If you don’t want a read a damn essay then skip this post💀.

With the cynicism and overt criticism surrounding this film a part of me was a little scared that the criticism for this movie was deserved because I liked the first Shazam and I really wanted to like the 2nd one. I just came out of the theatre a few hours ago and I can honestly say that I actually had a blast watching this and really enjoyed it. It’s a fun popcorn flick. While this move isn’t a masterpiece by any means, it delivered on what it was sold to be; a family friendly fun action packed very funny superhero film, I enjoyed it heavily! Hot take but it’s actually now one of my favourite DCEU Films now.

It sucks that WB is pretty much sending this out to die right now because I really liked getting to know these characters more in this film and seeing their dynamics play out more.

The movie definitely would’ve been received better if it came last year like it was supposed to before all the string of more mediocre superhero content came out to really taint people’s opinion on superhero films that don’t push the envelope or try newer things. Also would’ve probably benefitted from having Black Adam show up and be the villain (but we all know why that never happened) or at least have a Sivana and Mr Mind payoff.

I definitely feel like the criticism for this movie was overblown. Is this story a little generic? Yes! But not every movie needs to be some revolutionary thing like TDK or Endgame. Some people are just setting high standards because they want to be disappointed and have a reason to be pissed at something. I really wouldn’t say this is mediocre? A little generic and silly? Sure but not mediocre at least in my opinion. Though I don’t believe in superhero fatigue as a whole, I do feel like a vocal group of people are dealing with personal fatigue with the superhero genre and just want more from superhero movies since the market is oversaturated and overexposed.

The over-saturation is definitely a major factor with as to why movie is getting so much shit (obviously there are other factors which do include valid criticisms) because simply it’s not pushing the envelope but not every superhero movie needs to do that! Some of these movies like action films are just meant to be fun and an escape from reality. But also considering where DC is right now I think some people had a little hope that despite the Shazam franchise being mainly known for it’s fun nature hoped it could help ease some sort of fatigue and give hope for the DCU going forward by bringing something more innovative (it left me hopeful anyway even though it won’t be an important player moving forward).

I’m also not saying Shazam can’t try different things and push the envelope but just because it doesn’t do that necessarily, doesn’t mean it’s a bad film. In addition to some people saw no point in watching or enjoying this film because of the likely chance that it’ll go nowhere in the overall DCU story moving forward. Sorry to be a broken record but while some of the criticism and amount of people disliking the movie are completely valid in how they’ feel (as some people just want more from Shazam and superhero movies in general). I do think some people are just being cynical and want it to fail because of the unsure state of the DCU and their own personal fatigue with superhero genre as I said before

I personally look at the superhero genre more expansively than Westerns as they’re often compared to, I really don’t think the superhero genre will ever die out. It’s been nearly a century of constant superhero content in various medias being promoted and it hasn’t completely died out yet so I don’t see it ever dying any time soon especially as long as kids exist. The genre is diverse enough to keep going, sometimes not as strong as other periods it has done well in but it’ll do fine no matter what as a whole.

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