Shazam! is the name of DC’s latest superhero movie and I can confidently say that DC is starting to find their footing. With DC creating movies like Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, I will say I went into this movie very pessimistic, but I can happily tell you Shazam was an overall enjoyable movie.

Billy Batson, played by Zachary Levi and Asher Angel, is a 14-year-old foster child who finds himself in and older body with the powers of the wizard Shazam. With the two actors playing the same character in different bodies it was very important that Levi made it believable that he was still a child at heart, which he does. Due to his success at this the movie was able land many of its more childish jokes. The rest of the cast of the movie while not standing out as much were well done, with the villain Dr. Sivana, played by Mark Strong, being the most polarizing of the bunch. While he was meant to be the threat of the movie, in many scenes it felt like they took him too far. When he was on screen the mood of the movie took a darker turn than I think anyone expected or wanted. With that being said, even with Dr. Sivana being a darker character, the movie does manage to make a few jokes with him and overall create a just okay villain.

Shazam’s soundtrack was not surprising being that all superhero movies will have the suspenseful music to add to the already climatic parts of the film. What the soundtrack does provide though is a sense of adventure, something new and fresh to correlate with the plot of the film. When the hero first gains his powers and a new identity, he feels lost yet powerful at the same time and the music is able to interpret that through crescendos and drastic changes in tempo. It is without a doubt able to give everyone in the theater a sense of bravery when the hero and villain clash against each other, being able to feel the danger and confidence that Shazam feels is a key part in the film and the movie nails it. Every kid will feel like a hero just like Billy Batson when he transforms into his do-gooder identity.

Shazam was an overall well shot movie in my opinion and while I won’t sit here and act like I know much about cinematography, I can say that at no point did it feel like the movie was making unnecessary cuts or transitions. The fight scenes felt fluid and overall it was well done. One thing I will say is that they did allow the final act to go on for too long in my opinion but they easily make up for it with some of what are the best jokes in the entire movie.

Honestly Shazam has some heavy competition with Avengers: Endgame currently in theaters, but if you have already seen that and are craving another superhero movie I can confidently recommend Shazam to you if you are looking for a more comedic superhero movie.