Shazam! – The hero in all

Art by Alan Enriquez.

Art by Alan Enriquez.

Alan Enriquez, Head photographer

DC movies are well known for having a dark tone targeting a more mature audience. That is not the case for Shazam! The absence of darkness sets this movie apart from other DC films. This movie is FUN.

Billy Batson (Asher Angel) was placed in many foster homes but he ran away from all of them hoping to find his mother. Billy is given another chance in a foster home run by Victor and Rosa Vasquez (Cooper Andrews, Marta Wilans) who have five other foster children including Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), his new roommate. Although Billy refuses to accept his new family, he later opens up to them. After standing up to bullies picking on Freddy for his disability, Billy appears before a wizard who needs his help. When he says Shazam! the powers of the wizard are passed to Billy turning him into an adult in a red suit, a white cape and superpowers. With the powers that the wizard gave him, Billy is able to unlock his full potential.

Although the movie is a little goofy, it explores common themes seen in other DC movies such as greed, growing up, and acceptance. The whole movie, including director David Sandberg, known for his horror films such as Annabelle: Creation and Lights Out, was an experiment to create something different and was executed perfectly. The movie got a score of 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, a score higher than most of both DC and Marvel movies and a 7.6 on IMDb.