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That looks...FUN!

Well, the review embargo lifted today (think that's the earliest yet for a DCEU film), and it's currently at 95% on RT and 79% on Metacritic.

And...I saw an early screening today! It's cute and funny. They didn't give away all the jokes in the trailers...in fact, some of those scenes have a lot more to them and are a lot funnier. They also kept a couple important aspects of the film out of the trailers, so my advice is to stay away from spoiler reviews. I don't want to give too much away either, so I'll keep my comments spoiler-free.

Zachary Levi is really good...he's pretty awesome doing the 'big kid' thing, and he has a great chemistry with the kid who plays Freddie Freeman. That kid is really good. But Levi carries the film IMO. Lots of little DC references throughout...it definitely embraces the source material and the DCEU (I'd like to say more about this but will wait until its regular release), but is its own thing too. I have a few quibbles with this and that, but overall it's a fun ride and I think it'll have good word of mouth and do well. It's wide open for a sequel, but the story feels resolved satisfactorily too. I had a good time.

Oh...best supervillain evil monologue ever. You’ll see what I mean.

I saw an early screening yesterday. The characters are great. Especially the whole big adopted family. A lot of fun all around. Definitely up there with Aquaman and WW as the "good" DCEU films.

That being said, the CGI is like night and day with Marvel. It's amazing the quality marvel pulls off with even something like Captain Marvel or Antman vs this. There are times, especially with the flight, and especially when it's around other people, where the fact that the characters are on a green screen could not be more apparent and a few times it was bad enough that it took me out of the film.

I've heard nothing but good things from friends and trusted reviewers. Looks like I'll have to see it sooner than later.

I didn't think the effects work was *that* bad. It was a $85-90 million film (I don't think Marvel Studios has ever had a budget that low), so another $10-15 mil probably would have ironed out some stuff.

Fox made Deadpool on the cheap also, and I think the two films compare in a number of ways. Shazam! is obviously missing all the raunchy stuff, but the irreverent approach is similar.

Holding pretty steady at 93% on RT and 76% on MC. Looks like it's going to be a nice success story for DC. I bet the sequel gets fast-tracked.

Loking forward to this. Always liked Zachary Levi's stuff ever since Chuck, this one seemed like the perfect role for him.

Reviews are very excellent.

Glad to see it is getting reviews, the trailers all looked good. I will have to check this out when it comes to DVD.

Family wants to see it.

This is one of this years better looking movies, I think.

Much like the first Deadpool, this movie comes off to me as a labor of love, something someone really enthusiastic for the character and project put together more than some suits in a conference room.

First DCU movie since Suicide Squad I'm willing to give a shot.

The more I see of it, the more I want to see it.

 LordofHats wrote:
Much like the first Deadpool, this movie comes off to me as a labor of love, something someone really enthusiastic for the character and project put together more than some suits in a conference room.

First DCU movie since Suicide Squad I'm willing to give a shot.

Its certainly an interesting contrast to the Zack Snyder interviews now making the rounds. Hes basically shouting expletives at fans and telling them they need to wake the $%#& up if they expect superheroes to act heroically or in character. His stance is basically just not that kind of world anymore, and that kind of thinking is worthless.

To which I say he should never be associated with any kind of movie with heroes in it. Or movies in general, really, if he thinks optimism is outmoded.

https://www.gamespot.com/amp-articles/zack-snyder-thinks-dc-fans-should-wake-the-f-up-ab/1100-6465843/

Voss wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:
Much like the first Deadpool, this movie comes off to me as a labor of love, something someone really enthusiastic for the character and project put together more than some suits in a conference room.

First DCU movie since Suicide Squad I'm willing to give a shot.

Its certainly an interesting contrast to the Zack Snyder interviews now making the rounds. Hes basically shouting expletives at fans and telling them they need to wake the $%#& up if they expect superheroes to act heroically or in character. His stance is basically just not that kind of world anymore, and that kind of thinking is worthless.

