SHAZAM! (2019) / Funny

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shazam_7.jpg

"That tastes like actual vomit."

SHAZAM! is the most overtly comedic film in the DC Extended Universe so far, and it doesn't take long to figure out why.

WARNING: Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies to Funny Moments pages.

open/close all folders

Film

Billy’s first scene has him trick two cops by faking a store robbery and trapping them in there while he goes in the cop car to find info on his mom. To cap it off, Billy steals one of the officers’ lunch.
- Just the fact that the very first thing Billy says in the whole movie is "Holey Moley!".
Gets played for Black Comedy, but when Billy finally goes to his mother's house, he knocks on her door and explains how he thinks that he is her son...only for a middle-aged black woman to open the door instead.
As Billy's being introduced to his new foster family, it's mentioned how they eat a vegan diet (to Victor's mild chagrin), and smoke begins to billow from the kitchen, starting a mild panic.
Darla: Oh no! (Running to the kitchen) The tofurky is burning!
Victor: Oh my god! We might have to eat a REAL turkey!
Mary is introduced on the phone doing a college interview and struggles to answer a question.
Victor: Mention you're a foster kid. Colleges eat that up.
- Even better, Mary does it, and is later shown to have gotten in. So it must've worked.
Freddy’s intro in which Rosa asks him not to say anything weird to Billy.
Freddy: Oh, one weird thing is how the Romans used to brush their teeth with their own urine. And it actually worked.
Rosa: ...Okay.
In Billy and Freddy's first conversation, Freddy continuously says dark things to laugh at his face, such as that he was thrown out the window, that their foster family seems nice, but he shouldn't buy it, because "it gets real Game of Thrones around here.", and that he has terminal cancer.
- Freddy quickly follows it up with "I'm kidding! You look at me and you're like, 'Why so dark?' You're a disabled foster kid, you've got it all!"
Eugene stealing the bully's nunchucks to try to defend Freddie and promptly hitting himself in the head as he's flailing it around.
Eugene: Ow...
Billy delivering a Groin Attack to the local bully, using Freddy's crutch to do so. He even apologizes to the bully afterwards.
- This gets a hilarious Call-Back when he fights Sivana for the first time and performs the same action. Complete with this funny line and a dose of gloating.
  Shazam: Bet you didn't see that one coming, didn't you grandpa? Them street rules!
The Wizard brings Billy to the Rock of Eternity from a subway car. When the car opens up into a cave, Billy actually pauses to check the subway map on the side as if thinking this is his next stop.
- In a Freeze-Frame Bonus, the subway map does in fact have the names of the Seven Deadly Sins listed as stops.
Billy meeting the Wizard Shazam:
The Wizard: Say my name so my powers may flow through you.
Billy: But... I don't know your name, sir. We just met.
The Wizard: My name is...Shazam.
[Beat]
Billy: [giggling] For real?
The Wizard: SAY IT!
Billy: OKAY! ...so just say it? ...Shazam?
[Thunder]
- Billy also gets grossed out by the Wizard telling him to grab his staff.
The return of Shazam on the subway has him “complimented” by a man who “loves” the outfit.
- Then he gets off the train and whacks his head on the door, because he's taller than usual.
Billy as Shazam goes to find Freddy at their house and presses a piece of paper with the words "Don't scream!" on the window. Cue Freddy screaming.
To prove that he's Billy, Shazam opens his backpack and shows he did take Freddy's crushed bullet that hit Superman... only to accidentally rip the plastic bag holding said bullet with his now-adult-hands, sending it falling into a manhole below.
Shazam: Stupid adult hands!
Freddy asks Billy what powers he has.
Shazam: Superpowers?! Dude, I don't even know how to pee in this thing!
- This gets a Brick Joke later on when, after drinking several dozen cans of Dr Pepper, Shazam runs into a nearby restroom. A few seconds later...
Shazam: Shazam!
[Lightning shoots through the ceiling.]
- And of course, a man runs out of the bathroom nearly tripping over his pants as he tries to zip them up. Then Billy says Shazam again and walks back out as Shazam.
In a small Brick Joke, Freddy and Billy test to see if the latter developed invisibility. After a moment of straining, Freddy pretends that Billy had turned invisible only for a couple of guys in the distance to interrupt by making fun of Billy's outfit and calling him a dipshit.
Freddy: I may have also been testing for super intelligence.
Shazam: ...Freeman, I'm gonna come over there and beat you. [ZAAP!]
- What's funny is that, thanks to the Wisdom of Solomon, he kind of does have Super-Intelligence.
