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Daddy Thanos posted:The best part of the Snyder films was when Pa Kent says "you are my son" and Shazam is basically making that line into a whole movie, so I'm sure all the Snyder fans will love it. Just kidding The reaction across the board for Shazam has been very positive. There are Snyder fans in this very thread who have praised it. Nice try.
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Apr 11, 2019 04:51
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Detective No. 27 posted:The reaction across the board for Shazam has been very positive. There are Snyder fans in this very thread who have praised it. Nice try. A surprise, but a welcome one
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Apr 11, 2019 04:52
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Shazam reminds me a lot of 90s "adventure" movies and I think it's because a lot of the techniques it uses have fallen by the wayside since then. Like the simple but effective internal symbology (carnival prizes, Sivana's glasses), the imagery of a cave that leads to another world, the overall emphasis on the sets, the daddy issues, and even the soundtrack
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Apr 12, 2019 00:31
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garycoleisgod posted:Are other parts of the Marvel world bigger to fit Wakanda and Latveria? genosha/savage lands/madripoor/monster island
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Apr 12, 2019 19:36
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I liked Shazam. Like Man of Steel, it's a very sincere movie whose tone is in service of its theme, and the driving conflict is ultimately a sort of challenge to its own optimism. Billy got Shazam's power without even being tested; he was just the first person that the seeking spell brought to the Rock of Eternity after Sivana had paid a visit to it. And all throughout the running time, it's suggesting - will he fall short? He's hardly pure of heart. It makes a point of having him indulge in each of the seven deadly sins before he does anything to help anybody. Certainly he's got the strength to stop the monsters - his predecessor did too, after all - but what he's really presented with is a moral challenge, and one that he clearly struggles with. In the eyes of the wizard, it's something everyone struggles with. Who, in possession of ultimate power, would not simply do as they saw fit? Who would not be tempted? Did you think Man of Steel was the only DC Cinematic Universe film to make a direct reference to Plato's The Republic? Guess again, rear end in a top hat: Freddy's bit about people preferring the power of invisibility is taken straight from the legend of the Ring of Gyges, which is about how people will do evil if they can get away with it, and ultimately become enslaved to their own vices. It ain't very subtle, folks. But if it takes a Superman to use power in an enlightened way, where does that leave us Billys? Even Black Adam, whom they chose because they thought he was the best guy ever, simply in seeking to punish evil unilaterally ultimately unleashed a greater evil. That was the model of power that the wizards believed in: that with great power comes great isolation. Like Sivana, they stand apart from the world and in callous judgment of it, jealously guarding their privilege; and, like Billy, trusting no one and desperately seeking some perfect person to unite with. Billy is given trust (although it is an accident that he is), and in his own time that inspires him to respond to disappointment by trusting in people as he finds them. He can succeed in containing the Sins where the wizard failed because he stops giving people impossible tests. He shares what he has, and this togetherness, this love, satisfies the otherwise unsatisfiable emptiness within that the Sins might fill. There's some stuff in there about Sivana and about Billy's biomom, but it's getting pretty late here. Sivana didn't do a whole lot of mad science, and despite recurrent family motifs they didn't show his own amazing children, but hey, he's still free at the end, and working with Mister Mind no less. He still has the potential to be a fun one. And I do think they kept around his most distinctive attribute: his audacity.
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Apr 13, 2019 08:49
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Yeah this is gonna be my favorite of the DCU movies so far. It was pretty solid for most of it, but really I think the big Marvel family intro sealed it for me. Like I saw earlier that there was a Mary, and Darla was a bit like Jeff Smith's version of Mary in Monster Society of Evil, so I was like "Okay they're laying the groundwork for this, maybe in a sequel..." but nope, instant Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel and some others since nobody has a superhero name yet. All of them running around in the climax was so much fun. Especially Darla meeting Santa. There's definitely a good old-school kid's adventure movie vibe to this, 80s as well as 90s (obviously Big is an influence.) Not in a way that's just pandering to nostalgia, though, it's more just aware of the traditions of the genre and building on those conventions to tell its own story.
