First of all, I hope everyone here is having a very Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, whatever type of holiday you’re celebrating. Hopefully it’s somewhere nice and warm, with friends and/or family.
With that out of the way, I do want to…I don’t know if ‘settle’ is the right word but I am looking for some consensus among fellow DC nerds so that hopefully I know I’m not crazy in thinking this.
My super-cereal question to you: is Shazam(the 2019 film) a Christmas movie?
Of course the answer may depend on what meets your criteria for such (see: Die Hard), But I say that it’s TOTALLY a Christmas movie.
I say this not because it’s a movie set during the holiday OR because it features a third act that takes place at a Christmas fair. I say it’s a Christmas movie because it has all of the above AND the narrative thrust of the movie is a story about found family. Billy Batson starts the movie by looking for what he thinks is the only family he has in the world, and ends with him finding out (through his power as Shazam) that what he desperately needed…was right in front of him.
That’s my reasoning. I’m sure yours is different. If it is (or you’re on the same wavelength as me), sound off below!
In the meantime, all y’all have a safe and Happy Holidays
For me, a Christmas movie is one where the holiday is a central part of the movie. If the movie would be pretty much the same taking place at any other time of the year, then I don’t consider it an actual Christmas movie. For that reason, I can’t classify Shazam! as a Christmas movie, but I certainly won’t blame anyone who makes watching it a Christmas tradition
Shazam is a fun movie, but I don’t consider it a Christmas movie. I didn’t think of it once during the holiday season. Same applies for Die Hard and Batman Returns. Great movies, but they don’t evoke Christmas for me.
A Christmas Story, Santa Claus The Movie, A Christmas Carol, Christmas Vacation? Yeah, Christmas movies .
Like Die Hard and Batman Returns, Christmas doesn’t have anything to do with the story of Shazam, or the motivations of its characters. Its the backdrop of the story and not an integral part of the movie, plot and/or character-wise.
Also my exact thoughts. Those are Christmas movies, because Christmas is imperatively integral to each movie’s story and the motivations of its characters.
You can take Christmas out of Die Hard, Batman Returns and Shazam, and the movies would still play as they do.
Not so for A Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation and The Santa Clause (the less said about Santa Claus: The Movie, the better ).
Shazam wouldn’t work if it wasn’t set during Christmas time because a core theme of it is Billy discovering the importance of Family at Christmas time. Hell, you could argue that’s his Christmas present.
Die Hard has themes of McCline rekindling his relationship with Holly (family), McCline acts a Christ figure. Ellis plays the same basic role as Judas, as the man who betrays the hero in hopes for a reward. Need I go on?
I gotta disagree. Sure, Christmas can enhance the found family element, but that part can still work no matter what time of the year it happens in. Christmas ends up being more of a background detail than a core element, and when you look at the basic plot of the movie, it’s something that doesn’t really necessitate a Christmas setting
(the 2019 film) a Christmas movie?
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