Not even bad in a good way

Let's be realistic.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The young marvel, Shazam teams up with Superman and learns what it's like to be a hero when they battle Shazam's enemy Black Adam. A well done show that highlights the strengths and weaknesses of being Shazam.

This DC Showcase short is a tad longer than the rest, it stands at around 25 minutes and is about Billy Batsons rise to become the superhero known as Captain Marvel.We see Superman jump in and save young Billy from Black Adam, but my biggest complaint is that this is a big story and 25 minutes simply doesn't suffice.Alike the other showcases this is very well animated, has a great voice cast and is well written. Sadly it all feels rushed and I struggled to get into it.Well worth a watch for fans of the DC Showcase shorts, but I feel it was a bit underwhelming.The Good:Well animatedThe Bad:Story is simply too big for 25 minutesThings I Learnt From This Movie:This has actually made me want a live action Shazam movie, but I fear I'll regret saying that

This is a 5-year-old animated short film which runs for under 30 minutes and features some of the finest superheroes out there. It is Superman's task to protect a teenage boy who is about to become Captain Marvel one day. Black Adam comes to Earth in order to kill the kid before he can transform, so there will be one powerful guy less fighting the evil forces in the future. Of course, he does not succeed as Superman protects him long enough. After a somewhat unique subway ride, the kid gets his superpowers and from that moment on, the two are just way too much for Black Adam, who means business as he kills an unsuspecting couple already in the first minute of the film. And if that is not already enough, even a magical tiger appears at the end. I have to say, I really liked the villain character here. He looked a lot like an evil dark version of Superman and if I wasn't mistaken I heard an Eastern European accent when he was talking. Maybe we can see him in a Superman movie in the near future. This short film's director has a pretty impressive body of work and animation (especially superhero animation) lovers will certainly have come across some of his works, most recently "The Legend of Korra". The cast is unusually known for a film like this. I am sure you will have heard of James Garner, Malcolm McDowell and Alyssa Milano. I personally enjoyed these 25 minutes more in the first half, before the boy transformed, but even afterward it is still pretty decent to watch. Recommended.

First off, I'm a huge fan of all things DC and have loved all the animated series and movies they've done. Some of the newer ones have had a noticeably different look or feel to them, which is kind of nice sometimes. I'm going to mention the negatives of this movie first, since that might be of particular interest to some fans. The main feature is actually only about a half hour long, with three additional "DC SPotlight" shorts, about 20 minutes each, featuring Green Arrow, Jonah Hex, and The Spectre. The Spectre short was my least favorite, simply because he is more of a supernatural entity rather than a superhero, and you don't have the same kind of conflict in this one that you do with the others. He's not really fighting anyone, but rather acting as sort of a physical manifestation of "karma" and making sure three criminals get their just rewards. I was particularly pleased with both the Green Arrow and Jonah Hex shorts. I thought the western setting for an animated movie seemed particularly cool and natural, and I hope someone follows up with some animated work in this setting, since it's quite rare. Both shorts have some particularly visceral action, and the Green Arrow one has one of the best fights I've seen in any animated movie before. This movie was animated very well and the character models were very good. The overall appearance, especially the backgrounds, had a slightly hazy, washed-out look to them at times, giving it an almost anime-style look. They do some really cool animation during the fights between Superman/Cap. Marvel and Black Adam, such as some slow motion effects during a couple of the really hard hits, that really punctuate the impact. The voice acting and choices of the actors were quite good (especially Arnold Vosloo as Black Adam), but my only complaint is they didn't use Tim Daly for Superman, again. George Newbern isn't bad, actually, but Daly is the original Superman voice and I just prefer him. I've always thought Black Adam was a really cool bad guy, and his personality and voice were pretty much as I've always envisioned them to be, and I thought the ending was particularly interesting and surprising. If you haven't seen the other shorts before, as I hadn't, then this is a definite must-see. The main feature was pretty short, but it was still very good and I hope they give us more Captain Marvel in the future.