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Apr 14, 2019 06:01
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I do like origin story bits where superheroes actually take the time to figure out what their superpowers are, what they can and can't do, and their altered nature through experimentation and more or less the scientific method. It seems like something that people would actually do once the initial rush wears off, and it's quite sensible as well as providing exposition and jokes.
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Apr 14, 2019 06:27
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Bongo Bill posted:I liked Shazam. Like Man of Steel, it's a very sincere movie whose tone is in service of its theme, and the driving conflict is ultimately a sort of challenge to its own optimism. Billy got Shazam's power without even being tested; he was just the first person that the seeking spell brought to the Rock of Eternity after Sivana had paid a visit to it. And all throughout the running time, it's suggesting - will he fall short? He's hardly pure of heart. It makes a point of having him indulge in each of the seven deadly sins before he does anything to help anybody. Certainly he's got the strength to stop the monsters - his predecessor did too, after all - but what he's really presented with is a moral challenge, and one that he clearly struggles with. Hold on when did he do envy?
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Apr 14, 2019 06:29
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My favourite little thing in this is when Billy dumps his food out and Freddy dumps everything, tray included. It's little things like that that really engage me
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Apr 15, 2019 15:55
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Daddy Thanos posted:Hold on when did he do envy? I think you could argue he envied real families with real moms, but that may be a stretch. I'd say its more fitting as his personal sin than any of the others, which makes him even more a mirror of Sivana.
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Apr 15, 2019 16:15
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The Bee posted:I think you could argue he envied real families with real moms, but that may be a stretch. I'd say its more fitting as his personal sin than any of the others, which makes him even more a mirror of Sivana. Envy was when he was talking with Mary when she got her college acceptance letter. He envied how close she was with her family, and just rubbed it off as "families are for people who can't take care of themselves" and ran away.
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Apr 15, 2019 20:30
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I was gonna say, I can't remember specific examples but I find it hard to believe there wasn't a single shot of him looking wistfully at a child with their mother or something similar over the course of the movie given his story arc.
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Apr 15, 2019 20:38
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i thought i was jaded and cynical and above getting hype over after-credit teasers and then these fuckers go and pull out mr. mind!!! really enjoyed the movie, super earnest and committed to the ridiculous concepts they're playing with
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Apr 16, 2019 00:18
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Ghost Leviathan posted:I do like origin story bits where superheroes actually take the time to figure out what their superpowers are, what they can and can't do, and their altered nature through experimentation and more or less the scientific method. It seems like something that people would actually do once the initial rush wears off, and it's quite sensible as well as providing exposition and jokes. It's a shame he did not discover his greatest power, doing the thinking pose to gain high level intellect and wisdom. (Which presumably would also teach him how to use his powers properly.)
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Apr 16, 2019 03:31
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I do love that difference between him and Superman. Superman can read an entire worth of books in a minute if he wanted to gain knowledge. Shazam just goes into a thinking pose.
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Apr 16, 2019 03:40
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So since the wizard went Last Crusade on him, how IS Billy going to connect the dots on his powers, he figured out power of Zeus, speed of Mercury, and strength of Hercules. What's going to trigger stamina of Atlas? What will lead him to finally discovering that, oh yeah, he has smarts due to Solomon's wisdom?
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Apr 16, 2019 04:07
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Aces High posted:So since the wizard went Last Crusade on him, how IS Billy going to connect the dots on his powers, he figured out power of Zeus, speed of Mercury, and strength of Hercules. What's going to trigger stamina of Atlas? What will lead him to finally discovering that, oh yeah, he has smarts due to Solomon's wisdom? Normally he accesses it when he does the thinking pose. So if he even happens to do that while transformed, he may figure out, "Hey I just suddenly knew a bunch of stuff when I put my hand to my chin." Stamina of Atlas is pretty easy, he does not get tired and it's near impossible to hurt him.
