‘Shazam!’ is Funny, Entirely Forgettable

After a stretch of darker, monochromatic superhero movies, DC made perhaps its sharpest turn to big-screen comedy with 2018’s Teen Titans Go! to the Movies followed by the lighthearted $1billion blockbuster hit Aquaman. The sails continue in favor of superhero hijinks with Shazam!, a relatively lesser-known hero to serve as a new heat check for the ubiquitous success of comic book-based comedies. And while Shazam! meets its mandate with a genuine focus on brightness and laughs, the overall result is less than stellar by sacrificing the heart of a superhero movie. Shazam! will make you laugh; it will not inspire. A dearth of inspiration might surprise moviegoers upon hearing the film’s plot: an everyday orphan, Billy Batson, is chosen to gain spectacular powers and become a hero. The heroism writes itself, an “anyone can wear the mask” waiting to happen, or a “diamond in the rough” should he prove to be uniquely good-hearted. It eventually gets there, the opportunity to face his foe to save the innocent — more on his family in a moment — though Shazam! instead diverts sight from its hero-versus-villain plot for most of the film. Instead, it replaces that conflict with two smaller ones as Billy searches for the mother from which he’s estranged, while learning from the friendship tension that arises from suddenly being a superhero. Billy’s friendship tension comes from Freddy, his foster-brother who is the only person who knows Billy’s secret. Freddy rounds out the movie’s cha…