Shazam!
Have you ever seen Superman transformed in a phone booth, ever seen a Hulk with a rapid heartbeat, ever seen a superhero who transforms with a shout of incantation?
Eh, this setting is too casual, right?
But don't you say, he's sure to make you laugh like a pig when you watch a movie — DC's latest Introduction to Captain Marvel with its own lightning effects.
▲ Young Billy is played by Arthur Anchi; Shazam is played by Zachary Levy
Captain Marvel? Captain Marvel? How is it a little confusing?
Don't worry, although both english are Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel has long since changed his name to Shazam.
Without him, Marvel Hand Faster.
Marvel registered Captain Marvel's comic book trademark in the 1960s and gained exclusive rights to the name, which forced DC to replace "Captain Marvel", which had been called for 20 years, with "Shazam".
Maybe many people don't know much about this new role, let's talk about it today.
01.
Shazam Origins
Blow a wave of word-of-mouth before you begin, Thunder Shazam! It scored a high score of 8.1 on IMDb, a 73 for the always harsh MTC, and a 94% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
This achievement can be said to hang any film before the DCEU.
Okay, back to the point.
Before the transformation, Shazam was a 15-year-old boy named Billy Batson.
He was an orphan, wandering the subway and the orphanage, seeing the darkness and dirtiness of the world, and growing up alone.
In the trailer, he can be seen coming from an orphanage to a new family and meeting a Freddie Freeman of the same age as him with a leg disability.
It was after Billy came out for Freddy, taught his bullies a lesson, and showed his good and righteous qualities, that he was chosen by the wizard to ride on the subway to the Eternal Stone Castle, and inherited the power of Shazam.
DCEU's film settings are basically taken from the "New 52" series, which is the comic book universe that DC Comics rebooted in 2011.
Thunder Shazam! It is taken from "New 52 Justice League", and it is also in this series of comics that the name "Captain Marvel" is officially abandoned, and those who are interested can first look at this comic.
At first glance, Shazam, tights and capes, and a large yellow lightning logo on the chest, can you think of dc comics giant - Superman?
Not to mention, Shazam also has super powers, flying, bulletproof, and the ability to crush boulders in his chest.
In fact, the birth of Shazam is not unrelated to Superman.
In 1938, Superman comics came out, and it is needless to say how shocking it was, but it redefined the golden age of American comics.
Since then, superheroes have become the most popular comic book genre, DC Marvel is catching up, and other comic book companies are also trying to get a piece of the pie.
Fawcett was one of them, and in 1940, drawing on the image of then-Hollywood actor Fred McMurray, they managed to create a superhero named Captain Marvel. (Originally called Captain Marvelous, later simplified to Captain Marvel)
▲Comb your hair into the shape of an adult
Unexpectedly, Captain Marvel surpassed Superman after his birth, becoming the most popular comic at the time, selling much more than others, and he was the first superhero in history to have a live-action movie.
Since then, DC has obtained the copyright in Shazam, which is another story.
In the DC Comics universe, Shazam is portrayed as a 15-year-old boy named Billy Batson, who was born in Fawcett City and idolized superhuman.
By mistake, Billy is summoned by the wizard's spell to become the heir to the power of Shazam.
The so-called power of Shazam comes from the power of the gods in ancient Greek mythology, and the initials of the names of these gods are spelled together to form the word Shazam.
Specifically: S represents solomon's wisdom, H represents the power of Hercules, A represents Atlas's endurance, Z represents Zeus' divine power, A represents Achilles' courage, and M represents Mercury's speed.
It is these divine powers that give Shazam the superpowers of infinite knowledge, super power, immortality, control of lightning, bravery, super speed, fireproof and bulletproof.
Doesn't he look like he's biting, so is he more biting than Superman?
This question is really difficult to say, depending on the specific situation.
As we all know, Superman's biggest weakness is the Kryptonite, as long as it is stained a little, it can be beaten by Batman to find teeth.