To which I say he should never be associated with any kind of movie with heroes in it. Or movies in general, really, if he thinks optimism is outmoded.

https://www.gamespot.com/amp-articles/zack-snyder-thinks-dc-fans-should-wake-the-f-up-ab/1100-6465843/

I decided Zack Snyder was a moron when he declared that Martian Manhunter disguising himself as a human being to live among us was a stupid idea. The man's too high on his own farts for his own good.

Voss wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:
Much like the first Deadpool, this movie comes off to me as a labor of love, something someone really enthusiastic for the character and project put together more than some suits in a conference room.

First DCU movie since Suicide Squad I'm willing to give a shot.

Its certainly an interesting contrast to the Zack Snyder interviews now making the rounds. Hes basically shouting expletives at fans and telling them they need to wake the $%#& up if they expect superheroes to act heroically or in character. His stance is basically just not that kind of world anymore, and that kind of thinking is worthless.

To which I say he should never be associated with any kind of movie with heroes in it. Or movies in general, really, if he thinks optimism is outmoded.

https://www.gamespot.com/amp-articles/zack-snyder-thinks-dc-fans-should-wake-the-f-up-ab/1100-6465843/

Just read that. Wow. Keep that up and he is going to stroke out.

Snyder's problem has long been that he's not really a fan of comic books, but a fan of comic book deconstructions. Those stories are great, but you lose a lot of their impact when you don't understand or appreciate what it is they're tearing down. Snyder is basically the filmmaking equivalent of the 90's era of comics. They saw the success of deconstructionist works and pulled from them the superficial stuff. All the gore and psychological issues without the thoughtful world building and understanding of the norms they sought to subvert.

I liked his MOS and 300, but none of his other comic films.

I thought 300 was all around just a solid production. Having seen his other works, I suspect he wasn't the real talent behind it.

I still say MoS is a very well-made film, and isn't nearly as dark or dour as people claim. Then again, the Nolans' fingerprints are all over that one. Post-MoS, it was Snyder and Goyer steering the ship, with the help of Chris Terrio, who wasn't a comics guy and understood comics fans less than S & G.

BvS featured a Batman who'd gone off the rails after the death of a Robin. That's a simple and interesting story, and a more popular film could have been made based on that concept IMO. I really think the issues there weren't about deconstruction, but about an overstuffed, overlong story and a knob turned up to 11.

On that last point, witness the sheer ugliness of Bats' and Supes' fight, with them rolling around smashing sinks over each other's heads in a filthy bathroom in a crumbling tenament house. I'm sure the creative decision there was that the grime and decay and rain and darkness reflected Bruce's worldview. And it's beautifully shot. But it just feels way overdone.

Back on topic though...Shazam! is nothing like BvS.

Shazam just looks so joyful and happy. Just what we need atm imo.

It's not all sugary sweet, though. While reasonably family-friendly, it has a couple moments that may be a little intense for younger ones.

That's kind of the main thing I wanted to know about Shazam. My main knowledge of the character primarily is "Justice League War" where there's various hints of, I think pathos is the right term, to Billy.

There's this idea that he's this orphan kid, who has had to wheedle and trick his way through everything in his life with noone backing him up, up until Shazam, and Freddy and the Justice League.

I sort of hope there's elements of that to it all.

 Compel wrote:
That's kind of the main thing I wanted to know about Shazam. My main knowledge of the character primarily is "Justice League War" where there's various hints of, I think pathos is the right term, to Billy.

There's this idea that he's this orphan kid, who has had to wheedle and trick his way through everything in his life with noone backing him up, up until Shazam, and Freddy and the Justice League.

I sort of hope there's elements of that to it all.

Well, I was referring to two scary-intense sequences. The director made his name in horror, and he put just *a little* of that in the film, kinda like what Wan did in Aquaman with the Trench.

