While there has been some good action, the majority of DCEU films have been rather messy in its structure. The only exception for me was Wonder Woman.
But with the trailers suggesting more of a comedy based storyline, this gamble felt like nice a refreshing change in terms of expectation for this latest addition to the franchise.
The film itself could not have gone any better. Leaving the screening with such glee and joy in me and instantly wanting to see it again is enough to tell you how much I enjoyed this.
I knew nothing about this character except by name when this projects was in early talks of going into production. The first act did plenty to introduce me to the origins of this character, the mythology and world it's part of.
After that, while showing you vintage superhero action, there is also a nice and heart-warming family story with plenty of well-developed characters to get your teeth into. By the end of it I had had plenty of laughs and was just amazed and how much time was given to many parts of a film that would normally get quashed in a blockbuster these days.
There was so much that surprised me. To quote one of my favourite film critics, "It was a film, that felt like a film". There was a clear structure in its story-telling and its themes, it had a wonderful mix of comedy, action and even heart and I loved how many characters were given plenty of development for us invest in and even relate to.
Zachary Levi was terrific as the titular character. The child in him blossomed in this role executed his many comedic moments with ease. It was almost like a modern day re-incarnation of Tom Hanks in 'Big'.
Jack Dylan Grazer was a wonderful surprised and came out of nowhere. It took me a while to realise how pivotal and memorable his character became. His chemistry with Levi was a great to see develop and could well be the biggest strength of the film.
Mark Strong was as solid as you would expect as the villain and the combined contribution from Asher Angel, Faithe Herman, Grace Fulton, Ian Chen and Jovan Armand I feel will be an under-rated aspect of the film on multiple viewings.
The only way I would to find negatives would be to force myself to be picky. There were comedic moments in a sequences at the end where the jokes didn't totally work for me and some of the new actors introduced for that sequence did not quite work either.
But other than that, goodness me this was a lot of fun. Sure, you may label this as DC's attempt at Guardians Of The Galaxy, but that most definitely a good thing.
It's super fun, there's loads of characters you can get into and the structure is one that can please all types of cinemagoers, not just superhero fans. It is most definitely a crowd-pleaser.
In fact, the vibe, tone and even the look of it would fit perfectly into an 80's family action film. There's always one film that might not be my film of the year, but one that would watch again over the others. This is my first contender for that title in 2019.
Rating: 8/10
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