- Made even funnier when he accidentally zaps a power line shortly after saying that.
Shazam's first gig is to save a woman from being robbed...only the woman's already saved herself and he did nothing. The robber hadn't even taken her purse.
- Shazam calls the lady old and she gets offended. Later on Shazam calls her an "old lady" again and quickly corrects himself.
- From the distance, the lady's scuffle with the robber is accompanied by a loud high-pitched scream. As Shazam rushes in to rescue her and sees the lady completely calm, it means that the one doing the screaming was actually the robber, who screams when the lady sprays the pepper spray into his eyes earlier.
- After Shazam discovers he has Super-Strength after accidentally pushing the mugger into some trash cans, the would-be mugging victim is so freaked out that she gives them 73 dollars and promptly runs off.
Freddy takes it upon himself to give Billy a superhero name. What he comes up with is... less than heroic sounding:
Freddy: His name... is Captain Sparklefingers.
Shazam: (Embarrassed) No-no it's not, that's not my name!
- Probably a nod to the Carol Danvers Captain Marvel, whose nicknames include "Princess Sparkle Fists".
- This Running Gag provides some of the best dialogue in the movie, with Shazam shooting down names such as "Mr. Philadelphia" ("that's a cream cheese thing, dude!").
- Freddy also comes up with "Thundercrack", which immediately is shot down for sounding like "butt-stuff".
After his intervening with the mugger and lady, the woman pays him 73 dollars before running off. And guess what he and Freddy do with it...
Shazam [in his most grown-up sounding voice]: I'd like to purchase some of your finest beer, please.
- He then smiles awkwardly to the clerk after finishing his sentence. The clerk lethargically looks up from her phone and with a deadpan expression points over to the aisle.
- And in the foreground, you can see a small sign telling customers that the store checks for ID. After Shazam walks off to get the beer, it turns out that Freddy's been hiding behind him, grinning like a happy schoolkid.
- Freddy starts worrying about the fact that they don't have a fake ID. Shazam counters that in this form he is a fake ID.
Shazam discovering he's bulletproof...by being shot.
Shazam: I'm bulletproof! Hahaha!
- Then Freddy asks the robbers to shoot Shazam in the face so Freddy can determine if it's the suit or Shazam himself who is flattening bullets...
  Freddy: Shoot him in the face!
  Shazam: Shoot me in the fa-! In the face?! [gets shot in the face several times] ...That kinda tickles. [laughs in awe, then glares at crooks] You're dead.
- Just the fact that the robbers are going along with it without questioning it. Shazam even returns the gun to one of the robbers so he can continue shooting him.
After Shazam tosses two robbers through a window, Shazam and Freddy walk out of the convenience store with the beers, try it...and, like most people who try beer for the very first time, promptly spit it back out.
Freddy: BLAGH!
Shazam: That tastes like actual vomit...
- Cue them reentering and coming out with a ton of snacks.
Shazam: Sorry about your window!
Freddy: Have a good night!
Shazam: But you're welcome for not getting robbed!
(Shazam and Freddy pass by a civilian)
Shazam: Oh hey, what's up? I'm a superhero.
As Shazam prevents Darla from screaming by Hand Gagging, Freddy notes "Putting your hand over her mouth like you're kidnapping her is not gonna make her less scared".
Billy asking how good Darla is at keeping secrets.
Darla: (Beat) Moderate.
Freddy: No.
Billy: Oh, god.
- After making Darla agree to keep the superhero thing a secret, Billy and Freddy convince her to put the doorknob back in for them.
Freddy: (hands her the doorknob) You know what else a good sister does? Fixing this doorknob.
Billy: Good night.
The first time ever Billy changes back from Shazam in a panic. When he does, it shorts out the electricity throughout the entire foster home. Victor thinks it was the result of him screwing in a lightbulb.
Billy as Shazam doing the Floss◊.
During the montage to discover Shazam's powers, Freddy decides to turn "teleporting" (Shazam hiding in a cardboard box, seeing if he can warp into a nearby one) into "fire resistance" (sets said box on fire).
- Feels a bit like a Brick Joke later on when Billy technically teleports him and the other foster kids out of Rock of Eternity and into the strip club to run from Sivana.
- In a deleted scene, Billy puts Freddy into a "revenge box".
On the flight test, Shazam takes to the sky... only to fall straight to the floor a few seconds after.
- Which itself is somewhat of a flip of how Clark learned to fly back in Man of Steel, only more painful.
- He has trouble mastering his Flying Brick powers once he is in the sky.
  Shazam: I believe I can fly! I believe I can fly! [keeps freefalling] Superman! SUPER-MAN! WHAT ARM IS IT?! [desperately tries to imitate the Man of Steel's flying gestures]
