SHAZAM!

While most DC superhero movies have gone the grim and gritty route, Shazam! is far more aimed at the brightness and magic that appeals to young kids.  And in this case, the change in tone works very well.

Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is a 14-year-old kid who's been running away from foster homes to search for the mother who lost him as a young kid.  His latest foster home has him with five other kids, notably Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), a handicapped kid obsessed with superheroes.

After Billy helps Freddy with some bullies and runs away, Billy is transported to a magic world.  The Wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) explains that Billy was chosen to be the champion of good, protecting the world from the monstrous Seven Deadly Sins.  From then on, when Billy says the word "Shazam" a bolt of lightning strikes him and he transforms into, well, Shazam (Zachari Levi), an adult with a wide range of super powers; saying it again turns him back into Billy.  Freddy becomes Shazam's "manager," documenting his powers -- from super-strength and toughness to shooting lightning and flight -- and posting the videos online while Shazam becomes interested in popularity.

Of course there's a bad guy.  Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) had been summoned by the Wizard as a kid but deemed unworthy because he was tempted by the Seven Deadly Sins.  As an adult he found his way back to the magical world, leaving with assorted powers and the ability to summon the Seven Deadly Sins.  Sivana wants to claim Shazam's powers for his own.

Shazam! has a lot of what most of the DC movies have been missing up to this point:  fun.  Zachari Levi captures the wonder and enjoyment of a kid suddenly given amazing powers and adulthood (and there are several nods to the movie Big here), and Jack Dylan Grazer is a nice foil as the kid who sees what a superhero can and should be.  Mark Strong is a nicely menacing villain, but the movie is more about Billy Batson's growth from a self-interested kis with amazing powers to learning what it means to be a hero.  Even the Shazam costume is always bright and colorful, reflecting the positive nature of the film.  There's a lot of action at the end, but the comedy is what stands out here.  Shazam! is sometimes exciting, usually amazing and thoroughly entertaining movie.

Overall grade: A-
Reviewed by James Lynch

GEEKS WHO DRINK

Across the country, lots of bars and pubs hold trivia contests that aren't taken all that seriously (probably thanks to the alcohol) and have relatively small prizes.  The Syfy network has adapted these contests in their show Geeks Who Drink.

Hosted by Zachary Levi, Geeks Who Drink features two teams of three, each with one celebrity, competing for cash and prizes.  The show includes either-or questions (such as whether countries are real or fictional, open-ended questions, math questions based on geek knowledge, sorting pictures (such as matching actresses to their horror movie, or putting scenes from Back to the Future in chronological order), and the final challenge, where members of alternating teams have to name something in a category -- Stephen King novels, Disney theatricial movies, etc. -- with people who can't name it getting eliminated and the team with the last person or people winning.

And for the drinking side of it, the players, host, and studio audience (and  possibly home audience) can take a drink every time the scores are tied (which is always at the start of the game) and whenever there's a commercial break.

Much as I like a game show where I know most of the answers, Geeks Who Drink is disappointing.  Zachary Levi's hosting consists of him talking fast, being insulting, and flipping used index cards into the audience when he's done with them.  I don't know how the cash and prizes are divided, but since the games have cash prizes that go from $10 to $20 to $50 to $100, no team has won more than $1000 in a game, making it the cheapest game show this side of the ones that deliberately have no rewards for the winners.  And the in-show drinking game and frequent shots of the audience drinking don't make the show any more wild or rebellious.  I might tune in to Geeks Who Drink if there's nothing else on, but I won;t go out of my way to see it -- or to recommend it.

Overall grade: C-
Reviewed by James Lynch