Shazam! is the brightest and sweetest superhero film to come out in years. It is also one of the least ambitious. When superhero films in recent times are tackling things like war on terror and mass surveillance, Shazam! is a warm, funny film about family and the sheer joy of being a superhero.
It centres on Billy Batson (Asher Angel), a 14-year-old kid who is looking for his mother with whom he was separated from when he was a toddler. He keeps running from one foster home only to find himself in another thanks to authorities who insist he will have to stay at one place until he is an adult.
He is settled in one more foster home and asked to give them a chance, but is already looking to run away. In the meanwhile, he gets superpowers from an ancient wizard who says the survival of the world may depend on him proving worthy of those powers.
Mark Strong’s Dr Thaddeus Sivana was rejected by that ancient wizard as a kid and he has spent his whole life uncovering the secrets of magic. When he knows of the existence of Shazam, he confronts the unprepared superhero and demands him to surrender his powers or he will kill his foster family.