Shazam! Super-manchild…

The DCEU has always fared better with its solo movies than its team-ups. And so it resoundingly proves with Shazam!, an adaptation of one of its lesser-known characters in a determinedly small and contained standalone. It’s one of the most irresistibly likeable superhero films in ages.

An obvious point of comparison is Guardians Of The Galaxy, as Shazam! takes a second-tier property and makes it look like it could never have been anything but a home-run smash with tons of humour and heart. Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is a 14-year-old kid who has bounced from foster home to foster home. He’s always on the run, searching for the mum he was separated from as an infant. He’s told, as he’s placed with his latest foster family in Philadelphia, that he’s been wasting his time “looking for someone who never looked for you”.

Billy’s homed with the impossibly nice Rosa and Victor Vasquez (Marta Milans and Cooper Andrews) and their adopted clan, but he’s still drawn to trouble. All of which leads to him being brought to the Rock of Eternity – presided over by a beardy wizard (Djimon Hounsou) – and gifted with superpowers. Billy just has to say the magic word (“Shazam!”) and he’s transformed into an adult superhero (played by Zachary Levi) with a full spectrum of powers. Meanwhile, there’s a villainous origin story underway for Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), who’s on his own quest for power.

POWER TRIP