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Apr 16, 2019 04:41
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Here are the descriptions of his traditional powers. quote:Wisdom of Solomon: Billy has access to a vast amount of scholarly knowledge. He possesses excellent mental acuity and nearly infallible wisdom, including an innate understanding of virtually all known languages and sciences, and has a photographic memory and perfect recall, being able retain full knowledge of all he experiences with perfect clarity. From this, he can read and decipher any coding, solve long mathematical equations instantaneously, and make intuitive guesses based on limited data, which are almost always correct. He also has a great understanding of divine phenomena in the mortal world, an uncanny awareness of his circumstances akin to clairvoyance that lets him turn disadvantages into advantages, and can provide counseling and advice in times of need. In some stories, this power also gives him the ability to hypnotize people.
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Apr 16, 2019 04:49
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This just buries in how loving lovely Shazam was in that he literally could've said to do the pose and that will answer everything but he was too dumb to even do that. Assuming that's a power in the DC movie canon at least.
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Apr 16, 2019 05:04
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Shazam (the wizard, not the movie) is my rear end
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Apr 16, 2019 15:34
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Detective No. 27 posted:The reaction across the board for Shazam has been very positive. There are Snyder fans in this very thread who have praised it. Nice try. Yup. Im a massive Snyder fan, went to the BvS screening he did and met him and everything. Loved this movie. Hated Aquaman. As the post a few above laid out, it absolutely fits in with the general idea of what made Snyders movies interesting to me. The way it handled tone and themes worked really well for what the movie was. Humor was pretty eh sometimes but it landed a lot of really solid gags and jokes I loved. All in all, what I enjoy about DC movies has always been seeing aspects of humanity explored through God like beings/heroes and earning and testing their pathos. Even though this movie takes a very light approach to this idea in contrast to Snyders, it still did it and built the movie around that. I really am sad we wont get to see them introduce a charachter like this into the more intense high stakes plans Snyder wanted to set up. It works so much better than Aquaman and Flashes humor that comes across as really forced in JL. It would be a great balance and a lot of fun adding his humor into it all in the end.
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Apr 17, 2019 08:42
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Considering the theme of this movie and how important family seems to be in Snyder's actual life, I think he would've done great stuff with the Marvel family
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Apr 17, 2019 22:14
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Or he'd have Sivana snap Billy's neck for realism.
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Apr 17, 2019 23:05
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The "I'm a Foster Parent, What's Your Superpower" bumper sticker 100% got me. And, of course, that whole dynamic is a continuation of the wonderful "you are my son" moment in Man of Steel with Jonathan Kent as an adoptive father.
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Apr 17, 2019 23:17
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Aces High posted:Considering the theme of this movie and how important family seems to be in Snyder's actual life, I think he would've done great stuff with the Marvel family Not as great as directors who are literally brothers
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Apr 18, 2019 00:09
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Shazam's theme is so good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09ZGW0uBdc0&t=44s
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Apr 20, 2019 06:39
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teagone posted:Shazam's theme is so good: Yeah it is. It's got that sense of wonder, adventure and tenderness you'd find in a classic Spielberg movie
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Apr 20, 2019 16:04
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I love Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman. I also really loving love Shazam! It's the first superhero movie I've been excited to see since Josstice League broke me. I had a fan theory that BvS was so dark because of the Anti-Life equation and Darkseid coming to conquer Earth, Lex Luthor being replaced by Desaad, and Superman's corpse being boom tubed from his grave to Apokolips in order to be resurrected as Darkseid's pawn. I figured the darkness would abate once the JL beat Darkseid. Needless to say, neither Snyder nor Whedon had that idea, DC pivoted and abandoned Snyder's take, and I will forever mourn what could have been. I was looking forward to Shazam! because I have a soft spot in my heart for The Big Red Cheese. He's a simple hero who does good for goodness' sake, and that's something you don't see in the angsty, grimdark, anti-hero craze, or you only get it with snark and twee dialog. Zachary Levi loving nailed the goofiness of a kid with the powers and appearance of a superhero. I laughed so hard when he finally has to fight Sivana, and just runs into a toy room and starts hurling stuffed animals at Sivana. Also, I loving loved seeing him assemble the Marvel family to fight the Seven Deadly Sins, and I look forward to Mister Mind and Dr. Sivana teaming up in future films. The one thing I wish they did was not try so hard to make teen Billy "too cool for school." All the other foster kids were perfect, from nerdy Freddy to adorable Darla. I also enjoyed seeing the Sins demolish the Sivana Corp board, lol
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May 1, 2019 21:40
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Finally saw this movie, really only because it would be more lighthearted. I thought the scene where he gives all his adopted brothers and sisters powers was pretty good.
