Tag: Shazam

If You Want to Save the World—Say the Magic Word!

The new Zachary Levi DC superhero movie SHAZAM was in sneak-peek zones on March 23rd, and we got the chance to watch it. The film has received positive reviews and is currently sitting at 93% on the Tomatometer at Rotten Tomatoes with 47 reviews counted [as of April 1].

Synopsis:

We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam, courtesy of an ancient wizard. Still a kid at heart—inside a ripped, godlike body—Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands (yes!)? Can he skip class? With the help of superhero enthusiast friend Freddy, Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of the child he is inside. But he’ll need to master them quickly to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, who’s got his eye on Shazam’s powers and wants them for himself.

If all you want to know if it’s a good flick, then you can just know that it is, and VERY good! Now, if you want to know all of the reasons why, without spoilers, read on.

What you see is just a portion of what you get, and what you get is a LOT! From the costumes, to the sets, to the acting, and writing, SHAZAM! is one big, fun, rollicking super romp.

Before the film opens on April 5, here’s our early look at why the film is so great, how the hardcore DC fans are going to get what they want, and how audiences will see a kickass superhero movie with ‘SHAZAM!’”

Director David F. Sandberg – He proves with his latest film that everyone can be a hero. “Every kid dreams about being a superhero,” says the “SHAZAM!” director. “In the world of our story, where Superman and Batman exist, Billy Batson is a kid who basically gets that wish.” But for Billy, there’s a twist—he doesn’t just get the superpowers, he becomes an adult—on the outside, at least—with a power-laden name: SHAZAM stands for Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury. Sandberg gives the viewer the experience what it would be like if every kid’s wish to be a superhero came true in the biggest, most comical, exciting, action-filled and magical way.

Zachary Levi – Plain and simple, he is Shazam! Along with the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the endurance of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the fighting abilities of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury, “He’s also got the ability to wield lightning, which is very much in tune with his Zeusitude, if I can be so bold as to call it Zeusitude. I’m coining that phrase right now,” Levi quips.

On set, the actor had as much fun with the discovery of Shazam’s powers as the character did. “One of the moments that just delighted me was the scene when he’s stopping the robbery, and he figures out he has bullet immunity. Basically, he just starts giggling because the bullets literally tickle him.” Long before production began, just reading the scene, Levi confesses, “I just lost it, I started laughing out loud, legitimately LOL-ing by myself in my living room. Because it’s the joy of that moment. You don’t get to see Batman or Superman being tickled by their abilities. Those guys are dudes who’ve had a lot on their shoulders for a long time, while Billy’s just stepping into this world. You get to experience his delight, and I just loved it.”

Costumes – To create the Shazam look for a modern audience, Sandberg turned to his frequent collaborator, costume designer Leah Butler. Butler says that, for her, “A superhero costume begins with research and design. All iterations of Shazam! comics since the 1940s were researched, then illustrations began to start work on the movie version. Shazam sports the classic look—the red suit, white cape, boots and lightning bolt. The lightning bolt presented the biggest challenge for Butler and her team. “We really wanted it to be a practical lighting piece, rather than a visual effect, so that we would see the reflection on the body and the muscles and the face. And that’s also important for the director of photography, so he can key off of that.” “It’s a pretty awesome suit,” Sandberg smiles. “The fact that Leah was actually able to make the bolt light up, practically, was great because it’s really a signal of his magic. The costumes in this, are fantastic; Dr Sivana looks both dapper AND menacing, the wizard Shazam looks old, his robes tattered, and our Big Red Cheese looks phenomenal, red and with a crackling lightning bolt. Very eye catching, but they never feel like a distraction.

The Superhero score from composer Benjamin Wallfisch –

“It’s always such an incredible joy collaborating with David,” explained Wallfisch. “Not only is he a visionary filmmaker, he’s also a great musician. We both have a shared love of the classic superhero, fantasy and adventure scores of the `80s, and we started the SHAZAM! score by trying to channel the feeling of wonder and hope that incredible music gives you. It felt like being a kid again; I grew up in the `80s in total awe of, and in love with, that music.”

Sandberg spoke about working with Wallfisch on the film’s music. “Ben is the only composer I’ve worked with so far, and the guy is amazing,” explains the director.  “Something we talked about is that I wanted it to feel very much like a classic superhero score, because Shazam is a Golden Age Super Hero, and I wanted to honor that history.”

The Shazam! Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is now available for digital and CD preorder. It will be available for streaming and for purchase digitally April 5, and on CD May 10.

The score is spot on, evoking the emotions it’s aiming for, and the rock soundtrack fits in with it like a nice puzzle.

