Shazam! | 2019 | PG-13 | – 2.7.4

Why is “Shazam!” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “intense sequences of action, language, and suggestive material.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a few references to sex and a couple of scenes outside a gentlemen’s club, skintight superhero suits worn by men and women, many scenes with the seven deadly sins represented as giant stone statues and then as giant monsters with large teeth and claws and tongues and a few of those scenes include attacks on people causing death by beheading and beating without blood shown, and obscene gestures, bleeped utterances and strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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A 14-year-old foster kid (Asher Angel) with streetwise smarts and a good heart is tasked with protecting the world from the seven deadly sins when a magician endows him with the ability to transform at will into an adult superhero (Zachary Levi). When he’s confronted by a supervillain (Mark Strong), super strength and speed are not enough and he realizes he has to rely on his foster family to prevail. Also with Djimon Hounsou, Michelle Borth, Jack Dylan Grazer, Meagan Good, Adam Brody, Marta Milans, Cooper Andrews, Ross Butler and Grace Fulton. Directed by David F. Sandberg. [Running Time: 2:12]

Shazam! SEX/NUDITY 2

 – A man holding a glowing staff tells a teen boy to “Lay your hands on my staff,” and the boy says, “Gross.” A superhero goes into a gentlemen’s club called “Booty Trap” and comes out telling his teen friend that they are going to need a lot more money. A superhero and several children come out of a gentlemen’s club and a young woman holds her hand over a young girl’s eyes; one teen boy lags behind and he comes out with glitter on his face.
► A man wears a superhero suit that accentuates his shoulders, abdomen, legs and groin and with a visible codpiece and is shown in many scenes. Several male and female superheroes wear skin tight suits that accentuate their chests, breasts, abdomens and legs and we see the bare legs to the thighs of one woman. A man runs out of a public restroom holding his pants closed after a superhero transforms inside the restroom (we see flashes of light coming from inside the building).

