Sparking joy.

I mean, what are superheroes if not the ultimate icon of wish fulfilment? Like mythical ancient gods, gallant medieval knights, or Old West gun slingers; superheroes are the pure, escapist embodiment of our hopes and aspirations. They’re ourselves, free of fear, weakness, and self-doubt. You know, the stuff that makes us human.

Sure, you’ve got your anti-heroes, your outcast mutants, and your brooding social pariahs; yet, underneath it all is a magnification of who we wish we could be. It’s a fundamental that must be understood to tell a superhero’s story adequately but one that far too many movie studios fail to grasp. 

In recent years, the biggest offender with this has been DC. In truth, their basic misunderstanding of the iconic heroes at their disposal has been incredibly disappointing and has played a major part in their biggest failures to date.

With Batman mercilessly mowing down bad guys, Superman moping around like an angst-ridden teenager, and the Suicide Squad doing…whatever the hell it was they were doing, the very essence of these characters got lost somewhere along the way. 

That is, until Wonder Woman came along. It was a moment that showed what DC could achieve if it just stepped back and listened to its characters for a minute; and now, with Shazam!, the DCEU has the next step in its evolution. It has its first fully-fledged, chisel-jawed, no-nonsense hero – and he just so happens to be the very embodiment of pure, childhood wish fulfilment.

Orphaned and drifting from foster home to foster home, Billy Batson (Asher Angel) spends his time flouting the law and desperately searching for his birth mother. After a brush with the police, Billy is put in the care of the hospitable Vasquez family, yet remains angry and adrift. That is, until an encounter with an ancient wizard bestows him with superpowers. By uttering one word – SHAZAM! – Billy can transform from a scrawny teenager into a godlike superhero (Zachary Levi), but while he now possesses an array of supercool powers, he’s still a lost, insecure 14-year-old boy underneath it all. As Billy joyfully sets out to test the limits of his abilities, his reckless shenanigans bring him to the attention of the nefarious Dr Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), who will stop at nothing to take Shazam’s powers for himself. 

As a character in the DC Comics cannon, the hero formerly known as Captain Marvel (what a coincidence, eh?) – Shazam – has always occupied the more obscure end of the superhero spectrum. While possessing many of the same abilities of more illustrious names like Superman, the hero has never really held the same cultural cachet.

Perhaps there’s only room for one godlike, chisel-jawed superhero goody two-shoes in the hearts and minds of the general public. Who knows. Yet, it’s a massive shame as the concept behind Shazam is fantastic, infinitely relatable, and pretty much the very embodiment of what a superhero represents.

It really is no coincidence that the two biggest success stories of the DCEU thus far – Wonder Woman and Aquaman – have been their most out-and-out fun. Now that the studio has gotten over their fixation with making everything feel like the inside of a goth’s bedroom, DC look ready and willing to switch the lights on with Shazam! – a film that, like Wonder Woman and Aquaman before it, has its fair share of heaviness, yet is never consumed by it.

Free from the stifling pressure that comes with adapting goliaths like Superman and Batman, Shazam! represents DC unleashed and finally willing to embrace its inner child. This all comes through with a wonderfully light, self-aware tone that’s undoubtedly goofy, yet the film is more than willing to own it. 

Shazam! has its darkness, no doubt, yet director David F. Sandberg balances it perfectly with a spot on, knowing sense of humour that lovingly embraces many classic superhero elements while blowing a cheeky raspberry at both the genre and the franchise it resides in. From the exaggerated, glowing muscle suit to Shazam’s square-jawed, do-gooding enthusiasm, this is a film that goes all in on the character’s Golden Age past and comes up with a huge smile on its face. 

Feeding into this is a delightfully mischievous sense of humour that bounces around the screen with an infectious joy as if the film itself has been bestowed with the powers of an ancient wizard. Even before Billy Batson gets his abilities, the writing is top notch as we’re introduced to the character and the various lovable misfits that he’ll learn to call family, but when the big SHAZAM happens, things go into overdrive. 

Switching rapidly between adult and teenage Billy, once he’s given his powers, there’s no looking back as the film strives to make the most of its classic Big­ setup. Imagine your 14-year-old self discovering they can now fly, fire lightening out of their fingertips, and repel bullets, and then imagine the joy of trial running said powers. That’s exactly how Shazam! plays it and the result is a shining example of the genre’s inspirational power.