In fact, Superman also has a fatal weakness, that is, the ability to resist magic, that is, the so-called magic resistance is almost zero. This made Superman suffer a lot when fighting the magical department represented by Shazam.
In terms of pure strength, Superman seems to have no limits, always able to defeat one enemy after another, and hot sight and frozen breath are also magic weapons to control enemies. But when encountering a magic attack, there is basically no power to fight back.
This situation has been seen in many previous manga and anime.
In the animated short film "DC Booth: Superman and Shazam's Return of Black Adam", Superman is beaten up by Black Adam, the main villain of the magic department with Shah.
But Shazam is not without weaknesses, in the end his strength comes from magic, without magic he is a mortal flesh.
And Billy can only transform after shouting "Shazam" in its entirety, which means that if you block his mouth at the beginning, or disarm the magic when he transforms, then the story is over.
02.
Characters
Having introduced Shazam, let's talk about the other characters who appear in the film.
First of all, Billy Batson was given magic by the administrator of the Eternal Stone Castle and the survivor of the Magic Cabinet, the wizard Shazam.
▲ Played by Jerman Hansu
He had been around for thousands of years before he met Billy, and his eternal mission was to fight the evil of the world represented by the Seven Deadly Sins.
Due to a self-inflicted mistake, the wizard is defeated by a demon created by his own hands, and the wizarding world is destroyed.
This demon is Shazam's most formidable enemy, Black Adam.
Black Adam and Shazam are like the opposites of magic, one toward evil and one toward good, and the way they transform is to shout "Shazam". The difference is that Billy's power comes from the ancient Greek gods, and Adam the Black comes from the ancient Egyptian gods.
Originally planned that Black Adam would appear as an anti-one in Thunder Shazam! ", but later decided to shoot a single film first, after all, to let Dwayne Johnson play, the box office appeal is there.
Without Black Adam, the second villain, Dr. Shivana, was on top.
Don't underestimate this unknown person, Dr. Shivana was born in 1940 with Shazam and Black Adam, the elder figure of the "Shazam" comic.
▲ Played by Mark Strong, the actor of Merlin in "The King"
The Doctor's appearance is also quite restored, except that in the comics, his right eye is struck by lightning when he unlocks the seal of Black Adam to gain magic, and in the movie, it is most likely related to the wizard.
Despite this, Dr. Shivana also retains a Luthor-style hairstyle and is obsessed with magical research, but his combat effectiveness is almost negligible.
However, in order to look good, this time "Thunder Shazam! " gave him superpowers, not to mention, it seems that he did not lose the power of Shazam's six gods.
▲Is this mirror familiar?
To know that Shazam ≈ Superman, if Dr. Shivana can draw with Shazam, then that means that Dr. Shivana ≈ Superman? That's awesome.
But you can't say that.
No matter how strong and intelligent Shazam is, his mind is still a 15-year-old cynical boy.
Just like the virtual bamboo has sucked the internal strength of Wuyazi, Tianshan Tongmao and Li Qiushui, playing Ding Chunqiu makes the milk strength almost not win.
This is the common problem of novices with insufficient experience and lack of running-in, and there is no difference in the whole world.
Billy knew everything about magic, but he couldn't understand it; he had the combined abilities of Superman, but he didn't have the good hands like Batman, and it was naturally difficult to fight the bad guys, let alone in the fact that he hadn't yet figured out his full abilities.
When it comes to exploring their own superpowers, no one helps Freddie Freeman the most.
▲ Played by Jack Dylan Glazer
After escaping from foster homes six times, Billy is adopted for the seventh time, and in the new home, he meets Freddy, a boy his age with a leg disability.
There's nothing special about this boy, except his infatuation with superheroes.
Because he was often bullied at school, he admired the power of superheroes, or hoped that a superhero would protect him.
Then, the hero really appeared.
But this hero is a bit unreliable, doesn't know anything, and looks like an IQ is in arrears.
Because of his immature mind, he often makes big messes.
