With great power comes great laughter in DC’s bubbly Shazam!
uch as Maltesers are the
lighter way to enjoy chocolate,
Shazam! is the lighter way
to enjoy the superhero genre.
Part of the DC Extended Universe, this
high-stakes but humour-packed tale –
based on the long-running comic character
– sees a 14-year-old foster kid named Billy
Batson discovering the hero within. And
not in a metaphorical way either – literally!
After being chased by bullies onto a
subway train, hot-headed Billy hears a
mysterious voice saying: “Billy Batson, I
choose you as champion.” Our young hero
then finds himself in an icy underground
cavern where a wizened old man demands
he say his name: Shazam! From that point
on, every time Billy utters the magic word,
he turns into an adult superhero. The only
trouble is, he doesn’t know the first thing
20 odeon.co.uk
about mighty men, wonder women and the
like, and must rely on his comic-book mad
foster brother to guide him (which he does
with glee, phone camera at the ready).
Into the light
DC, of course, is famous for its bleaker takes
on the superhero genre (think The Dark
Knight Rises, Watchmen and Batman
v Superman: Dawn of Justice). But with
the recent box-office smash Aquaman –
which placed its focus heavily on fun – and
now this out-an-out comedy caper, the
studio is working hard to prove that it can
do action-packed japes as well as sepia-
soaked scrapes. You’ll come away with a
grin bigger than the Joker’s, and isn’t that
what going to the movies is all about?
Shazam! bursts into cinemas on 5 April