- Once he eventually does it right and is floating about an inch above the highway, he's hit by a car and then bounces into two other vehicles.
Yet another test has Billy try to leap a tall building in a single bound. He doesn't.
Shazam: [After he crashes into the building barely two-thirds of the way up and an unseen woman screams] Sorry! I am SO sorry!
- Which led to many joking that the building is owned by Bruce Wayne, who'll inevitably declare war on Shazam.
One of the things Billy does as Shazam is to use his electrical powers to charge peoples' phones. He accidentally blows one up, prompting its owner to yell at him.
Shazam goes to a strip club called "The Booty Trap". To Freddy's frustration, he's only in there for five minutes, only getting one of the complimentary wings, because of a lack of funds.
Billy: ...They were really persuasive.
- Freddy himself eagerly asking if Billy saw boobs.
Shazam shoots lightning at an ATM. Cue it repeatedly spitting out bank notes, which he and Freddy promptly gather up to go to the strip club above.
Freddy makes light of the bullies' pick-up truck being destroyed.
Freddy: You know, I don't think that's gonna buff out.
Billy and Freddy take superheroing to its natural conclusion... trying to purchase a lair via real estate.
Real estate receptionist: A lair?
Freddy: Yes. If you have a location, like on a cliff, like a castlesque-like thing...
Shazam: Overlooking some water.
Freddy: Overlooking some water, splashing on rocks and something, we'll take that.
Freddy informs Billy that he sucks at the hero thing:
Freddy: You literally did the opposite of what a superhero is supposed to do.
Billy says Freddy can't lie as "you have a face like you look like you're scheming something." Freddy protests he doesn't. When they pass the security guard, he immediately says Freddy "looks like you're up to something" and Billy gives a nod.
Shazam pretending to be Billy and Freddy's father with a Conspicuous Trenchcoat over his bright red suit.
- And then Billy calling the school's guard "Officer Moron" as they leave the school, while the guy's actual name is Moran.
- Billy tries to get a little on Moran's good side by claiming Freddy and the other kids have been telling him about a cool security guard. As Moran gets flattered, Freddy is quick to clarify that they were talking about someone else and Moran sucks.
After Shazam saves Mary from being run over, he struggles not to reveal how he knows her name, her status as a foster family kid and such.
Shazam: [stammers] Could I give you a little piece of advice? Don't be worried about everybody else. Always look out for number one. Gandhi said that.
Mary: I don't think he said that.
Shazam: Yeah, he did.
Mary: Ghandi did not say...
Shazam: [interrupting] Somebody like Gandhi said that.
Mary: "Take care of number one."
Shazam: [talking over her] It was a really wise... It might've been Yoda. Listen.
Mary: I'm sorry, no.
Shazam: Agree to disagree. The point is, you do you, you know? You gotta look out for you.
Freddy embarrassing himself when Shazam does not show up at lunch.
Shazam shows off his lightning powers (while singing along to "Eye of the Tiger", no less), which causes him to accidentally fry the tires off a bus and have it fall off a bridge. Thankfully he manages to catch it before it crashes.
Shazam: Did you see what I just did?!
Freddy: Yeah, you electrocuted a bus and almost killed those people!
Shazam: And then I CAUGHT it!
- And during the rescue, Shazam first considers a mattress to catch the guy being pushed against the cracked windshield, telling him enthusiastically to jump on it. The guy promptly shakes his head...
- And after he catches the bus, he has to deal with the dog who just happens to be standing at the spot where he's going to put the bus down.
After Billy storms off during dinner after arguing with Freddy, Rosa looks over to Darla and asks why she hasn't said a word during their meal since there's nothing that usually stops her. As the conversation went on, Darla kept shoveling food into her mouth to stop from talking.
Darla: [mouth full] I'm eating.
The mall Santa running for his life when Shazam and the villain crash in, right after promising the little girl he was talking to that Santa will be looking out for her. In addition, the mall Santa runs in fear when the pair come crashing through while the little girl just stands there looking perplexed and unfazed.
While fighting Sivana in a store, what does Billy use to try and fend the villain off of him? Why, a Batman action figure, of course.
Action Figure: I'm Batman!
Shazam: [throws the action figure at Sivana] Get him, Batman!
