Shazam! (2019) - Review

Review:

*Originally written April 12th, 2019*

What a pleasant surprise this turned out to be. I had pretty much lost all faith in DC's films after the atrocious Justice League and thoroughly boring Aquaman and I was ready to absolutely hate this after the lame, cringe-inducing trailers that had more ready to kill myself than actually go see this. Somehow this not only managed to be great, but is by far the best of DC's offerings so far (which isn't hard, but I gotta give them credit!)

What really put me off from the trailers was the utterly embarrassing tone this looked to deliver. After failing to make darker comic-book films that connected with anyone, it seemed they were trying to change things up by copying Marvel's problem of throwing cringe-inducing, easy and painful jokes into the mix rather than take anything seriously and make you care. As much as I like to rag on Marvel's painful humour aimed at 6 year olds, the trailer for this stooped to the extreme low with Zachary Levi briefly doing a Fortnite dance. Marvel might suffer from tonal whiplash, but hell, they've never gone that far to please the crowd they insult as they clearly believe they can't concentrate on a serious scene without a jokey-joke thrown in the middle. 

Thankfully, I those trailers turned out to be a very misleading idea of what to expect. This is definitely a more light-hearted adventure for DC, but it actually has heart and a story that I actually cared about for once with these films, mirroring a tone more in line with the Christopher Reeve's Superman films and that's a good thing. It's not perfect, but this is still a very sweet and worthy film.

Shazam! follows a young orphan Billy, who goes from foster home to foster home trying to figure out where his mother is after getting separated from her as a very small child. Along the way he ends up receiving powers that allow him to turn into an electricity wielding superpower with the body of an adult and ends up getting hunted by a power hungry villain who wants his powers in order to take over the world.

Yikes, on paper that does not sounds good, new or interesting, but it somehow works! What struck me early on is how little action or CGI there is to Shazam!, there's a bit of that towards the end, but for the most part, this is a very character focused journey following Billy as he tries to find his place in the world. It's helped by just how good Asher Angel is as Billy, a very likeable and compelling lead that slowly changes over the course of the film as he learns he can use his powers for a better purpose and make the world a better place for the world around him. It's a genuinely sweet and hopeful arc that has been very missing from these DC films.

Zachary Levi also does an excellent job as the adult Billy in the form of Shazam (or Captain Sparkles). Levi is an actor I don't think I've seen this Chuck, which is a massively underrated show that will definitely be your thing if you like geeky/nerd culture TV shows. Levi brings so much charm to a role that could have been annoying, he perfectly embodies a teenager coming to terms with an extraordinary event, but also using that to his advantage to do things like get into strip clubs and buy alcohol. 

This does suffer from some of the usual super-hero trappings though. Sadly, the finale is a bit of a CGI mess of not very interesting things happening. I loved the idea of a finale at a packed carnival fair, but they do very little with this, it's just bits of CGI hitting each other and the designs of the monsters leave a lot to be desired. It's says a lot that the film is at its most boring when action actually happens. It might have helped if this had been trimmed to a more lenient run-time as these feels about 20 minutes too long as it is.

Then Mark Strong is pretty wasted as a forgettable villain with very little to make him stand out. He's power-hungry villain with CGI demons who do most his work for him. Completely uninteresting and a complete waste of a talented actor who seems to have slipped back into a role he stopped being typecast as nearly a decade ago. 

With DC's restructuring, I'm glad they've ditched this whole shared universe thing to tell shared stories. Shazam! stands completely on its own, but at the same time does take place in the same universe as the Justice League, there are nice nods to Batman and Superman, plus an odd cameo, but it really does feel like its own thing. I'm very interested to see what happens with these characters and future films. Especially if they focus more on stand-alone stories rather than trying to rush and get everyone together for an event film.


Shazam! is a HUGE step in the right direction for DC and their strongest work yet, which is something I never would have thought of saying after those abysmal trailers. It suffers from an underwhelming finale, but strong character work, two excellent lead performances and a genuine heart beneath all this makes this stand out from most of the other superhero films out there at the moment.

8/10 Dans

Shazam! is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

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Aquaman (2018) - Cinema Review

Review:

*Originally written December 13th, 2018*

It's no secret the DCEU (Or whatever it's called) is in a weird place. After the disaster that was the truly awful Justice League (A film I was far too easy on), it was clear Warner Bros needed something to refresh the slate and while many people were hoping this was more in line with Wonder Woman, it's sadly, it's streets ahead of Justice League, but at the end of the day its just another very middling and overblown superhero origin story that's more boring than exciting.

