The early reviews for Shazam! have started pouring in from some US critics who were lucky enough to catch a special screening… and they’re immensely positive. The 7th film in the DC Extended Universe has been called “fun” “magnificent” and “the best DCEU movie to date.”
Damn! If these reviews are anything to go by (the Malaysian screening hasn’t taken place yet), it looks like the tide has turned big time for the DCEU. A lot has changed since the days of Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman and David Ayer’s heavily-tampered-by-the-studio Suicide Squad. Since then we’ve gotten the near-excellent Wonder Woman and the sprawling, fist-pumping fantasy film Aquaman, which has successfully won us over.
Here are some of the first reactions/early reviews of Shazam by critics who attended the early screening:
I wanna talk about #Shazam all day everyday to anyone who will listen. My heart is still melting. My stomach still hurts from laughing. Can’t wait for you all to see this movie: https://t.co/emrRxeO3Xt way to go DC! Check out my non spoiler bedroom review NOW!!! 💛 pic.twitter.com/FZaGtCcCCf
— Roxy Striar (@roxystriar) March 23, 2019
#Shazam isn’t just a great superhero movie, it’s the best DCEU movie. Even better than Aquaman. Definitely going to see it a few times before Avengers comes out! pic.twitter.com/DC7p8ynnCS
— ManaByte (@ManaByte) March 24, 2019
Just saw #SHAZAM and its was amazing.
Great villain, not perfect, but I'm torn between Shazam and Wonder Woman for my top DC movie
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) March 24, 2019
#Shazam Review: As a teenage kid in a superman's body, Zachary Levi is pure pop charisma in a comic-book saga that walks a deft line between satire and sincerity https://t.co/c11kmWisY4 pic.twitter.com/uNB6SSdI19
— Variety (@Variety) March 24, 2019
#Shazam is magnificent! It’s like #Goonies meets #ThePageMaster meets #Big ! The comedy is non stop (can’t wait for round two so I can hear the jokes I laughed over) the action is enormous. It’s perfectly cast and brilliantly executed. DC has an enormous hit on their hands. pic.twitter.com/ysO4V4sZZ6
— Coy Jandreau (@CoyJandreau) March 8, 2019
Interesting thing about #SHAZAM is that it's easily the most family-targeted DC movie tonally but still has a darker texture than most of the Marvel productions. The places where it wants to be "about things" (abandoned/abused kids, trauma, poverty, emotional wounds) are real/raw
— Like Kurosawa, I Make Mad (@the_moviebob) March 24, 2019
Like Sam Raimi's (still great) first SPIDER-MAN movie, #Shazam is both light on its feet and often cheerfully enjoyable while also quite dark and mournful. It's a lot of fun, but it treats its grim subject very seriously and never sells out its drama for the sake of superheroics.
— Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) March 24, 2019
What gets me most excited is the fact that people are comparing the movie to Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies, which wonderfully rode the fine line between lighthearted comic book geekiness and serious, textured drama.
As of right now, Shazam has a 93% ‘fresh’ score (average rating: 7.67/10) on Rotten Tomatoes, with a total of 57 reviews counted. Stay tuned to Lowyat.NET for my detailed review that should be dropping soon.
Shazam synopsis:
Shazam is directed by David Sandberg (Annabelle Creation) and follows Billy Batson, a streetwise 14-year-old who can magically transform into the adult superhero Shazam simply by shouting out one word. His newfound powers soon get put to the test when he squares off against the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana.