The Take That! at Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in the climax where a child is playing with action figures of Superman and Batman, having them fight each other...but then when he sees Shazam and Sivana fighting each other out the window, he promptly drops both figures to the floor, all interest in his Batman VS Superman game being lost.
- Even funnier is that up to this point, most superhero fights in the DC Universe have very rarely had eyewitnesses. That child accidentally guessed what his two favorite heroes used to be like.
- Adding to the comedy is the fact that Batman VS Superman has been derogatorily compared to a kid who doesn't know anything about Batman and Superman other than they're popular smashing his action figures together. Given David F. Sandberg is One of Us...
Whenever Freddy is being held to give up the location of Shazam, he keeps screaming "SUPERVILLAIN! SUPERVILLAIN!" even when he's on the phone.
As soon as Shazam arrives at the house when Sivana is holding the kids hostage, Pedro, of all people, suddenly cheers, "Kick his ass, Billy!" All four of his fellow captured siblings sitting on the couch with him briefly turn to stare at him in surprise.
Asked by Sivana how old he is, Shazam says "Basically 15." Sivana just quietly nods, as if he's thinking "Of course this is happening to me."
During the scene where the rest of Billy's foster siblings figure out he's Shazam, Darla's happy that she managed to keep the secret and didn't even have to lie.
Darla: I'm a good sister.
Freddy throwing his Batarang at Sivana. Also, the "weapons" his foster siblings bring with them - Mary with a book (AP Integral Calculus, no less), Pedro with a lamp, Eugene with a PlayStation 3 Sharpshooter and Move Controller, and Darla with a vacuum cleaner part.
The kids are trying to escape via a set of magical doors. Eugene opens one to show...a group of crocodiles in suits playing cards. Let that image sink in. You can also see Billy-Shazam doing a Quizzical Tilt at this in the background.
- Pedro opens another one and a tentacle-like plant moves towards him. He looks slightly apprehensive, like he knows there's gotta be a catch here, and sure enough, the planet opens a Venus fly trap-like mouth and tries to bite him while Pedro hastily slams the door on it.
- After Darla and Mary are nearly attacked by a monster, Billy yells for everyone to stop opening doors.
Where does Billy-as-Shazam take his foster family to depart from the Rock of Eternity? The strip club.
- It gets better. Mary is irritated with Shazam and covers Darla's eyes, Pedro calmly says that it wasn't his thing, and Freddy comes out a few seconds later, with glitter on his face. When Darla sees the glitter on Freddy, she asks if she could go back inside and get some.
  Darla: (to Mary) Why are you covering my eyes?
  Mary: (to Shazam) Really?! This is the first place you think of?! Wow!
  Shazam: You're welcome.
  Darla: Why can't I see what's inside?
  Mary: You are not old enough.
  Darla: Old enough to know that was great music!
  Pedro: Not my thing.
When Sivana heads towards the Christmas fair to find Billy and his siblings, everyone at the fair looks at a floating Sivana in awe, not realizing he's a threat. But the Mall Santa from the mall where Billy and Sivana clashed remembers him and tells everybody to run. While the Mall Santa tries to run, Sivana shoots lightning at a popcorn stand and his hat catches on fire.
At the climax, Billy decides to imitate the Wizard, holds out the Wizard's staff to his siblings and tells them to say his name - and they all shout "Billy!". He then clarifies he meant the name he says to transform.
Billy!Shazam: No, no! Not my name! Say the name that I say to turn into this guy!
Pedro and Eugene checking out their biceps and admiring their huge muscles.
When Pedro and Darla sees that the Ferris wheel is about to tip over, Mary is behind them and she's seen on top of Gluttony beating him down.
While using a lightning blast, Eugene yells "HADOUKEN!", even using the same pose as Ryu.
As Shazam and Sivana do Power Floats several hundred feet away from each other, Sivana starts making a Badass Boast to Shazam about how he'll kill the hero...and Shazam, not having super hearing powers, can't hear a thing he's saying.
Sivana: Enough games, boy! You think a pack of children can-
[cut to Shazam's perspective, Sivana's voice is barely audible]
Shazam: [trying to make out what he's saying] ... Wait, WHAT?!
Sivana: - you will beg for mercy as I feast on your heart... slo-
Shazam: ... Are you making some, like, big, evil-guy speech right now or somethin'? You're like a mile away from me right now, there's cars and tru-
Sivana: - I will have the world eating out of the palm of my han-
Shazam: All I see is mouth-movin', I don't hear any-
Sivana: - only I have the power to unleash-
Shazam: ... Ah, whatever, screw it!
There's a moment with Sivana calling off Lust killing Darla when Shazam says he'll surrender. The funny part comes in when Darla goes from being terrified that Lust was about to eat her to giving the demon an irritated slap.