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May 13, 2019 02:14
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Bogus Adventure posted:I love Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman. I also really loving love Shazam! It's the first superhero movie I've been excited to see since Josstice League broke me. I had a fan theory that BvS was so dark because of the Anti-Life equation and Darkseid coming to conquer Earth, Lex Luthor being replaced by Desaad, and Superman's corpse being boom tubed from his grave to Apokolips in order to be resurrected as Darkseid's pawn. I figured the darkness would abate once the JL beat Darkseid. Needless to say, neither Snyder nor Whedon had that idea ...er, no, that's actually weirdly close to what Snyder says he was going for.
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May 13, 2019 03:22
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LORD OF BOOTY posted:...er, no, that's actually weirdly close to what Snyder says he was going for. Yeah, I think it was going to be almost exactly like that before he and Terrio had to go back and do page-one rewrites after BvS was received poorly.
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May 13, 2019 03:59
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LORD OF BOOTY posted:...er, no, that's actually weirdly close to what Snyder says he was going for. teagone posted:Yeah, I think it was going to be almost exactly like that before he and Terrio had to go back and do page-one rewrites after BvS was received poorly. Then it was...it was gonna be the movie I was waiting for... And now it'll never happen... 
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May 13, 2019 09:21
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Finally saw this on HBO and dug it a lot. I know Black Adam’s a solo movie (or at least that’s the word), but the Rock has such a great rapport with kids, they really should just get the gang together and make it Shazam v Black Adam (they can even spoof the Batman v Superman title). The Rock’s been tweeting like crazy about Black Adam, it’s been getting me pretty hyped.  
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Jan 16, 2020 08:54
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Kinda funny that Black Adam might more or less be pretty much the superhero take on The Scorpion King.
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Jan 16, 2020 09:02
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He certainly looks...vascular.
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Jan 16, 2020 19:37
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Bogus Adventure posted:Then it was...it was gonna be the movie I was waiting for... On the other hand, this is more or less what the Snyder Cut is supposed to be, and we're pretty much definitely getting that, we just don't really know when or how.
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Jan 16, 2020 21:05
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LORD OF BOOTY posted:On the other hand, this is more or less what the Snyder Cut is supposed to be, and we're pretty much definitely getting that, we just don't really know when or how. I'm super excited to see this cut come to light. I love high opera and I love superheroes, so the combination of both rules.
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Jan 16, 2020 21:15
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Would be interesting to see what they do with Black Adam. Some of the comics have the take that he's basically the Bronze Age idea of a hero- ie, a military superweapon who smites the enemies of his people.MonsterEnvy posted:Normally he accesses it when he does the thinking pose. So if he even happens to do that while transformed, he may figure out, "Hey I just suddenly knew a bunch of stuff when I put my hand to my chin." That was always a goofy thing, if hilarious. Though I have to wonder if that's more a case where it's basically how he activates the power; performing a pose associated with 'thinking really hard' makes him subconsciously unlock his enhanced wisdom. There's also at least one case where he tries to use the Wisdom of Solomon to do his homework and it fails him, because the wise thing would be to figure it out himself and not cheat himself of an education.
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Jan 28, 2020 14:34
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Lmao, that is is why Shazam/Billy Batson is the greatest superhero.
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Jan 28, 2020 16:42
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Ghost Leviathan posted:Kinda funny that Black Adam might more or less be pretty much the superhero take on The Scorpion King. Hilariously bad CG depictions of The Rock?
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Jan 28, 2020 21:35
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