While we are still only in the early months of 2019, new superhero movies are very quickly pouring into the box office. A few weeks ago saw the debut of M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass, and this weekend will see the debut of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s Captain Marvel. Before too long, however, we’ll also be seeing the third big genre release of the year, David F. Sandberg’s Shazam!, and now the first reactions to the film have started rolling in.
I personally am one of the people who got an early look at Shazam! (in full disclosure it was an unfinished cut), and I thought it was fantastic. As noted in my Tweet below, it doesn't exactly do a lot to separate itself from the pack when it comes to the structure of its story as a superhero origin tale - but the elements that make it legitimately special make that feel largely inconsequential:
And our own Managing Director Sean O'Connell chimed in with:
Echoing some of my own thoughts is also Germain Lussier from iO9, who also made special note of the importance of family and the movie's core themes. He's apparently taking points off because he doesn't love what Shazam! does with the dynamic between Zachary Levi's titular hero and Mark Strong's Dr. Sivana, but his reaction is primarily praise.
Ash Crossan from Entertainment Tonight also has a lot of love to share for Zachary Levi's performance, and went as far as to call the movie "damn near perfect" - while placing it at the top of her personal DC Extended Universe movie rankings. That's pretty big praise now that we have both Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman and James Wan's Aquaman in the mix, but she has a lot of love for Shazam!'s humor and personality.
The new DC film has apparently also won the heart of Collier's Perri Nemiroff, who has a lot of similar sentiments to share as many of her colleagues. Again there is a lot of love for Zachary Levi, and themes regarding family - but she also throws in some specific love for Jack Dylan Grazer, who plays the best friend of Shazam a.k.a. Billy Batson (Asher Angel).
Lastly we have Erik Davis from Fandango, who writes in his Tweet that he wishes he had the ability to hug the blockbuster. It seems he really appreciated the various references made in Shazam! - including not only to other heroes in the DC Extended Universe, but to pop culture in general - and also notes the positive trend for the DC Extended Universe.
It won't be much longer until audiences everywhere will be able to see Shazam! for themselves and make their own opinions. The movie will be arriving in theaters on April 5th - and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for a lot more of our coverage between now and then.