Shazam! VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 - Seven demons identified as the seven deadly sins are huge statues that become animated at the will of a man and wreak havoc in several scenes, killing people and causing property damage; they each have very large sharp teeth, some have spikes on their backs, one has giant wings and sprouts sharp claws, one has a very long tongue that flaps around, and one has a mouth that is the size of its body.
► A man bursts into a company boardroom and confronts his father and his brother and he argues with his brother and throws him through a window (we see the man fall and presumably die) as others in the room scream in disbelief: large demons appear out of clouds of thick, gray smoke and attack other people in the room with one grabbing and biting off the head of a man (we see the head go in the mouth but see no blood) and throwing him out of a window (we see the headless body as it sails through the window), a woman is confronted by a demon with a long slimy tongue and sharp teeth and we see men and women slam against frosted glass screaming and pleading for help from outside the room (we later see many bodies on the floor of the room and slumped in a corner with no blood visible); one man is thrown to the floor and beaten by a demon repeatedly (the action is hidden by a table but we hear the man yelling). A bright light glows behind a closed door and when a woman touches the door, we see her slowly turn to charred embers and she falls to a pile of ash on the floor as she screams. Bright flashes of energy shoot out of a staff held by a man and the man breaks into glowing embers that fall to a pile of ash on the ground and then blow away.
► A supervillain floats in the air, confronts a superhero and punches him hard in the stomach throwing him in the air and he crashes down onto a car denting its hood and breaking the windshield (he has a bloody nose and moans). A supervillain grabs a superhero by the throat and flies high into the sky with him, he throws him into the distance and the superhero falls to the ground unable to fly but stops inches from the pavement where he is then struck by a truck and thrown into another car before sailing over an overpass; the two continue to fight throwing each other through high-rise office building windows, crashing through floors and ceilings of stores and through a road (we see a deep hole). A huge demon roars at several children cowering on a sofa (we see its sharp teeth and glowing red eyes). A supervillain throws a superhero into stone thrones and he tumbles to the ground moaning, the supervillain is slashed on the back of the head by a thrown blade (we see a trickle of blood before the cut heals itself), and the superhero stabs the supervillain in the back with the blade and throws him into a wall (we see him pull the blade out later and no blood is seen). A boy opens a door in a dark cave where he sees a few large alligators seated around a table and they charge toward him as he closes the door; another door is opened and a large tentacle with teeth reaches toward the child outside, before the door is closed. A supervillain crashes through the roof of a building in a carnival, he shoots power blasts at people on the ground and we see them running and screaming as a man dressed as Santa Claus is struck and falls to the ground with flames on his coat (we see him unharmed later); the support of a Ferris wheel is bent and the ride, with people on it, tips to the side, a rider falls out (she is caught before hitting the ground), a monster grabs two riders and a superhero takes them to safety, a monster throws a superhero into a shed where is moans but recovers, a teen boy crashes through ice and is held under water by a supervillain, several superheroes fight a supervillain and his monsters discharging blasts of energy and the supervillain orders one of his monsters to kill a young girl and it picks her up to bite her head off but it is stopped. A supervillain and a superhero fight in the air and other superheroes and monsters fight on the ground with punches thrown; the large head of a statue of a man falls in a square among people (no one appears injured). A monster chases a man dressed as Santa Claus and he runs screaming through a carnival, and a demon wraps its many tentacles around a superhero that fights back and gets free. A superhero extracts a glowing orb from a supervillain's eye and we see him pulling it out with tendrils of energy flowing around.
► A car driving on a dark road drifts into the oncoming lane toward a truck, swerves to avoid the truck and spins a few times before stopping; the car is then T-boned by another truck and thrown rolling a few times and the driver of the car is shown with a lot of blood on his head as he lies in the snow (we see him in a wheelchair later) and the two other passengers are unharmed. A teen boy is struck by two other teens in a pick-up truck; he is knocked to the ground, then helped up and punched by the teens from the truck and when he falls to the ground they kick him repeatedly until another teen strikes the attackers with a crutch and runs away; they chase and call out threats ("You're dead kid") when the boy gets away on a subway train. A man picks a teen boy up and presses him against a locker threatening him. Two teenage bullies elbow a teen boy in the head (he is unharmed).
► A superhero shoots blasts of energy into the air and one strikes the tire of a bus causing it to lose control and swerve on the road before crashing through the guardrail and dangling over the side of an overpass: we see the passengers thrown and a few of them fall and are stopped by the windshield as the bus dangles nose down (one man is shown with blood on his face); the bus falls toward the ground, a superhero catches it before it crashes and holds it in the air while trying to convince a dog to move out of the way so that he can put it down safely. A man falls off a roof and dangles from the ledge, the ledge breaks and he falls and he is caught before crashing to the ground.
► A young boy walks with his mother in a crowded carnival and drops a key ring on the ground; the boy chases it as it is kicked through the crowd, separated from his mother and we see him calling for her later before he is shown with police officers attending to him (we understand that he was never reunited with his mother). A teen boy introduces himself to his estranged mother and she turns him away.
► A glowing orb slams into a man's head knocking him to the ground and when he gets up we see a large gash on his forehead and cheek and his eye glows blue. Seven demon statues turn to clouds of smoke and float into a man who has absorbed a glowing orb into his eye (it glows blue).
► A boy riding in a car finds himself alone and speeding in the car as the windows become covered with ice; when the car stops, the boy steps out into a cave where he meets a man who identifies himself as a wizard looking for someone who is pure of heart to fight the "seven deadly sins" represented by monstrous statues with large sharp teeth and glowing red eyes that speak with deep voices. A teen boy in a subway train car finds himself alone after other passengers seem to disappear, the train speeds and the windows are covered with ice until the doors open and the boy steps out into a dark cave where he meets a man holding a glowing staff and they talk; the man describes millions of lives being lost if he cannot find a champion to inherit his magic (we see silhouettes of people running in a crowd screaming).
