Shazam!

Spoiler alert.

As adventurous superheroic narratives continue to unreel ad infinitum, DC's Shazam! humbly presents starstruck ascension in virtual refrain.

Thus, since most Marvel films and the like don't widely showcase young adult contributions, at least not with Shazam!'s degree of potent unsupervised agency, Shazam!'s heroes embolden a raw sustainable niche, complete with role models you don't have to look up to.

Most of the time.

Youth can therefore restrain from imagining themselves as Iron Man or Captain Marvel, fighting villainy at some far off date in the foreseeable future, instead they can consider themselves as one of Shazam!'s tightly knit group of youthful warriors, magically endowed with metamorphic maturity.

It's a wicked-cool ending from some perspectives, even if you do the math beforehand, and the group's a chill multicultural eclective, abounding with awkward foibles, as unsure of themselves as Clark Kent, embracing their alter egos with equal degrees of self-determination.

In terms of friendship and camaraderie and do-gooding and teamwork, Shamzam! moderately excels and convivially matriculates.

It's fun to watch while Billy Batson/Shazam (Asher Angel/Zachary Levi) learns to use his new powers as the aggregate character of the supporting cast develops.

But of course there's a villain and a plot and dastardly deeds and ancient demons, and they must duel with one another outside of lunch and recess.

In the end, as multiplicity inaugurates a rather flimsy final showdown, the power of Shazam instantaneously teaches the team of shocked generally non-violent youngsters how to instinctually battle their combative foes, whom one might think would have an advantage in such a scenario, being the clear incarnations of diabolical vice.

But they don't, and neither does principal villain Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong/Ethan Pugiotto), and although it's cool to watch the grown-up kids kick-butt, it's a little too laissez-faire for such a death-defying imbroglio.

Still, the aged Shazam Wizard's (Djimon Hounsou) search for a successor bears thought provoking fruit, which relates to something Barack Obama said recently about avoiding "a circular firing squad."

He was more or less referring to the ways in which discourses of purity can prevent peaceful agendas from ever gaining momentum, as relied upon potential retinues coldly cut down promising candidates who don't magnetically generate uncompromised perfection.

The last of the council of wizards makes this mistake in Shazam!, and almost perishes without having passed on his powers.

The Wizard's dying, and gives young Batson the power of Shazam in radical haste, and could have wildly and chaotically erred if Billy wasn't indeed someone honestly genuine.

He wouldn't have had to proceed with such haste if he hadn't been such a puritan for so many years.

If he had been a little more chill about sharing his remarkable gifts.

Rather than obsessing about messianic instincts.

There's really no such thing you know.

Although it can be fun to believe.

Within reason of course.

If that makes any sense.

Shazam!