We go through very familiar ground that's been touched on countless times before in superhero films. There's the painfully dull flashbacks of Arthur learning to use his powers which includes one of the worst acting performances I've ever seen with the kid who plays him as a teenager and the de-aging effects on a wasted Willem Dafoe are truly awful. Which is no excuse seeing as Disney are able to do such amazing jobs on de-aging actors on screen.

I'm not really too sure how I feel about Jason Moama as Aquaman, his "Dude-bro" look and attitude gets very annoying at times, but for the most part he certainly has charisma and manages to more or less carry the basic plot. There's room for improvement here and he definitely shines more than he did in Justice League, but that annoying cocky attitude is still grating. His character arc is also so very basic and uninteresting, boy who doesn't want to be king slowly learns he must take up the responsibility and overthrow the current maniac holding the crown. Yawn.  

For a film with a cast this huge, it was so disappointing to see them all universally wasted. Patrick Wilson is truly awful as the current King of Atlantis/Aquaman's half brother, hamming it up every second he's on screen with some poorly handled motivation. What is up with all these blockbuster films this year with an environmental message? I mean, if you're gonna go that route, at least commit to it, not just have it as some preachy after-thought. The other minor villain "Manta" at least has some decent motivation due to a surprisingly cold, but justified moment from Aquaman in the opening moments of the film. They just don't really do a lot with these character aside from tease him for further films. Oh, and I hated how goofy and stupid his costume looked.

Amber Heard manages to be part of some of the solid action scenes, but really she's just reduced to a predictable and forced love interest that goes exactly where you think it will. It was bizarre to see Dolph Lundgren here too in a small, thankless role. I've seen two big Hollywood films within the space of two weeks with Dolph Lundgren part of the main cast. What year am I living in? Have I time travelled to the '80s? Nicole Kidman rounds off the cast as the lost mother of Aquaman and she's absolutely fine. There's just so little to say about the cast here.

Where Aquaman does at least shine is within James Wan's direction and action scenes. Nothing reaches the insane heights he's reached previously in his career, but the final act here is utterly insane, a vibrant and gorgeous underwater Lord of the Rings filled with weird and interesting creature designs. I just wish the action in the opening 2 hours were as cool as what happens at the end. A lot of action has its moments, but it's let down by some excessive slow-mo, despite flashes of kinetic energy there.

While there is some excellent visual effects and cinematography, there is also a lot of messy CGI that is downright ugly and feels unfinished at times. Seeing as every shot of this film probably has some CGI in it, it must have been a tough job, but they really do bring Atlantis to life and make it work for the most part. It's certainly a lot nice to look that than DC's much more murky and dark films. 


I don't know how Aquaman will hold up on future watches, but for now it's just a brutally overlong, uninspired mess of a film that has some of James Wan's creative action and flourishes, but fails to bring anything new to the genre. More or less another miss from DC, but it's still a lot better than Justice League. 

5/10 Dans

Aquaman is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

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Suicide Squad (2016) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written August 5th, 2016*

"Worst. Heroes. Ever"

Suicide Squad will be a strange beast in terms of cinema for 2016. The first trailer hit and no one was excited, it looked like a boring and lifeless slog. Then we got a second trailer, where the tone had a complete face-lift, we were shown a candy-coloured and fun film that looked to drop that dreary takes itself too seriously problem people seem to have with DC films. Then we arrive to 2 days ago and the reviews dropped and they were poor to say the least. Everyone turned on the film without seeing it and reports came out from the behind the scenes problems. So was this the complete disaster people are saying it is? Well yes and no?

There are two words that describe Suicide Squad in equal measure: Messy and entertaining. The film is a complete mess through and through. A lot of stuff doesn't make sense and a lot of it feels like it was left on the cutting room floor. I feel this is going to be another Batman V Superman situation where we get a much improved cut on the Blu-ray release. Saying this, the film is a hell of a lot of fun, it's one the most entertaining films I've seen all year, alongside Hardcore Henry and Deadpool.

Does a film being purely entertaining mean it's good? No, but I went to have a good time and that's exactly what I got. The problems with it are huge though. If a film reminds you of this years 'Gods of Egypt', then that is a big problem. It is so much fun though, the two hours breezed by and it was a refreshing change of pace from the DCEU's two previous films. I'm beginning to think that the problems are very much studio interference. David Ayer is a trusted director, I've not hated anything he's made yet (I'll even defend Sabotage) and there are glimpses of a truly great film here, it's just bogged down with a lot of crude editing and a truly awful finale.

