TheMailOnSunday

I am a DC fan. I go see all the movies, then buy the blu-rays. I have character statues, posters and have read the comics including Shazam. There is a reason people become fans of certain things, and those things done well over time generate more fans until it becomes a "Juggernaut" like DC has. I fear that it's not unstoppable however, as the sub-par Shazam has painfully illustrated. The movie is a pastiche of poorly written scenes with a bit of uninspired action sprinkled here and there with barely any plot at all. Billy has no character development whatsoever, no adversity to overcome and no villain to fight. I know there are people saying they like this movie, but I feel like they either aren't being honest or they like it for personal reasons that are not present in the movie. Objectively speaking, in terms of the technical aspects of storytelling, Shazam just isn't effective. Subjectively, I was bored the entire time and the comedy parts made me feel as though JJ Abrams was poking me in the ribs asking me if I 'member the 40's. Yes. Yes I do. And for the record, people are criticizing this movie because it was bad, not because they "haaaate the maaaaales!" Dismissing legitimate criticisms using this tactic will not produce better films, which is the only thing most people want. The problem is that they built the movie around the idea of "strong boy" and promoted it as an identity film, so when the movie ends up being bad some people rush to defend it because they don't want the IDEA to fail. The movie itself is secondary - just a vehicle to slap their bumper stickers on, which is a real shame because this could have been a great addition to the DC universe. I hope they learn something from this, but from what I've heard it appears that DC actually plans to escalate the identity politics in the next phase which would be an absolute disaster for them. When pointing to the box office as a defense for how "good" Shazam was, just remember that tons of paying customers didn't like it at all.

The villains are frightening. The characters are fleshed-out. the plot is dynamic. The art style is unique, and its universe has depth. Put simply, this is Scooby-Doo living up to its fullest potential.

I know my Scooby. I grew up with all the incarnations of the show, and while it's generally held a place in my mind as being fun, I probably would never have considered myself a true fan. I didn't doodle Scooby on my class notes.

But some genius came along and changed the rules. This show is true expansion, not a retelling of the original story. Not a remake. It's not trying to be hip, or modern. It's trying to be iconic; it's trying to be bold. They flashback to scenes straight out of the original series, and build their universe brick by brick, staying true to the core elements of Scooby (including the ridiculous slapstick), while introducing intrigue, fear, tension, development - and humor, like you've never seen in Scooby before.

I think the moment I realized that I might be watching something incredible came along when Velma was giving a tour of her family's Spook Museum, and casually resting in the background was the opening monster from the Scooby-Doo live action film. It never came up; it was just *there*.

That was a tell-tale sign of a groups of creators that loved their material - both good and bad. It takes guts to recognize the embarrassments of a franchise, and then continue onward, using elements of that embarrassment to produce something wonderful. Passion is oozing from the seams in this show.