SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS: A Non-Spoiler Review

[Barry]

SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS: A Non-Spoiler Review
 
In it’s beginning, 1940, Fawcett Comics created Captain Marvel. And the fans said it was good. It outsold Superman, the first super-hero.  No one could defeat Captain Marvel, not Black Adam, not Mister Mind. He even had his own serial.
 
No one except the lawyers of DC comics who sued, and won, for plagiarism in 1954, putting the Captain out of business. 15 years later, Martin Goodman, who had renamed his “Atlas”  comic book company “Marvel” had Stan Lee create a character named Captain Marvel so no one else could trademark it.  DC first licensed the original Captain in 1972 and then bought him 230 years later.  But they could NOT call him by his name on the cover because of the trademark.  And that is why the movies are called “Shazam.”
 
Let me make this simple. I won’t use our usual scale of “good,” or “bad,” or whatever.  This is a fun movie. It was fun to watch, but it was neither compelling or very original. It also was made for a younger audience.
 
There are two major plots going on. First the entire 6 members of the foster home can become super-heroes and they do.  Billy Batson (a.k.a. Captain Marvel) is trying to build a family unit both when they are super and when they are home.
 
Second, three super-villains, all women of various ages want to take over the Earth.  They fight a lot.
 
There are a lot of impressive special effects in the movie and they were fun to watch.  While there are a lot of explosives in the movie the biggest bomb is at the box-office.  This movie is doing badly.  And so did the Ant-Man movie.  I believe that the “super-hero” fad is ending, not just because the public is tired of these movies but the best characters have been used and the movies aren’t that good. And now the plots are being recycled like old bottles.
 
Wait for home video, but, honestly, if you like these kinds of movies, this can be fun.
 
Notes:  They joke about his name in the movie and at one point do call him “Captain Marvel.”  In the original series, the Captain had a talking tiger named Tawny. Watch for him here.  And there are TWO scenes during and after the credits.  The three other people in the theatre with left before they saw it.

[bmoney]

Thanks as always Barry

[tripplej]

Thanks Barry for the review. I wil wait for this one at home.

[Craig Peer]

I really liked the first one - it was hysterical at times. I'll watch for this on sale - although that could be Black Friday. 

[bmoney]

I also loved the first one. Also Shazam is my all time favorite super hero. I remember inhad a Shazam box car for my Lionel train set as a kid. Was my favorite car 

[SRW1000]

I believe that the “super-hero” fad is ending, not just because the public is tired of these movies but the best characters have been used and the movies aren’t that good. And now the plots are being recycled like old bottles.

I agree wholeheartedly with you on this, Barry.

There are still good stories out there to adapt, but for whatever reason, the studios are ignoring them and just wrapping tired superhero tropes around formulaic scripts.  

Maybe some big-budget failures will set things straight.  The risk is that all superhero-based movies will be lumped together, and the genre will be considered worn out, even as some of the classic material is passed over without ever being adapted.

As far as Shazam goes, the character has never really worked for me, going all the way back to the 70s TV show.  The first movie was mildly amusing, with my wife liking it much more than me.  This one may make it to my rental queue, but there's no urgency to see it.

Scott