Shazam!

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Well, the movie comes out in about three weeks, I wanted to post something about it, but we lack a dedicated thread. So... rectified that problem!

The one thing that I wanted to bring up is that if you're interested in seeing the movie early, Fandango is holding a pre-screening event for the movie for this Saturday (March 23). Two theaters near me were doing it, so there's a good chance there might be some near you if you're interested!

I'll include the two trailers:


 

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
9,460
1,570
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I'm not familer with Shazam but I recall seeing a few cartoon on TV when I was a kid.
 

SKORPI0

Lifer
Jan 18, 2000
18,396
2,306
136
Nice.. it's showing near my place 2 miles away, March 23rd - 4pm and 7pm. $12.50 reserved seating for a senior citizen. Tickets almost sold out.
 

ctbaars

Golden Member
Nov 4, 2009
1,568
163
106
Is this like "Greatest American Hero"? Seems so from the commercials.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,394
5,257
136
My review is "could have been funner".

It fell short, in typical DC fashion. If you are taking kids, I would rate it as "not a family film". The line would be, if your kids think the Dementors from Harry Potter are scary, then you're definitely not going to want to take them to see Shazam.

There were some funny parts, Chuck being Chuck & all, but I think they tried to mash up a family/kid superhero movie (which it would have been fantastic as) with an older target audience (scary monsters, scary scenes, language, etc.). It started out with promise, but had a weird combination of simplicity (fun) coupled with a couple of mildly horrifying scenes (kid-audience-wise). I felt like they could have made it really awesome, but they screwed up the combination & kind of petered out halfway through the movie.

It was fun as kind of a single-watch "summer popcorn flick".

There are 2 post-movie scenes FYI.
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
Shazam, in this context, is actually Captain Marvel, but not really. Do a google regarding it. It's actually an interesting story. (there's an article called something like - Why there are 2 different captain marvel movies coming out).
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
My review is "could have been funner".

It fell short, in typical DC fashion. If you are taking kids, I would rate it as "not a family film". The line would be, if your kids think the Dementors from Harry Potter are scary, then you're definitely not going to want to take them to see Shazam.

To a degree, the movie was sometimes tonally confusing. The beginning of the movie had me worry about this as it spend 10-15 minutes in this rather "DC Dark" portion covering an event in Sivala's childhood. It's not unheard of for a movie to spend a bit of time at the beginning on something a little darker, and then jump to our happy-go-lucky protagonist, but it was the amount of time that made it feel so weird.

Overall, I gave it the same as Captain Marvel, an "it's fine" rating.

There are 2 post-movie scenes FYI.

To add, similar to what we've seen in other comic book movies lately, the first one is after the fancy credits and is DCEU related. The second one is at the end of the normal credits, and is just a fun, throwaway scene.
 
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Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,883
2,121
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Ended up seeing this over the weekend, I liked it! It was fun- something DC forgot how to do. Kind of shocked how violent some of the content was.

On a side note: while driving home my wife and I came up with an idea for a porn version of this movie called JIZZAM! where a large breasted woman would yell the magic word and a stream of semen would stream down from the heavens, splashing her face and turning her into a superhero. Thoughts?
 

[DHT]Osiris

Lifer
Dec 15, 2015
14,006
12,077
146
On a side note: while driving home my wife and I came up with an idea for a porn version of this movie called JIZZAM! where a large breasted woman would yell the magic word and a stream of semen would stream down from the heavens, splashing her face and turning her into a superhero. Thoughts?
Your ideas intrigue me, and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Ended up seeing this over the weekend, I liked it! It was fun- something DC forgot how to do. Kind of shocked how violent some of the content was.

I heard how some families had to leave due to the seven deadly sins creatures scaring their children. I think people are pretty used to these movies being fairly tame except for a naughty word or two that they don't expect creepy, gargoyle-like monsters to be eating people.

On a side note: while driving home my wife and I came up with an idea for a porn version of this movie called JIZZAM! where a large breasted woman would yell the magic word and a stream of semen would stream down from the heavens, splashing her face and turning her into a superhero. Thoughts?

Incoming Brazzers parody video in 3.. 2..1..!
 

Crotulus

Senior member
Sep 2, 2008
214
153
116
I heard how some families had to leave due to the seven deadly sins creatures scaring their children. I think people are pretty used to these movies being fairly tame except for a naughty word or two that they don't expect creepy, gargoyle-like monsters to be eating people.

I kept hearing about how scary this movie got but still took my girls (11 and 7) to see Shazam the other day. Figured it would be in line with the Trench scene from Aquaman. They both jumped a couple of times but nothing seemed that far out for a PG-13 movie. I tend to get looks from my kids only when the inevitable "Shit" gets spoken :). A lot of us here grew up in the 80's when kids movies could actually be a bit scary. Nothing wrong with bringing some of that back.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,394
5,257
136
I heard how some families had to leave due to the seven deadly sins creatures scaring their children. I think people are pretty used to these movies being fairly tame except for a naughty word or two that they don't expect creepy, gargoyle-like monsters to be eating people.

The biggest complaint I've heard for the movie, across the board, is that parents brought younger kids to see it (based on the more lighthearted trailers), and either had to leave the movie partway through, or left the movie with upset kids. iirc there were no super-dark parts in the trailers, it was just a fun movie about a kid who could turn into a superhero, so it was kind of an odd bait & switch. Basically a potentially traumatizing experience for kids maybe 8 years old (or maturity-wise, I dunno) or younger (re: boardroom scene where the dude's head gets ripped off & the tinted glass has that Walking Dead-esqe shot of the bodies slammed against it). Not something you'd notice as an adult at all, language or content-wise, but they dropped the ball in a pretty big way due to their marketing of the movie for people with young kids.

