How Soon is Now?

Shazam is a heck of a fun superhero movie. I know enough about the character to be familiar with his story and mythology, at least before the New 52 incarnation. For me, he mostly exists as a mind-controlled counter to Superman in Kingdom Come. But, the movie. It manages to have a solid third act, which a lot of supers flicks have had problems with. Mark Strong does what he does quite well - villains it up something fierce. His Doctor Sivana is almost sympathetic - bullied as a child, he wants revenge on his abusive father and brother, and when this crazy-ass wizard yanks him into some pocket dimension sanctum to try to convince him to take on the wizard's mantle, he fails the wizard's test but gets enough of a taste of power to want it. So, he pursues it, but it's the Seven Deadly Sins who give him what he wants. The movie is big on the idea of finding/making your own family, and I can sure go along with that theme. All in all, enjoyable, and it's a lot of fun.

And then, there's Avengers Endgame. Three solidly-packed hours of action, pathos, love, friendship, and loss. A slow-paced first establishes the state of things after The Snap, with a five-year time jump. The surviving heroes, Earth-bound and space-based alike, are managing, but they figure out how to undo the disaster - time travel through the Quantum Realm! It's not easy, and things go wrong, but the Avengers win the day, with losses. Natasha sacrifices herself so that Clint can acquire the Soul Stone, and Tony channels the Stones through his improved version of the Infinity Gauntlet at the cost of his own life. Steve travels through time to return the stones, and stays in the past to have a life with Peggy Carter, reappearing to pass the shield and mantle of Captain America on to Sam Wilson. Thanos is destroyed, the Vision is lost, and there are gaps to fill, but good wins out.