Destroying public property and endangering the lives of melon-eating masses, in any case, it is not light or heavy.
And Freddy, as Billy's good friend and mentor, and the person who knows superheroes best, is naturally the most important person for Billy.
In addition to Freddy, Billy joined the new family with four other small members, and the names are not introduced one by one.
Interestingly, they all got Shazam's power in the comics and formed a team called the "Shazam Family".
03.
Movies with Easter eggs
"Thunder Shazam" will not be a serious super British movie, because from the trailer you can feel its strong sand sculpture temperament.
It feels like you're watching a live-action superhero movie, but a Lego movie.
There are also many reviews, saying "Thunder Shazam! "" is the most childish one in the category of superhero films.
This may be because the entire film revolves around Shazam's dual identity to unfold the storyline.
It's like the first time you transformed, you have the appearance of an adult, but your thinking and actions are as frizzy and frivolous as a 15-year-old teenager.
Growing up overnight, the first thing I want to think about is to experience the 18 prohibitions.
Of course, it wasn't Yellow Storm (who first thought of these two words, wall-to-face thought about the past), but Billy, at Freddy's instigation, went to the store and bought a few cans of beer.
While constantly groping for superpowers, the playful love of the pendulum is constantly revealed.
But there are often moths.
Manipulating the current to charge the mobile phone of the passerby, the result is that the mobile phone of others is blown up;
I thought I could jump over the building like Superman, but it turned out to be a little bit worse, and finally crashed into the building.
The most dangerous thing is to accidentally hit a bus when it shows superpowers, causing it to fall out of control from the viaduct.
Although Shazam caught the crashing bus, Freddy criticized him mercilessly: You almost killed a carload of people.
Like Superman, they are both a hope and a threat to the average person.
Here in Shazam, he always faces various crises with a playful mentality, and how to be a superhero is his first lesson.
DC played a beautiful turnaround battle with "Aquaman", and director Wen Ziren was of course indispensable.
Perhaps it is the skill of the horror film director, and then the new line to catch the masterpiece "After the Lights Off" David F. Sandberg, directing "Thunder Shazam! 》
Needless to say, stepping on this kind of thing horror film directors are really talented.
The way the film presents comedic effects is to dissolve the seriousness, anti-tradition, and spit.
After Billy transformed into Shazam, he always wanted to show himself with superpowers, but often ended up making jokes.
Thinking that superheroes are always invincible, they are easily caught by the villain when they punch; when the villain passionately recites the declaration, which should be the most serious atmosphere, shazam complains that the two are too far away to hear.
And, unlike Aquaman, which almost silently doesn't mention the DCEU, Thunder Shazam! "" is full of Easter eggs for Superman and Batman.
First of all, Freddy's T-shirt, from Aquaman, Batman, to Wonder Woman, there is no Freddy has not worn.
Did you think I forgot Superman, look down.
This is followed by various peripherals, all kinds of handmade dolls, souvenirs, newspapers and periodicals in Freddy's room.
For example, bat darts:
Bullets that have hit Superman and a whole bunch of newspapers about Superman:
Batman's toys and Superman children's clothing in the store:
It's a big cargo scene.
In addition to the visible Easter eggs, Thunder Shazam! It also pays homage to a Man of Steel.
Like saving a bus and learning how to fly, the air battle between Shazam and Dr. Shivana also has a visual sense of Superman vs. General Zod.
There is also Freddy spit on Shazam, almost as cool as Superman.
After all, Billy's idol is Superman.
Billy and Freddy make small talk and say that all superheroes can fly, and there's no doubt that this is absolutely, absolutely, definitely aimed at the old man.
What's a cool superpower to talk to a fish? The sea king laughed and said nothing.
In fact, after a deep understanding of Shazam, a character with little popularity in China, you can understand why Shazam comics were more popular than Superman comics at the beginning of their birth.
Because it offers a possibility.
Even if you are in a dark and dirty world, as long as you have good intentions and a strong heart.
Miracles will always happen to you.
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