I don't think I'll buy a copy for my personal library, but it was a fun show! The whole foster family thing was a surprisingly good and somewhat deep (although short) aspect to the movie that I wasn't expecting. I feel like if they cut the super-dark parts out of the movie, this could have been a really awesome Netflix TV series...developing on the "different but together" family aspect, getting through high school, fighting bad guys, etc.

I'm also willing to forgive a movie if they wrap it up decently, and the cameo at the end made me LOL.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,394
5,257
136
I kept hearing about how scary this movie got but still took my girls (11 and 7) to see Shazam the other day. Figured it would be in line with the Trench scene from Aquaman. They both jumped a couple of times but nothing seemed that far out for a PG-13 movie.

I watched a couple movies with younger kids recently, specifically Back to the Future (part 1) and the Goonies, and I was amaaaaaaaazed at how much swearing those movies used, lol. Which is of course one of the funniest parts in Stranger Things, if you're a fan of that show!
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
I watched a couple movies with younger kids recently, specifically Back to the Future (part 1) and the Goonies, and I was amaaaaaaaazed at how much swearing those movies used, lol. Which is of course one of the funniest parts in Stranger Things, if you're a fan of that show!

Ghostbusters is another interesting one to watch for its content. There's that scene where it's quite heavily implied that Aykroyd's character is getting some phantasmal fellatio, and then all the various swearing. Of course, you can also go with the two PG films that got us the PG-13 rating in the first place: Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

I mean.. I don't mind the crude nature, but it's definitely a lot different than what we get today.
 

BudAshes

Lifer
Jul 20, 2003
13,911
3,195
146
Absolutely loved this movie. It's the best superhero movie since the first Iron Man. It was genuinely funny and I was laughing my ass off in the theater. It did not feel like another boring bloated marvel movie. Total throw back to the wonderful 80's kids movies and felt like a cross between Goonies and Big.

Keep in mind that I don't like avengers movies at all, and hated most of the other DC stuff, so my tastes may not align with yours.
 

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,883
2,121
126
The biggest complaint I've heard for the movie, across the board, is that parents brought younger kids to see it (based on the more lighthearted trailers), and either had to leave the movie partway through, or left the movie with upset kids. iirc there were no super-dark parts in the trailers, it was just a fun movie about a kid who could turn into a superhero, so it was kind of an odd bait & switch. Basically a potentially traumatizing experience for kids maybe 8 years old (or maturity-wise, I dunno) or younger (re: boardroom scene where the dude's head gets ripped off & the tinted glass has that Walking Dead-esqe shot of the bodies slammed against it). Not something you'd notice as an adult at all, language or content-wise, but they dropped the ball in a pretty big way due to their marketing of the movie for people with young kids.

I don't think I'll buy a copy for my personal library, but it was a fun show! The whole foster family thing was a surprisingly good and somewhat deep (although short) aspect to the movie that I wasn't expecting. I feel like if they cut the super-dark parts out of the movie, this could have been a really awesome Netflix TV series...developing on the "different but together" family aspect, getting through high school, fighting bad guys, etc.

I'm also willing to forgive a movie if they wrap it up decently, and the cameo at the end made me LOL.

Yeah, I was a bit shocked seeing someone's head getting bitten off. Have a feeling they filmed another hour of footage that will flesh out the family a bit more, but it got cut for the action scenes.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,394
5,257
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Total throw back to the wonderful 80's kids movies and felt like a cross between Goonies and Big.

Did you catch the nod to Big in the department store? It was when the bad guy was chasing him (post-Santa) and then ran across the floor piano :D
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,394
5,257
136
Yeah, I was a bit shocked seeing someone's head getting bitten off. Have a feeling they filmed another hour of footage that will flesh out the family a bit more, but it got cut for the action scenes.

It really felt like they had two different directors in it. It was like a Marvel guy was doing most of it, and then they hired the Walking Dead director for the horror scenes. Tossing the dude out the building window to his death, biting off that person's head, the scariness of the CGI monsters, the bodies slamming against the white-tinted class in the office with the screaming...it just didn't fit at all. They could have done that thing where the bad guy looms over the dad, the monsters close in behind him, and it fades to black as you hear a single scream...I think something like that would have fit in with the rest of the story a lot better.

I was also kind of hoping they were going to do something more with the 7 deadly sins, which is why I think this could have been an excellent Netflix series...like actually have the sin-monsters tempt the Shazam & his family, or do more with temping the bad guy & so on. It's a pretty good idea, but the monsters were just kinda smoke gargoyles.
 
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Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
It really felt like they had two different directors in it. It was like a Marvel guy was doing most of it, and then they hired the Walking Dead director for the horror scenes. Tossing the dude out the building window to his death, biting off that person's head, the scariness of the CGI monsters, the bodies slamming against the white-tinted class in the office with the screaming...it just didn't fit at all. They could have done that thing where the bad guy looms over the dad, the monsters close in behind him, and it fades to black as you hear a single scream...I think something like that would have fit in with the rest of the story a lot better.

The director of the movie has mostly done horror movies and shorts on YouTube.
 
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