic book counterpart, or is this In Name Only?

He's exactly like his New 52 counterpart, but completely different from his pre-New 52 counterpart. But he's still pretty damn fun to watch, because, hey, Mark Strong! Also, John Glover plays his father and John Glover is always a delight.

The madmen actually did it.

For those who haven't seen the movie, here's another scene and also one of the reasons why I love Darla.

Officially certified fresh.

I saw that advanced screening from Fandango a week ago. Shazam! is now officially my favorite DCEU movie. It goes like this:

Shazam! > Justice League > Wonder Woman > Aquaman > Batman v. Superman > Man of Steel > Suicide Squad

I realize that by any sane metric, Wonder Woman and Aquaman are both better movies than Justice League, but the latter has some of my favorite DC heroes (including both Wondy and Aquaman, obviously) teaming up and bantering and learning to be buddies, and that makes me happy. I hope it eventually does get a sequel. Preferably featuring Captain Marvel Sparklefingers Shazam.

When I saw that conspicuously framed caterpillar, I damn near lost my mind. Unfortunately, the sound abruptly cut off when the credits started rolling, so I didn't hear what he said to Sivana in the post-credits scene.

Edited by ThriceCharming on Mar 29th 2019 at 11:03:58 AM

Eh, it was just some generic "you humans have such a limited understanding of magic, we will do great things together, mwahaha" stuff. You didn't miss much.

Yeah, I think I like Shazam! more than Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is more important, but Shazam! holds up all the way through (rather than kind of fall apart in the third act). In fact, I genuinely love the third act of Shazam! because I love all of the Shazam Family and I love their interactions and the actors they got.

Edited by alliterator on Mar 29th 2019 at 11:34:38 AM

Same. Shazam achieves that (IMO) increasingly-rare feat of maintaining a high level of quality through pretty much every second of its runtime, compared to a lot of superhero movies that have definite, quantifiable low points where you sit and go "Okay, yeah, is the least enjoyable part of the movie for me."

Oh man I just saw it & I gotta day this was fucking dope.

Goddamn laugh riot & some pretty cool shit. That shot of the Marvel family got everyone in the theater (and it was a large audience too) cheering & clapping.

This is officially my favorite DC movie.

Really enjoyed the movie, it's definitely at it's best when embracing the "kid as hero" premise. The superpower tests and his reactions to it are complete gold. But I didn't like it as much as Aquaman because there is almost no second act, and in turn has a few tonal problems. The third act is a little long but pretty damn good when you break it down, but the second act only does the bare minimum to make it work. Specifically fleshing out the other kids so when the Shazam family emerges they feel like a family rather than incidental characters, even Billy feels shortchanged when developing personalities (he's better developed as Shazam himself), although the performances are good all around. Which means it could have been a truly brilliant movie with a better second act.

Boy, am I glad I watched this movie first, before taking my young nephew to see it. Nobody told me Sivana would be fucking terrifying. Vile Villain, Saccharine Show doesn't quite cover it.

It's funny how I saw two superhero movies over the course of the last month, semi-rivals (but not really), and I had almost the same reaction but with literally the opposite problem. Captain Marvel's beginning is very slow with an age of exposition and infodumping. Shazam's beginning is a rush from one hastily established plot point to another without much time to breathe.

And then both movies, once they get going, leave those problems behind and become fantastic. That's where the comparison ends for me. Well, that an Djimon Hansou.

Either way, it's still a damn good year to be a nerd.

Also, how am I so hype for a goddamn caterpillar? None of the people I saw the movie with were familiar with Shazam's mythos, they had no idea why I was all: "I don't have to check if there's a stinger. They haven't addressed the fact that the caterpillar vanished from the bottle. That's really damn important." When I heard that voicebox I had a full on nerd attack.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Apr 5th 2019 at 12:09:05 PM

Yes, I can't believe that a caterpillar with a voicebox made me so excited.

I loved everything about the Marvel family, though part of that first act rushing meant only Freddy and Darla (and kind of Mary) got enough development. I was grinning ear to ear whenever powered Darla was on screen.

And everything about Billy's birth mother made me rage. I also got that rage from Sivana's dad, but even so I don't quite think he deserved to get eviscerated by a demon even given that he's the scum of the Earth.

But it makes a great contrast: in that moment, with Billy choosing not to tell his mother how he based his entire sense of self worth and sabotaged every relationship he ever made since on the love she callously tossed aside, and just walking away in favor of support and love he already had, he showed better than anything else in the movie why he's a better man than Sivana.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Apr 5th 2019 at 12:13:29 PM