Better Late than Never on "Shazam"

I haven't written about a quarantine date night movie in awhile, and yes, even though we have loosened a very little bit on who we see and where we will go, we are still, for all intents and purposes, quarantining, and everyone else should too. Anyway, my wife and I still have our Friday night "date" night where we order from a local restaurant and rent a movie online. This week we had some dynamite tacos from a small mexican restaurant, and we watched the movie "Shazam".

The tacos were great, but that isn't the point of my blog today. I want to talk about "Shazam". I do want to say that RD has been on this movie from the moment it was released. He has talked to me about it, he has raved about it on the pod, he loves this movie. And you know what, he is right. I have very similar movie tastes to RD, and even though he might not admit it, his taste mirrors mine. We like the same type of movies. We recommend movies to one another. When we lived together we showed each other many, many movies we would have never seen on our own. We like, mostly, the same stuff. But I was on the fence with "Shazam". I am not a DC guy. I'm Marvel all the way. DC movies are too moody and bleak and dark, both in tone and color. I'm not a fan. But "Shazam" is different. "Shazam" achieved what I think the "Harley Quinn" movie was trying to do, except more blue. "Shazam" is like a Marvel movie that just happens to have the DC logo. It is fun, funny, colorful, sweet, doesn't meander, has a funny and evil villain. Everything about the movie works. Sure it can get a little too sweet and gooey at times, and there are definitely moments where I cringed because it was so cliche, but that was few and far between.

First and foremost, the kids in this movie are wonderful. They are good actors who had good scripts and had a good time making the movie, at least it seemed that way to me. I don;t know much about any of the kid actors, but Shazam is a superhero that acquires his powers as a fourteen year old. This is essentially a kids superhero movie made with adults in mind. The kids are all foster kids that live in a home with parents that were fosters themselves. Each kid has a quirk too, and that is important to the plot and finale of the movie. Billy Baston, who is Shazam, is played by Asher Angel, and he is the prototype foster kid that has been getting in trouble since he was abandoned, but he has a heart of gold. And no matter how much he looked like Arya Stark, this kid did a solid job portraying that. Jack Dylan Grazer is Freddy, the foster kid who loves superhero lore and just happens to walk with a crutch. He is goofy, funny, gets picked on, but all in all, he is a fun loving kid that knows all about superhero lore. Faithe Herman is the precocious little sister, and she is sweet, smart and the heart of this movie. Grace Fulton is the college bound, older sister but kind of a mother figure to the other kids. She was great. Ian Chen, who I adore watching on "Fresh Off the Boat", is the nerdy video game kid, but he always wants to help. And Jovan Armand is the quiet kid that only speaks when it is needed. They all do a wonderful job. They never felt too cloying. They did their job, and they did it well. Angel and Grazer are essentially the main characters, and while they may not be brothers by blood, they sure do seem like real life brothers. They were great. As for the hero of the film, when Billy becomes Shazam, Zachary Levi embodies him, and he is awesome. He is so funny. He really acts like he is fourteen. This is as close to Will Ferrell's Buddy the Elf, where an adult plays a child essentially and you buy it, that I have seen. He is great. I called him a low rent John Krasinki, but after seeing him in this role, he went up a whole other level for me. He was so perfectly cast, and he did such a great job in this role. There were many moments, especially when he first realized his powers, that made me laugh pretty hard. Mark Strong, who is an underrated, constantly working actor, was great as the villain too. He was menacing, but was also being controlled by beings greater than him. And the way he snarled and spoke and came across, he would be scary to kids, who he was after in this movie. He did great as well.

All in all, "Shazam" is a fun movie about a kid that unexpectedly becomes a superhero. There is good stuff all over this movie. There is also funny stuff all over this movie. It is light, quick, has cool fight scenes and introduced me to a superhero I knew little to nothing about. I liked it and I hope DC makes more, and uses this template to make more of their movies going forward. "Shazam" is more than worth your time. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Marvel v DC part 2: I disagree with Ty

This is a rebuttal to Ty's article from yesterday where he talks about the greatness of Marvel heroes over DC

Well Ty thinks the current new hot Marvel heroes are better than the dependable characters established in DC.  The word wrong is not strong enough to express my thoughts on Ty's opinions.  Let us begin to take apart is non-reasoned argument.

Marvel may be hot and sexy right now, but it is just a passing fad.  Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, the Fantastic 4, the X-men - they are all just flashes in the pan compared to the influence and excitement of the DC pantheon.  Superman is supreme.  His list of powers is so extensive that the weakest ones would bring any middle of the road Marvel hero (super ventriloquism could easily knock out most of S.H.E.I.L.D).  Superman is not only powerful, he has the most heroic soul.  The idea of goodness, along with greatness, separates Superman from all other comic book heroes. The truth that Superman can own anyone, and still chooses to be the protector of humanity, is unique to his story alone. Look at a book like Red Son or read the story from the Injustice video game. When Superman wants to take control, it takes all the heroes (plus some luck) to take big blue down. In terms of secret identities, Clark Kent is the best (I will admit that Peter Parker is a close second).

Moving away from power and heroism, and transitioning to straight up badassitude, DC has Batman.  I personally enjoy Superman stories more, but Batman is the granddaddy of all modern superhero stories.  He has the best outfit, vehicles, and bad guys.  In addition to the richness of Batman's world, he is a non super powered being.  Marvel has many Batman clones, but none of them could beat up Superman.  Batman can, and has done it.  There is very little emo feelings on why Batman put on the costume, he is just pissed.

