Shazam!

I really enjoyed this movie. It started off a bit depressing since the main character is a boy who got lost at a carnival and has spent years trying to track her down. He's jumped from foster home to foster home and never settled down and found a family. Then he gets picked up by two foster parents who were foster kids themselves. They run a group home, and everyone there is a family. Billy just doesn't get it, and most of this movie is him working through all of those emotions. Even after getting the powers of Shazam, he still thinks of himself as a loner. This causes a lot of angst between Billy and Freddie. Ultimately he gets closure because the other foster kids help him find his birth mom, who (surprise twist) chose to let him get lost at the carnival, and left him by himself. This hits him quite hard, but he finally realizes who is his true family. Overall it was a heart warming movie that was quite light-hearted. The 7 deadly sins that get released by the "super villain" are very frightening, and there is a super horrific scene when Dr Sivana unleashes them on his father, brother, and the board members of their family company. Other than that though the movie is pretty kid-friendly. I thought the casting was well done. I especially liked how they cast the (spoiler) "hero" versions of all the other actors. They truly looked like that could be them all grown up. An interesting thought I had relating this movie back to Christianity: - The wizard "Shazam" is trying to find "one with a pure heart" to take over his mantle and defend everyone from the "7 Deadly Sins". - But literally everyone he brings in to test gives in to their temptations. - Ultimately because Dr Sivana sets them all free, he must choose *someone* to replace him and he tells Billy, "you're all I have left", and gives him his power. - Is Billy pure of heart? No. Not at all. - Everyone is tempted by the sins. They all falter. The difference for Billy is that he has the power of Shazam to help him resist their temptations. - It's likely a weak analogy, but this feels like us and the Holy Spirit. - We are unable to withstand the temptations of sin on our own, but with the power of the Holy Spirit we won't always be able to withstand, but we at least have a fighting chance now. Anyway, I enjoyed the movie a lot more than I thought I would.