Shazam! ticks all the boxes for a family movie marathon

Visual effects in family-themed movies have come an awfully long way since I was kid, wishing to join the ranks of the superheroes I watched on TV. Shazam! stands out for its great visuals and effects, but at its heart, it’s a story about family, and that’s what makes it magical.

Billy (Asher Angel) is a bit of a misfit, bouncing between foster homes. He never stays long, and is always running away to look for his biological mother. Billy lucks out in the foster family department with new foster parents, Rosa and Victor.

Their family dynamic is all kinds of wholesome – their goal, after all, is to give all of their kids a home where they feel truly loved. Billy’s welcomed into their home and shares a room with Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) – a kid whose sarcastic wit makes him a child after my own heart. An odd friendship quickly forms between these two foster siblings, which is as endearing as it is amusing.

Billy, being pure of heart, is magically transported to the Rock of Eternity where a wizard (Djimon Hounsou) gives him magical powers – it’s classic hero-origin-story stuff (more Greek hero than superhero, here, though). Billy is then left to come to terms with his powers, and his new adult body.

And he does this with Freddy’s help, against the audio backdrop of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” as the soundtrack.

But Shazam! is not just about two kids living their best lives, trying to figure out their friendship and sibling dynamic. In true comic-book fashion, there’s evil afoot, in the form of Dr Thaddeus Sivana – who, in typical supervillain style, is chasing world domination by controlling an all-consuming evil power.

Dr Sivana must destroy Billy before he has complete control over his power, and this makes Billy the only one who can stop him.

Asher Angel plays the good-hearted troublemaker Billy with an innocent sincerity that makes this a good watch. Zachary Levi doesn’t always nail that same honesty as the adult/Shazam version of Billy, but when he does, it really makes a powerful impact. Levi brings a level of awkwardness to his role that makes him believable as a child in an adult’s body.

Shazam! may be darker than you’d expect for a family film, but it’s balanced perfectly with the right amount of goofiness. There’s some pretty sweet moments too, giving it that feel-good, wholesome vibe. The classic good-vs-evil superhero tale doesn’t demand too much from its viewers and is great fun to watch with the family – which is fitting, because, ultimately, this a story about family.

Name issues aside, the lighter tone of Shazam! is what we need to see more of from the DC universe.