Amidst all of this superpowered hijinks, however, lies a warm heart. Operating as Shazam’s core, the concept of family runs throughout the entire film and, as things move forward, the foster kids around Billy who at first feel like bit parts, quickly become integral pieces of the movie’s emotional foundation. 

Despite its loveable, light-hearted appearance, Shazam! manages to touch on a number of pertinent subjects including loneliness, rejection, and the power of self-belief, but it’s in its exploration of adoption, fostering, and the true meaning of family that things really hit home. While they’re wildly different films, Shazam! picks up where Instant Family left off in its positive depiction of foster care and, while of course there’s a certain level of heightened reality to it all, the emotions and troubles Billy goes through hit just the right grounded notes. 

Even at the height of its smashy-crashy superhero action, Shazam! never loses its heart, and it’s in Billy’s interactions with his foster parents and his five foster siblings that things really resonate. Although the bantery companionship between Billy and Jack Dylan Grazer’s Freddy is strong and entertaining throughout, each and every one of the young ensemble plays their part in the film’s emotional impact, as their unadulterated joy and sweet, natural chemistry shine through. 

Across the board, the kids are fantastic, with Asher Angel in particular nailing his role as a boisterous, naïve Billy Batson and working especially well alongside Jack Dylan Grazer in a superb central pairing, but it’s Zachary Levi that ultimately steals the show. After his rather bit part role as Fandral in the last two Thor movies, this is finally Levi’s time to shine. And shine he most certainly does – in more ways than one. 

While a few eyebrows were raised at the casting of a guy best known for being a schlubby computer tech in long-running sitcom Chuck for the role of such a classic, statuesque superhero; in hindsight, it was an inspired move. Embodying both the character’s undiluted wonder, as well as his more straight-laced heroics, Levi’s impressive physicality, together with his easy-going, everyman charm suits the role to a tee.

Clearly loving his newfound stardom, there are moments when Levi appears to be living the role like a real life Billy Batson, often coming across like he can’t believe his luck at getting the chance to be a superhero. And can you blame the guy? 

Unfortunately, opposite Shazam, Dr Sivana doesn’t get nearly as much love from the script. Of course, Mark Strong is (and always will be) fantastic in any bad guy role you put him in (seriously, despite clearly being a thoroughly lovely chap, the dude can seriously villain), Sivana just lacks any real oomph.

As is often the case with an origin story of this ilk, the villain is put in place purely for narrative convenience and that’s certainly the case here as Sivana comes across rather too basic and with very little nuance beyond the usual supervillain tropes. Although, much like the rest of Shazam!, there’s a certain amount of self-awareness at play, it’s nonetheless a disappointment that Strong’s undoubted talents aren’t put to better use. 

Relatively low-key for the most part, the film’s action is often as playful as one might imagine and, while it finds itself lapsing into the usual superhero carnage on occasion, there are many incidents where Shazam! finds itself as a fine example of just how to get creative with such heightened antics. In particular, the movie’s final showdown uses its fairground location perfectly, working it into the action in distinctive and imaginative ways, with many triumphant, fist-pumping moments thrown for good measure. 

Across the board, the film’s visual style is a breath of fresh air in comparison to the muted tones of Batman v Superman and Justice League, and while David F. Sandberg’s horror leanings shine through in a few surprisingly scary scenes (certainly something to consider for those wishing to bring along younger children), the bright and bold colour palette is an absolute joy.

Simultaneously part of the DC Extended Universe and completely distinct from it, Shazam! has its cake and its it by balancing nice in-universe references with a look and a feel all of its own.

Bright, breezy, and infinitely watchable, it’s impossible to deny the childish charms of Shazam! and, quite frankly, why would you want to? Finally edging itself out of the dark, depressing corner it had painted itself into, DC have at last found the sweet spot between joy, darkness, and touching poignancy. Like Big on steroids, Shazam! knows exactly what it is and runs with it as the ultimate embodiment of what a superhero should be – pure wish fulfilment – played out to a heartfelt backdrop that puts family at its core. Although the villain isn’t quite up to scratch, Shazam! more than makes up with it through a star-making, energetic performance from Zachary Levi and a boundless enthusiasm that does exactly what it should do – have you on your feet and dreaming big.