I was able to see a sneak preview of this movie on Saturday (it comes out on April 5). Because I want to pad my review with some fluff, here's some backstory:
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In 1939, Fawcett Comics created the character Captain Marvel. A young boy, Billy Batson, is given super powers by a wizard. He is granted the wisdom of
Solomon, the strength of
Hercules, the stamina of
Atlas, the power of
Zeus, the courage of
Achilles, and the speed of
Mercury whenever he says the wizard's name: Shazam! The Captain Marvel comic was one of the top-selling comics of the '40s, outselling even Superman.
However, (what is today known as) DC Comics sued Fawcett Comics, claiming that Captain Marvel was a ripoff of Superman. The case went to trial in 1948 and the process played out over the next four years, with DC winning in 1952. With Captain Marvel sales faltering in the '50s, Fawcett decided to settle during the appeals process, and agreed to stop all future publication of Captain Marvel while also paying DC $400k in damages.
In 1967, Marvel Comics created their "Captain Marvel": an alien soldier named Mar-Vell. Because Fawcett had stopped publishing their Captain Marvel in the early '50s, Marvel Comics was able to obtain the trademark for their new "Captain Marvel" comic. With the explosion in comic book popularity in the late '60s, in 1972, DC decided to buy the rights to the old Captain Marvel character from Fawcett and start publishing a new Captain Marvel series; however, because Marvel Comics had a current trademark on Captain Marvel comics, DC had to change the name of the comic book to "Shazam!" (even though the character was still named Captain Marvel).
Meanwhile, Marvel Comics ended up killing off
their Captain Marvel in 1982 - one of the few comic book characters ever who has stayed dead after dying, because he died of cancer and You Don't Come Back From Cancer. But in order to keep their trademark, they have to publish a new Captain Marvel comic every few years. Carol Danvers, the star of the recent Captain Marvel movie, is the seventh "Captain Marvel" in the Marvel Comics universe, although it looks like they've made it permanent this time (she took the name in 2012). And on the DC side, while they did the dance of the "Shazam!" comic starring Captain Marvel for decades, in 2012 DC decided to end it and simply rename the character Shazam. So after 50 years of confusion, there is finally just one Captain Marvel: Carol Danvers. But in one sense, we did kind of get two Captain Marvel movies within a month of each other.
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And now for the review!
This movie is going to make SO. MUCH. MONEY. It's basically DC's version of Deadpool, but family friendly: the humor is on point and Zachary Levi carries the film. They didn't tie it in to the other DC movies, as that entire project has basically gone up in flames. And that's a shame: between Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam, DC is starting to build up something that could lead into the kind of shared universe that they are lusting after. Too bad they let Zack Snyder kill the baby in the crib!
Anyway, I think it's a great movie to take your kids to see. Unless you
absolutely hate superhero movies, you'll have a good time. There isn't the kind of "Who's that guy? What are they talking about? What's that thing?" dynamic you get from the extensive back catalogue of Marvel movies, so you can just go in, watch the movie, and have a good time.
In short, I'd say it's like either a family-friendly version of Deadpool, or a funnier version of Ant-Man. It's probably not the
best movie DC has made, but it's definitely the most fun. I'd give it an A-.
Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uilJZZ_iVwY
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