But yeah, there's absolutely some human drama to it, if that's what you mean. It's not Shakespeare, but it definitely has heart and some emotional range. I think you'll be really happy with it from that perspective.

Though I'll repeat my warning...STAY AWAY FROM SPOILERS. You'll be glad you did.

Thanks, sounds like I'll be pretty happy then when it comes out.

 gorgon wrote:
I still say MoS is a very well-made film, and isn't nearly as dark or dour as people claim. Then again, the Nolans' fingerprints are all over that one. Post-MoS, it was Snyder and Goyer steering the ship, with the help of Chris Terrio, who wasn't a comics guy and understood comics fans less than S & G.

MoS is just another one of those times when someone tried to up the appeal of Superman by ditching all of the appeal of Superman and copying something else that's popular instead. It's all the Kent stuff that really drags the film down for me and even then I liked it okay; it just doesn't really feel like it gets the character and plays to action instead.

 gorgon wrote:

BvS featured a Batman who'd gone off the rails after the death of a Robin. That's a simple and interesting story, and a more popular film could have been made based on that concept IMO. I really think the issues there weren't about deconstruction, but about an overstuffed, overlong story and a knob turned up to 11.

On that last point, witness the sheer ugliness of Bats' and Supes' fight, with them rolling around smashing sinks over each other's heads in a filthy bathroom in a crumbling tenament house. I'm sure the creative decision there was that the grime and decay and rain and darkness reflected Bruce's worldview. And it's beautifully shot. But it just feels way overdone.

Back on topic though...Shazam! is nothing like BvS.

That's the thing; BvS isn't deconstructing anything; its very much a world building film that thinks deconstructionist takes are a solid foundation to build on. There's some really good thematic concepts throughout it (even Martha!) but it doesn't work because it doesn't have the appreciation of what came before it to properly deconstruct it. It comes from someone who believes in the deconstruction as the base. That's the fundamental difference between the BvS fight and Cap vs Tony. The former knows this fight matters because the characters are important, but it gives us fairly unrecognizable versions of the characters and expects it to still feel important. Civil War preys on the love we've built from 5+ previous performances in defining versions of the characters that have developed a friendship so it matters when they fight.

BvS has a lot of other problems. It's hugely burdened trying to set up a Justice League film with random trailers inserted in the middle (that scene would have worked well post credit), at least 2-3 conflicts to resolve. At its core though, the root of the problem is just that Snyder's love of comics is pretty much rooted in DKR and Watchmen and the universe he built runs into the same problems we got whenever we've seen people try to make things like the DKR version of Batman into an ongoing thing. Those stories are compelling because their worlds are falling apart and their stories are finite. It's just not something that works as a steady status quo.

Saw it. Liked it. Good fun movie. Lots of references including one I would not have expected to see. Lightning hands effects were excellent. Flying effects were ok.

Gonna see it next week!

 AduroT wrote:
Saw it. Liked it. Good fun movie. Lots of references including one I would not have expected to see. Lightning hands effects were excellent. Flying effects were ok.

It's certainly full of DC references. Which one surprised you? Personally...

 gorgon wrote:

 AduroT wrote:
Saw it. Liked it. Good fun movie. Lots of references including one I would not have expected to see. Lightning hands effects were excellent. Flying effects were ok.

It's certainly full of DC references. Which one surprised you? Personally...

Spoiler:

I first did a 'no way' when I saw Mister Mind in captivity...then was blown away to see the little guy featured in the mid-credits scene. An talking, ultra-intelligent caterpillar sure wouldn't have existed in the Snyderverse, LOL.

Shoot, will Tawky Tawny make it into the sequel? They did a little wink toward that character at the carnival, but I think it's absolutely on the table if Mister Mind is going to be the big bad.

Yep, that was the one.

We saw it last night. Best action movie I've seen in the past 2-3 years easily and it had a decent story and good character development, too.

Most times nowadays I'm happy to feel like I broke even after seeing a movie. Shazam was a sweet deal.