As all of the newly-transformed siblings are about to start fighting Sivana and the Sins, Darla gives this great Pre-Asskicking One-Liner:
Darla: Guys, I don't believe in violence, but I think we should kick this guy's butt, like, really hard.
(Billy-Shazam gives her a thumbs-up and Freddy flips the bird at Sivana with both hands)
Darla, transformed into an adult, thinking the mall Santa she just rescued is really Santa Claus.
Darla: (starstruck) Wow, it's really you... (whispers) My name is Darla and I've been really good!
Mall Santa: ...What?
During Freddy's rescue of the two bullies:
Bully: Is he giving us a suitcase wedgie?!
During his attempt at bringing the last of the Seven Deadly Sins out of Sivana, Shazam notes he thought Lust would be "way hotter".
After trapping the Sins in the Eye once again, Shazam holds it up and gazes into it...
Shazam: What's that? I can have anything I've ever wanted?
Mary (and others): Billy, no, stop!!
Shazam: Ha! You should hear yourselves! What, did you think I'm going to put a demon ball in my head? That's disgusting!
- This paints a picture of the Seven Deadly Sins in the orb thinking "What are you talking about? We aren't tempting you. Wait, what are we saying? Go for it! Stick us in your head, boy!" ...Only for Shazam to pull a fast one, greatly disappointing the demons.
Once Freddy realizes the Rock of Eternity is a lair, Shazam cheers, and Darla just cheerily questions "What is a lair?"
The Mall Santa interrupting news coverage about the climactic battle, and the result is a Cluster Bleep-Bomb. The news reporter tries to signal the cameraman to cut him off. What makes it 100% funnier is that it's a freakin guy in a Santa costume dropping swears.
- Even funnier if you know Philadelphians—this is actually pretty accurate.
The very last scene, where Shazam does show up to have lunch with Freddy. And brings Superman as well!
- Freddy's hilarious fanboy yelp when he sees Superman in person.
- Counts as a Brick Joke when one recalls how the bullies snarked about Superman bringing dessert if Shazam were to come to the cafeteria.
  - This also brings to mind the idea of Superman standing in line with a bunch of high school kids, wearing his full regalia, patiently waiting his turn for lunch.
The end credits are full of hilarious animation, such as:
- Shazam being ignored at his own movie premiere, because the fans all want Jason Momoa
- Darla racing with the Flash
- Superman and Shazam arm-wrestling
- Mary texting on her phone ignoring what's happening (probably deliberately)
- Shazam stealing the Batmobile and taking Wonder Woman on a date, dragging Batman all over.
- The fact that this is all set to the Ramones' version of "I Don't Want to Grow Up" makes it all hilariously apropos.
In The Stinger, Freddy tries to see if Shazam can talk to fish. Shazam dismisses the power and asks when it would be cool. Freddy says "when summoning an army of millions undersea", and Shazam after a pause just goes "Yeah, right".
Shazam: Well, that's not that cool.
In a deleted scene of the movie, the Shazam family gets to sit on the thrones, and Mary notices there is one empty. Darla, being the Nice Girl and the All-Loving Heroine that she is, says that she will love that person no matter what because to her, they are family too. Little does she know that empty sit belongs to Black Adam...

Trailers and Promotional Material

One of the trailers uses, of all things, "My Name Is", doubtless both a nod to how Billy Batson summons his powers by invoking the name of the Wizard Shazam, and of course with the competing Marvel movie whose protagonist goes by the same name that Shazam used to go by in the comics.
The first promotional pictures of Shazam in costume make a point of showing that he's a young boy doing casual young boy things in a grown up's body.
- The first official picture of Shazam casually enjoying a soft drink, promoted at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. That picture has gone memetic, with people photoshopping it in screencaps of other movies or real life photos, often to hilarious effect as if Shazam was saying "Go on, I'm just watching".
- The first official still of the film is both Billy and Freddy happily chugging sodas together. A leaked scene reveals they promptly spit them back up, apparently because they're warm.
- Followed up with this Entertainment Weekly cover◊ showing him blowing bubble gum and playing with his phone, making the exact same casual look.
The first official poster continues that trend with him making a bubble with chewing gum.
Expanding upon the "Your phone's charged!" gag, some of the film's promotional panels are actual phone chargers◊.

Funny / SHAZAM! (2019)

Previous

Index

Next

Funny / SHAZAM! (2019)

Edit Locked

Previous

Index

Next