► Two men with guns rob a convenience store until a superhero confronts them: he grabs the gun from one of the men and the other shoots him (we see bullet bounce off his body), he tells the men to shoot him again and many bullets bounce off him and they then shoot him in the face and many more bullets bounce off his flesh; the superhero throws the men through the store front window wrapped in strings of Christmas lights and they roll around on the pavement as we hear police sirens approaching. A superhero runs at super speed and slams into a man that he believes is trying to steal a woman's purse; she explains that the screaming he heard was the thief because she sprayed him with pepper spray. A young woman walks into a road in front of a snowplow truck and a superhero runs at super speed to get her out of the way before being struck. A pick-up truck is lifted off the ground and out of sight and its owner is alarmed when he cannot see where it has gone; the truck then slams to the ground discharging its airbags, flattening its tire and breaking its windows. A teen boy is grabbed and held by the shirt as two bullies berate and threaten him.
► When a teen boy says a particular word he is zapped by a flash of energy and transformed into a superhero with an adult appearance. A boy reaches toward a glowing orb and he is zapped on the finger (he is not harmed). A boy swings nunchucks toward two teen boys and threatens them until he hits himself in the back of the head (he winces but we do not see any injury). A man exits a subway train car and slams his head on the door (we see no injury).
► A superhero tests his super powers in a few scenes: He runs and jumps off the roof of a car slamming onto the ground hard (he is unharmed), he points his finger and shoots a blast of energy, he runs up a ramp and tries to fly and then slams to the ground and grunts (we see no injuries), he brings an axe down on his arm and the axe breaks, he gets inside a box that is doused with lighter fluid and set on fire (he breaks out unharmed), and he tries to jump over a building but crashes through a window high above the ground. A superhero zaps people's cell-phones saying that they are charged and one phone blows up in a man's hand (he yells but is not harmed), and he zaps an ATM machine and dollar bills shoot out at him and a venting machine and soft drinks roll out.
► Police arrive at a pawn shop as its alarm bell sounds and a teen boy locks the officers inside the shop so that he can access the computer in their cruiser, and then steals a bagged lunch from the car and runs away. Children are shown going through security and having their belonging scanned at a school building entrance. Smoke billows out of a kitchen and we understand that food is burning (we do not see it).
► A supervillain threatens a superhero and talks about feasting on his heart and destroying everything. A teen boy yells at a superhero for not helping him and describes bullies giving him a "suitcase wedgie." A young man yells at and blames a boy for causing a car accident that injured their father. A young man and a boy fight over a toy while riding in a car and the young man insults the boy and mocks him asking, "Will Thad ever be a man?" A woman talks to a teen boy about running away from his foster families repeatedly and that she cannot allow him to live on the streets. Two teen boys argue in a few scenes. A teen boy says that he was injured by his foster father pushing him out the window (he is joking), and he then says that he has terminal cancer (he is joking). A teen boy is shown with bruises on his face and he limps; his foster father yells at him. A man yells at a woman from inside an apartment. A teen boy says that his foster family seems nice, but it gets "real Game of Thrones around here" (he is joking). A boy yells at a computer while playing a game in a couple of scenes. We see several empty soda bottles next to a boy playing a computer game and he is reminded that he is not allowed to drink soda after dark. People stare and make remarks about a man dressed in a superhero suit complete with a cape. A man drops a small item into a sewer grate and yells, "Stupid adult hands" (he is adjusting to his adult superhero body). A teen boy tells another teen boy that his face looks like he is "hatching schemes." A man tells a teen boy, "You look like you are up to something." A man dressed as Santa Claus takes a microphone from a TV reporter and rants about events in a carnival (he is bleeped several times implying uttering obscenities). End credits are accompanied by pencil drawings of some of the action that was in the film including a man tossing an eyeball in the air. A man is shown in a jail cell maniacally scribbling symbols on the walls and yelling when his pencil breaks. A man hears a large caterpillar with glowing red eyes talking to him in a deep voice about domination. A teen boy talks about the Romans using urine to brush their teeth. A man hugs a teen boy and tells him, "You kinda smell." A teen boy and a superhero drink from cans of beer and spit the liquid out as the superhero says, "That tastes like vomit." A superhero remarks about not knowing how to urinate while wearing a superhero suit.
► A teen boy throws his torn underwear at a superhero as he yells at him. A teen boy spits off a Ferris wheel and laughs saying the he hit a baby (we see saliva leave his mouth). A man runs out of a public restroom holding his pants closed after a superhero transforms inside the restroom (we see flashes of light coming from inside the building).

Shazam! LANGUAGE 4

 - A man dressed as Santa Claus is interviewed on TV and is bleeped several times (implying that he's uttering obscenities but nothing is clearly discernible), 4 obscene hand gestures, 7 scatological terms (1 mild), 6 anatomical terms, 6 mild obscenities, name-calling (runt, weird, coward, miserable whiny little [scatological term deleted], big fat ugly, old man, pervy, old married couple, demons, dumb, thunder crack, moron, scared little boy, idiot, stupid, weak, worthless, clingy, show off, bully, grandpa), exclamations (holy moly, oh my gosh, die, gross, jeez, dude, oh snap), 11 religious exclamations (e.g. Oh My God, Oh Thank God, Oh God, Jesus Christ, What In God's Name). | profanity glossary |

Shazam! SUBSTANCE USE

 - A reference is made to something being as addictive as a narcotic. A superhero and a teen boy drink from cans of beer and spit the liquid out.

Shazam! DISCUSSION TOPICS

 - Superheroes, family, abandonment, foster care, heroes, purity of heart, revenge, bravery, group homes, boundaries, seven deadly sins, mass-hysteria, trust, belief, home, danger, gratitude.

Shazam! MESSAGE

 - A family is made up of people who care about each other, even when they're not related.