Move over Wonder Woman, the DCEU has a new saviour and oddly enough it's a 14 year old. Back in 2010 Kick-Ass answered the question of what would happen if a regular dude tried to be a superhero. This movie shows us how things would turn out if superpowers were given to a kid. What do they have in common? Mark Strong. This is easily the most family-friendly superhero flick across any of the cinematic universes. You get a heartwarming tale about a young boy finding a family with the action and humor on average being more wholesome than the typical film of this ilk. It follows the Marvel formula by making comedy a big part of the experience, but I'd argue it does so in a more natural manner than the MCU. It rarely feels like it's forcing the jokes into each scene. Rather the laughters occurs naturally thanks to David Sandberg portraying the kids as just being kids, albeit in a highly unique situation. I really like how this serves solely as an introduction to the character(s) as it allows the film to stay very tight and focused on the story at hand without getting too bogged down in years of history from the comics. That being said I am left excited by the brief glimpses we were given into all the potential expansion this hero can bring to the DCEU and look forward to seeing his lore explored in sequels. I absolutely love the cast. Zachary Levi is great at capturing that boy trapped in a man's body energy, Jack Dylan Grazer is a gem, Faithe Herman might be the cutest kid alive right now, and Strong makes for a memorable antagonist. His Dr. Sivana might not be any more fleshed out than any other supervillain to grace the bigscreen over the past few years, but he certainly is menacing. Personally, I think he rivals Thanos in terms of fear factor. Shazam! in now way breaks from the superhero movie mold. If anything it's the DC movie that most closely follows the formula established by Marvel's success. Yet, the fact that this character is a fresh face that brings his own unique and exciting possibilities is enough for it to overcome that. It also doesn't hurt that it's so warmhearted and high-spirited.