One of my earliest childhood memories regarding superheroes involves Shazam, although he was actually called Captain Marvel back then. I used to watch the old 70’s TV show in syndication. I would run through the house yelling SHAZAM, imagining that it turned me into a grown-up superhero, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. At least until I turned 9, watched Red Dawn with my dad for the first time, and spent the rest of the year yelling WOLVERINES at inappropriate moments.

That childhood joy has been largely absent from the DCEU movie catalog. The Superman and Justice League movies have not been consistent in tone with the versions of them that I grew up with. Even Wonder Woman, as great as that movie was, ended up being far more serious and mature than the Lynda Carter show I grew up watching. So my thought process, going into Shazam!, was that it was going to be a more adult version of the character, and maybe that was okay.

The movie was fun, it was made for children yet had humor smart enough to engage the adults in the audience. That said, it was neither the Shazam of my childhood, nor was it the Shazam I was expecting. It was something far greater than either of those things.

This Shazam is based on the New 52 version created by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank in the pages of Justice League. Billy Batson isn’t chosen because he is a paragon of virtue, he is chosen out of necessity. He has been in and out of foster homes for years and has no problem lying and stealing. This character isn’t innately a hero, he has to learn how to become one. It’s an origin story, not only of how he got his powers, but of how he learned to use them responsibly.

Some of the most fun moments in this movie are during scenes where Billy and his foster brother Freddie experiment with the former’s new found powers. The comedy is hilarious for both adults and kids, hitting that hard to find sweet spot where the jokes don’t feel insulting to grown-ups and don’t go over the head of the kids. Most impressively, almost every funny moment in the entire film either pulls double duty as a character building moment or actually moves the plot forward.

The attention to detail and care that was put into creating this movie is incredibly impressive. The theme of family is present throughout. We can’t go too much in detail about the specifics without venturing into spoiler territory, but without saying too much there is a very meaningful synergy between family and the carnival that is far deeper than you would expect from a superhero kids movie.

Speaking of family, the child actors that played Billy’s foster family did a masterful job of bringing to life a vibrant and eclectic group of kids. Jack Dylan Grazer, as Freddie Freeman, is unbelievable and gives one of the most impressive child performances I’ve seen so far this century. He has the gravitas to add weight to important moments, an incredible sense of comedic timing, and a subtlety uncommon for his age during dramatic moments. Faithe Herman is an absolute joy as little Darla. She brings such an unbridled enthusiasm to the screen that it is near impossible not to smile every time she appears.

It’s not only about the children, of course,. Zachary Levi is unsurprisingly amazing as a young teenager in a grown man’s body and Mark Strong exudes a genuinely threatening presence as the evil Dr. Sivana.

As a child Sivana was approached by the wizard Shazam, yet he was found wanting and was told he was unworthy of being the champion. His father and brother were not supportive, to say the least, and reinforced this feeling of inadequacy. He eventually embraced the idea that he was unworthy and became a psychopath in pursuit of power. Billy was also unworthy, but was given the power of the champion because Shazam had no other choice, yet he was surrounded by a foster family that tried to support him and build him up.

Did Sivana become evil because he was told he was unworthy by Shazam and believed it? Was it because his family tore him down instead of building him up? Both? Did Billy try to become a real hero instead of just a kid with powers because of the positive influence of his adoptive family, namely Freddie? Or was there something deep down in each of them that made their outcomes an inevitability?

Shazam! has joined an unlikely pantheon of amazing blockbuster films, like Guardians of the Galaxy and Pirates of the Caribbean, that exemplify what going to the movies can be. This is a movie full of great comedy with a wonderful cast of characters and more depth than you would expect from a family film.

Shazam! gets 5 lightning bolts on a cloudless day out of 5.