The fun screenplay – Writer Henry Gayden penned the uniquely action-packed and lighthearted script from a story he and Darren Lemke adapted from the comics. “I read the Geoff Johns New 52 comic book,” Gayden recalls, “and then I read The Power of Shazam! from Jerry Ordway, from the 1990s, and a couple of the early books. I instantly saw the appeal of the story and the characters and really honed-in on so many things that I love to write about, all in one package. I enjoyed writing it from the perspective of a kid, channeling the logic of a 14-year-old who suddenly has all these powers and who’s not thinking, ‘How can I save the world,’ but, ‘What cool stuff can I do?’”

Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy Freeman – He’s the ultimate fanboy and a total superhero fanatic. At its heart, it’s not just a super hero origin story, but a buddy movie, with Freddy Freemen (played by Jack Dillan Grazer) at first playfully trying to help the newest member of the house in to his new foster home, then acts as his mentor to figure out his new powers, and his role in the super hero world.

Mark Strong – Strong plays Dr. Sivana, chocking up yet another great villain role for this fine actor. In fact, if not for Strong’s performance, Sivana may have come across as yet another 2 dimensional cartoon cutout of a bad guy, but Strong brings the goods, making you feel as much empathy for him as you do loathing for him. “He’s a heat-seeking, ballistic piece of evil,” Strong observes. “A hero is only as good as his villain, so if your villain isn’t terrifying, the stakes aren’t high enough. He’s got to be scary.” Strong and Sandberg discussed early on how to portray Sivana. “Dr. Sivana is a very interesting Super-Villain,” says Sandberg. “We can sympathize with him because this was a kid who almost got the chance to be a superhero, but failed.” Also key to Sivana’s treachery are the Seven Deadly Sins: Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony, Pride and Envy. Strong also believes good villains work better if they’re understood, even if we don’t like them.

Djimon Hounsou – Though their meeting is brief, perhaps the adult who has the most significant impact on Billy is the ages-old Wizard. The magical entity—the last of his kind—resides in an ethereal place called the Rock of Eternity, where he reigns over the Seven Deadly Sins: soulless depravities held captive in stone, eager to escape their bonds. Hounsou plays the otherworldly being with a combination of gravitas and weariness, as befits his increasingly perilous circumstances. “The Wizard represents those attributes that are profoundly humane, and he is the keeper of all that is good,” Hounsou states. A foot note for us super nerds, is that Djimon Hounsou plays the ancient wizard in this, making him the only character to not only appear in both a Marvel and a DC property, but essentially two Captain Marvel movies at the same time, because while he’s now called Shazam, he was for the better part of five decades the original Captain Marvel. I would say that in the role of the ancient wizard of the same name, Shazam, he’s actually doing more acting in this than in the other, and you can almost feel his desperation with each new scene.

Sets – “We need a lair!” Production designer Jennifer Spence dove into the comic books in order to envision the immense Rock of Eternity set. In the comics, all seven statues of the Sins were on the left-hand side of the main floor. Spence worked with creature designer Neville Page to devise the look of the Sins and their functionality. Sandberg says, “It had all these rooms and portals to other dimensions, and was a very enchanted place. It was something I had looked forward to, walking in there and seeing the Sins, and it was just as awesome as I had imagined.”

Cinematography – To capture all the action, director of photography Maxime Alexandre—another Sandberg vet—utilized a range of light and lenses. “There was a big contrast between, say, the Rock of Eternity and the real-world settings,” he states. “Lens-wise, I decided to go with Master Prime. We worked a lot on light design, using LED lights from ARRI that gave us control of every single bulb. And we came up with beautiful lights for diffusion—soft lights for a long distance of 20, 40, even 60 feet from one single source, which we nicknamed THE SHAZAM.” Sandberg says, “It’s a comic book movie, a comedy, and a monster movie with the Seven Sins, but it’s also got these more emotional scenes, and I think Jen’s sets and Maxime’s work both make for a good ‘real-world’ contrast and make it all come together.”

SHAZAM! becomes our new Christmas movie – As in the New 52 comic that inspired the screenwriters’ adaptation, the story is set at the height of the holiday season. “We loved the idea of a movie set at Christmas,” Safran says. “I don’t think there’s any time of year that is more family-oriented, and no time of year when, if you lack a family, you would feel it more. For Billy Batson, joining a family just before Christmas made for a wonderful juxtaposition between his desire to be on his own and his real chance at belonging somewhere.” “Christmas is about family—you go back and see your family, you all hang out together—so it felt very right for this story but also added an interesting visual element for us,” Sandberg observes. Sandberg states, “We set out to tell Billy Batson’s story—that family is not always about blood, but bond; that you can find a home even if it’s not where you were looking for it.

The Terrific surprises for superhero super nerds – A lot of this is predictable super hero movie stuff, but there are some surprises, and the biggest surprise is how heart wrenching some of the story is. Family dynamics, both twisted and healthy are explored, and sometimes discovering your heart’s desire is the biggest heartbreak, but in the end, family, in its larger meaning, is the very heart of this film.

The film has been rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action, language, and suggestive material.

www.ShazamMovie.com

Contributed by Michelle Hannett and Marc Butterfield