At San Diego Comic-Con today, DC unveiled a surprise first look at another of its upcoming superhero films, Shazam!, which will star Zachary Levi as the film’s titular superhero. It’s a surprisingly funny-looking film, which feels like it’s just what DC needs to get away from the dark and grim image that its franchise has been saddled with.
The trailer introduces us to Billy Batson, a kid who’s introduced to a new foster family and school. After fighting off a couple of bullies, he’s chosen by a wizard called Shazam, who tells him that if he utters his name, he’ll gain superpowers. He does, and he abruptly turns into an adult hero. Think Big, but with superpowers — he works on trying to figure out what his powers are — zapping people’s phones to charge them and discovers that he’s bullet proof. It looks like a surprisingly funny and zany superhero film, which will be a huge turn from the incredibly grim DC films like Man of Steel and Batman V. Superman.
The character is the first to be introduced that wasn’t part of that initial batch of heroes in Justice League, which makes a bit of sense: DC has pulled back from its more ambitious overarching Expanded Universe in favor of films that are a bit more standalone following the success of Wonder Woman. While that means that the character isn’t as readily recognizable to filmgoing audiences, Marvel has certainly demonstrated in the last decade that it can maintain a superhero franchise with characters that audiences aren’t as familiar with, like Ant-Man or Iron Man. DC and Warner Bros. is undoubtably hoping that standalone films featuring these types of characters will bring the same success to its own, beleaguered series.
Shazam opens on April 19th, 2019.
Kalau kamu pembaca setia Duniaku.net , mungkin kamu sudah baca daftar superhero yang bisa menghentikan Superman kalau dia mengamuk.
Shazam adalah salah satu nama yang tercantum di sana. Tak mengherankan, mengingat Shazam sebenarnya memiliki semua kekuatan Superman. Dia juga punya sihir pula.
Masalahnya hanya pengguna kekuatan Shazam, Billy Batson, adalah anak-anak. Jadi dia bisa melakukan kesalahan khas anak-anak.
Nah, sepertinya kamu akan bisa melihat sendiri seperti apa kekuatan Shazam. Trailer Shazam telah dirilis, menampilkan tokoh yang sesuai dengan penggambarannya biasanya di komik.
Trailer Shazam ini sendiri benar-benar terbalik dari trailer Titans kemarin, yang sangat dark dan edgy .
Awal trailer menceritakan kisah Billy Batson, anak yatim piatu yang baru saja mendapat keluarga asuh baru. (Dia melarikan diri dari keluarga asuh sebelumnya).
Keluarga terbaru yang menampungnya ini tampaknya baik. Di trailer , dia langsung dekat dengan saudara asuhnya, yakni Freddy Freeman.
Di trailer ini, Freddy diperlihatkan diserang oleh sekumpulan bully. Billy ada indikasi hendak mengabaikan mereka, namun lalu menggunakan alat bantu jalan Freddy untuk menghajar para bully .
Billy harus melarikan diri, namun ia dengan lincah dapat lolos ke stasiun kereta bawah tanah, meninggalkan para bully . Namun itu justru baru awal dari kariernya sebagai pahlawan super.
Kereta yang dinaiki Billy berhenti di gua Shazam, sang penyihir. Sepertinya Shazam telah melihat apa yang Billy lakukan ke para bully yang menindas Freddy, jadi dia pun dipilih untuk menjadi pahlawan super baru.
Satu-satunya yang perlu Billy lakukan hanyalah menyebut nama Shazam, dan kekuatan pun mengalirinya.
Masalahnya satu: ada indikasi kalau Shazam sang penyihir tidak mengajarkan Billy apa yang bisa ia lakukan.
Freddy pada akhirnya yang membantu Billy untuk mempelajari kekuatan apa saja yang ia miliki.
Di trailer ini, Billy menyadari dirinya punya kekuatan untuk menghancurkan pilar beton, tubuh yang anti-peluru, dan kemampuan untuk melompat tinggi. (Dia belum diperlihatkan bisa terbang).
Dia juga bisa mengeluarkan listrik, yang tadinya ia gunakan untuk membantu charge ponsel orang namun ujung-ujungnya meledakkan satu ponsel yang ia coba beri daya.
Musuh Billy juga diperlihatkan di trailer ini. Dia adalah si botak, Sivana.
Tampaknya bukan sekedar genius, Sivana versi film juga memiliki kekuatan super. Dia mampu menahan pukulan dari Shazam, mengejutkan sang pahlawan.
Nah, itulah pembahasan singkat mengenai trailer Shazam .
Warner Bros. just dropped the SDCC teaser trailer for Shazam online moments ago. And the verdict? Well, it looks like a lot of silly fun. The concept seems to be essentially "Big, but with superpowers," which may be enough to make it more than "just a superhero flick." I am impressed at how it is clearly a lighter, campier and more kid-friendly action comedy while still clearly taking place in Zack Snyder's established DC Universe. And David F. Sandberg seems to be channeling the family melodrama that worked so well for Lights Out, albeit with a slightly different tone.
Of the various upcoming DC Films movies, this is probably the most challenging. Why? Well, because Shazam is not a terribly well-known character to general audiences. And since he's not by-himself a global icon like Wonder Woman or Superman, at least part of the sell will have to be "another superhero from the DC Films universe." That would be great if DC Films was a super-trustworthy brand. But, if anything, the opposite is true. Yes, Wonder Woman kicked butt and Zack Snyder's first two Superman movies have their merits (and defenders), but saying "from the studio that brought you Justice League and Suicide Squad" isn't the best sell.
And it won't help that Walt Disney is opening Captain Marvel just a month prior to Shazam, as I would imagine the MCU's first female-led solo superhero flick will get a lot more free ink than this comparatively less event-y superhero movie. And if Disney decides to move Avengers 4 up to late April, well, that has to be something keeping the WB executives up at night. Nonetheless, this does look like good fun, a kind of superhero movie for a time when Sky High was considered as good as it got for kid-targeted superhero adventures.
That it looks and feels different enough from Dawn of Justice AND Wonder Woman AND Aquaman is encouraging for the idea of making these films stand-alone biggies that have a loose connection to a trilogy of Zack Snyder Superman flicks. And if Wonder Woman 1984 kicks ass yet again, plus (miracles can happen) that Todd Phillips Joker movie turns out to be at least halfway decent, well, then the 2020 SDCC panel will be singing a very different tune.
But that's a long way off. For now, it is beyond ironic that Warner Bros. is offering Aquaman and Shazam at the 2018 SDCC panel, five years after they shot themselves in the foot by announcing Batman v Superman instead of Man of Steel 2. Long story short, the tone of Aquaman and Shazam seems to resemble what Man of Steel probably would have been in the first place, and what audiences indeed wanted from their big superhero comic book flicks.
Shazam, starring Zack Levi as Shazam, Asher Ange as Billy Batson, and Mark Strong as (the wonderfully named) Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, opens April 5, 2019. I can't wait to see the R-rated "ultimate cut" of this one.
