Shazam!: reviews

What the critics say average 7.7 from 12 outlets

• 9.0 VarietyOwen Gleiberman A light, funny, grounded, engagingly unpretentious sleight-of-hand action comedy Read
• 9.0 The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck Proves so determinedly ebullient you begin to think they're pumping laughing gas into the auditorium. The most kid-friendly DC movie so far, the film is thoroughly entertaining. Read
• 8.3 IndiewireDavid Ehrlich This heartfelt origin story is more than the sum of its immense charm and Spielbergian attention to detail Read
• 8.3 The PlaylistRuss Fischer It is bright and colorful, both visually and emotionally, in the way that DC movies had not been prior to 'Wonder Woman' and 'Aquaman'. Read
• 8.0 The WrapAlonso Duralde This new DC entry has a lovely lightness, both in the visuals and in its tone. Read
• 8.0 Screen CrushMatt Singer It?s warm and sentimental about blended families, and it sincerely believes in the importance of being a hero and doing the right thing. It?s got plenty of goofy kid-gets-to-play-superhero-for-real humor. And other than some friction between Levi and Asher?s performances, it all works Read
• 8.0 EmpireKim Newman 'Shazam!' makes clever decisions, mixing middle school snark with disarming sweetness. Read
• 8.0 Rolling StonePeter Travers This breezy, funny entry keeps things light with a hilarious and heartfelt package of nonstop kid-friendly kick-ass. Read
• 7.5 Entertainment WeeklyChris Nashawaty Shazam! is basically two movies in one. One with Levi and his wiseass foster brother (a fresh Jack Dylan Grazer), the other with Strong and all his snarling, computer-generated gobbledygook. And they both have the other in a headlock, wrestling for the soul of the story. I loved one, yawned through the other Read
• 7.5 The VergeKeith Phipps [Shazam] might be one of the simplest superheroes ever created, but 'Shazam!' both gets what makes that simplicity so appealing, and understands the complications stirred by the common wish to grow up too fast and assume powers you don?t know how to control. Read
• 6.0 The GuardianBenjamin Lee It?s a film in need of a tighter edit with a script in need of a sharper polish, an imperfect franchise-launcher that nonetheless represents significant progress for DC Read
• 5.0 Screen DailyTim Grierson A mixed bag that doesn?t quite work - it?s too jokey, and too tonally erratic - and yet there?s real sweetness, as well as a genuine attempt to not just be another comic-book movie. Read