Marvel has some ok women super heroes, but they have nothing on Wonder Woman. She is the equal third part of the DC holy trinity.  Wonder Woman does not cry out for help when she is in trouble, she is the trouble.  Take a look at the graphic novel Kingdom Come. Batman and Superman spend most of the book in a petty macho argument while Wonder Women whips everyone into shape and takes on the conflict like a boss.  There is no woman (or many men) in the Marvel universe that can compete with Wonder Woman's independence or toughness.

Looking at the lesser DC heroes, I believe you still find them to be better than their Marvel counterparts. The Flash and Green Arrow have great outfits, and tend to lighter in tone than the big time heroes. The teen titans created incredible characters who can easily carry on their fore bearers adventures. The world of Green Lantern reflects a cosmic scale more interesting than that of Marvel's Thanos and Galactus. Hawkman, Nightwing, Power Girl, and more add to a world more robust and interesting than the one Marvel has cultivated.

The one area people say Marvel is better than DC is film, I do not agree. The Marvel movies are fun and a nice diversion, the DC movies change cinema. The Avengers  was cool, The Dark Knight was the greatest comic book movie ever.  Casting a Marvel hero makes a little news, casting a DC hero dominates the news cycle. Marvel actors get some praise, DC actors win Academy Awards. On television DC is far outrunning Marvel. Arrow and The Flash are critically acclaimed and create cool worlds for lesser properties. Marvel has a couple of shows a few people watch because ABC owns the property.  Batman the Animated Series is listed as one of the greatest cartoons ever, Marvel has cartoons that are mocked in their own comic books.

Ty did not talk about villains.  Good thing because DC has the best ones, outside of classic Darth Vader of course.

Do you choose to disagree? Bring it.

Thanks to Cracked.com for the knowledge of Super Ventriloquism and Marvel comics making fun of Marvel cartoons.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head editor for Seed Sing. While he does not agree with Ty, he knows Superman defends all peoples right to be wrong. He did see Man of Steel and choose to keep its name out of his DC defense.

Marvel v DC: Ty has his favorite

I'm by no means an expert when it comes to comic books and super heroes.

My knowledge has recently been expanded since I've met and married my wife. Our three year old son has only made me more knowledgeable. So, I've had a good nine year crash course in all things super heroes. I'm here to tell you today why Marvel super heroes are so much better than DC super heroes. They each have some great heroes, but, when it comes down to it, Marvel is leap years ahead. Sure, you have what many people consider to be the best and strongest hero on team DC in Superman. Superman is cool, but compared to any one of the Avengers, I don't think he stacks up all that well. I mean, first you have Ironman. He's a super smart, rich inventor that creates all of his own gear. He created a suit that flies and shoots repulsor blasts. How awesome is that. I'd take that over X Ray vision any day. Next, we have Thor, who's a God. He's the only one that can lift his mighty hammer, save for Vision, and he's an awesome fighter. Superman may be an alien, but a God he's not. Then there's Captain America. He was created in a lab to be a super soldier and his shield is made of the strongest medal in the world, vibranium. He's also the greatest team player of all time and the world's best leader. He may be, for all intents and purposes, as strong as Superman. The final, main Avenger, just happens to be the best, in my opinion, the Incredible Hulk. This is a guy that, when he gets angry, turns into a huge, "hulk" of a man that can beat the hell out of almost anybody. He's super strong and the Avengers count on him to take on their toughest competition. He is stronger than Superman and he looks way cooler. Like I said, Superman is cool, but compared to the four main Avengers, it's not even close.

I like Batman a lot. I love all the movies, except for the horrible "Batman and Robin", and think he's really cool. But, when I want dark, dangerous superheroes, give me the X Men and, especially, Wolverine. Wolverine is just as dark, if not darker than Batman. Where Batman is a rich orphan who creates his own equipment, Wolverine is a mutant that can heal himself and never dies. He also has claws made of adamantium. Claws that, literally retract from his hands when a fight is about to happen. I will take Wolverine 100 times out of 100 if the question is, Would you rather be Batman or Wolverine? I'd even go as far to ask if it's a rhetorical question. That's how much more I like Wolverine.

Even when you get to the lower, some might say lamer, super heroes, Marvel is so much better than DC. DC has the Flash, Aquaman and Robin. The Flash can run really fast, pretty boring if you ask me. Aquaman lives in the sea and fights from the water. Yawn. And Robin, he's just a sidekick to Batman that's kind of good at karate. Big deal. Marvel on the other hand has the Fantastic Four. They may not be as cool as the Avengers or X Men, but they are much cooler than the three DC characters I just named. You have Mr. Incredible who can stretch his body to help save victims that may be falling or can't get out of a bad situation. He's a super genius too. Sue Richards, aka the Invisible Women, can turn invisible and also makes force fields. That's pretty dope. The Human Torch's body turns to fire when his powers are activated and the fire power also helps him to fly. Pretty cool, right? Then there's The Thing, a huge man made out of rock that can destroy the bad guys, while also protecting your everyday citizen. He's almost as cool as the Hulk. Almost.

There are many more super heroes in both the DC and Marvel world's, but I wanted to focus on the most popular, in my opinion, ones out there right now. There's also some pretty cool bad guys on both sides, but I say again, I only wanted to focus on the good guys and why I like Marvel more than DC. Please, let me know why, in your opinion's, that I'm wrong in the comment section, but Marvel is so much cooler.

I'm sorry, but it's true

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for Seed Sing.  The head editor strongly disagrees with this post and will send a rebuttal soon. Follow him on twitter @tykulik