But the main reason everyone is here is for two reasons: Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and Jared Leto's Joker. They're both fantastic. I fell in love with Harley Quinn based on the trailers and Robbie did an insanely good job and stole the scene whenever she appeared, she was funny, handled action well and she was definitely psychotic. Her performance was anything but subtle, but she did feel like a comic-book character bought to life, which was awesome. The only other point of reference for Harley Quinn for me is the Arkham games and I felt Robbie lived up to that extremely well.

Then we had Jared Leto's Joker. This was the big one. The late Heath Ledger's performance as the Clown Prince of Crime has gone down in history as one of the greatest performances of all-time, which is well earned, he was a true powerhouse. Does Jared Leto match or even top Ledger? Well, no. But he was great. It was hard to tell, as he wasn't in it much, barely scraping in 15 minutes of screen time. He does make the most of every scene he is in though. He was terrifying, his cackle worked and it stayed with me. I was so glad they didn't try and copy Ledger's performance and they did their own thing with it. I loved the look of the character, people complained about the tattoos, but whatever I thought he looked awesome. I was reminded a little of James Franco's role in Spring Breakers at times though. The biggest problem with The Joker was by no means his performance, but what they do with the character. The Joker has no impact on the story of Suicide Squad. He's poorly implemented as a side story to the what the Squad are doing, but his actions have no overall effect on any of the plot. I cannot wait to see what they do with his character in future films, but here... pointless.

We're introduced to the rest of the Suicide Squad several times, which felt so odd. The first act is essentially a montage of introducing these characters, each of the members have their own song. That's another thing, the soundtrack is awesome, especially during the first act, lots of classic rock and whatnot. It just felt weird that we were shown what the character is capable of, alright cool, but instead they decide to show us what they can do again and it's like OK?

For instance when we first meet Will Smith's Deadshot. We see him performance an assassination, showing that he is an incredible shot. Then we're shown this again in an extended scene at a shooting range. I don't know why we had to be shown this twice, we get it, he's a good shot. Did Ayer think the audience was that stupid that we'd forget this information after 20 minutes? It was strange, no other member got this treatment.

That's another strange thing too. I wasn't too sure who the lead character would be in Suicide Squad, but this is very much a Will Smith vehicle. I'm not too fond of Will Smith in all honesty, but he was actually pretty good here. One of his best roles in years. He bought a heart to Suicide Squad that I didn't expect. Sure, it has some cheesy moments, he's doing it for his kid, but it worked and at least added some depth to the character that the rest of the members were sorely lacking.

Which brings me to the rest of the crew, who are utter canon fodder as far as I'm concerned. Jai Courtney gives his best performance to date, but his character is just nothing. A violent Australian who drinks in the middle of a fight. His character does nothing in the finale. The fire one, El Diablo gets a backstory in the form of an expositional talk at a bar that felt unnecessary. Killer Croc is just nothing, his design is awful. The last member of the team is completely wasted, an excuse to show off the explosives planted in their heads. He was essentially the first girl to die Battle Royale to show what the explosive collars did.

On the villain (Well, bigger villains) side of things. Cara Delevingne is awful. When she wasn't The Enchantress she was fine, but when she was, my word was she bad. I had no idea what they were going for. The design of here character was terrible, she looked like the little girl from The Ring wearing a skimpy outfit. The other truly bad guy of the piece, Amanda Waller, was awesome, Viola Davis's performance was more evil and messed up than anything the actual Squad did on screen.

This culminated to an awful and cliche finale. The whole "World destroying portal in the sky" thing has been boring for a while now. And what did Suicide Squad do? Exactly that. Most of the Squad get their moment to shine, one of them has the emotional epiphany and then its over, but not before one of the worst uses of CGI all year. The henchman to Cara Delevingne's Enchantress looks abhorrent, it looks recycled from Gods of Egypt. I cannot believe that this CGI abomination was allowed to make it to the screen. I complained about Doomsday at the end of Batman V Superman, but that looked way more convincing, which is impressive in itself (But not in a good way).


Some minor things that bugged me. This takes place in a post Batman V Superman world. Sure, okay. But where was Batman, The Flash or Wonder Woman during these world ending events of Suicide Squad? I know it's not their film, but if you set it in the same world, it feels weird that they wouldn't be trying to stop in some way. Batman does appear though, with about 3 minutes of screen time, if that. My other complaint, which is isn't the films fault is the age rating. This got slapped with a '15' rating in the UK, which is utter shambles, none of the content in this justifies this at all. I don't understand the BBFC at times, the Ultimate Edition of Batman V Superman is way more violent than this and that still got its 12 rating. So... what the hell?

6/10 Dans

Suicide Squad is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

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