शज़ैम!

DC has had a rocky road, but shazam, aka captain marvel was an enjoyable film, silly yet fun, found a good medium, and the villain was great. Can't wait for Black Adam. See it if you just want some fun and nothing serious.

General Thoughts:

The most fun I've had in a superhero movie since...well I was going to say Infinity War but that plotline is not very fun. Point is: this movie is fun. It really feels like it was made for kids, with a sprinkling of adult themes here and there. As someone who is suffering from extreme super hero fatigue, this is an excellent film to enjoy without having to put too much thought into it.

The Good:

The characters do not feel like they make stupid decisions. Every time I was questioning something that was being done, I could essentially chalk it up to the kids being...well kids. The film treats its children like children in the best way. There is no profound philosophical dialogue coming from the mouth of an eight year old. The film was just plain fun.

The Bad:

There are some minor continuity errors throughout the film that would not distract most people but if you are thinking about the film-making it may take you out of the film for the briefest of moments. Two examples I can think of are characters swapping their locations very quickly (likely in-between takes), and a character flying through the air faster than a plane with absolutely no wind affecting him or his clothing whatsoever. The movie does make up for this with a comical flight scene near the end of the film which I wont spoil.

So I finally decided to give this a go and I have to say, I'm a little annoyed I waited this long, because it's a very fun film.

So what put me off initially was that from the trailer it seemed a bit too silly and childish and I'm not too fond of that humour. But I have to say it was done very well and I didn't find it daft at all.

So as my title says, I did find the film I little predictable. You could see what direction the film was heading in early doors and it never really veered from that path. I felt like it was just missing that "wow" factor to break this movie into 8/10 and beyond. It was very down the middle lane kind of film, which don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with that. But I just wanted a little more.

Sticking with the plot theme. It kept me entertained throughout and I remained interested for the entire 2 hours or so. So clearly it did something right! My only negative on this subject was that I thought they expanded in the wrong areas. So the first 45 mins or so was developing the characters so we didn't even see "Shazam" until 45 mins in. Then it sort of whizzed through the 'dealing with the idea he has powers' phase and went straight into the overly long end sequence. I feel like they could have done more with the mid section and even shortened the beginning and end to do so.

Beyond that though I thought the characters were great and they were all likeable and the arcs were also fun and interesting to get stuck in. And overall it was just enjoyable and a fun watch. It does what you expect it to do! The humour isn't over the top, stupid nor overdone and it's not complicated either. Yeah I'd recommend this if you're debating it. It's enjoyable!

This movie brings some refreshment to a superhero genre, but still, it's nothing special, just your typical movie from this genre. Super corny characters and "deep" sub-plot. If you want to watch something fun and family-friendly it's a good choice.

Easy watching, some funny bits. Starts off well but then gets a bit muddled in its ideas and a bit 'seen it all before'. I think the 7/10 is accurate but it a good seven.