Shazam is hilarious, hopeful, heartwarming — and right at home in the broader world of the DCEU.

Shazam is the type of movie you will come out of with a huge grin on your face.

In fact, you might even be tempted to leap up in the air and exuberantly shout, “Shazam!” — though whether or not you actually do it will probably depend on how old you are.

It’s a movie which proudly wears its heart on its sleeve and definitely aims at tugging on your heartstrings a moment (or five) throughout the film.

It’s also a rather silly and sometimes juvenile film — there’s a scene which features a grown man flossing and the most illicit scene is when 14 year Billy Batson in adult Shazam’s body goes into a strip club (and, even then, there’s nothing explicit shown on screen).

Yet Shazam! is also a film that you will come out of knowing that the DCEU, no matter how much some (or, perhaps, even you yourself) might think or wish it so, is far from dead, far from forgotten and definitely not ignored.

This is a movie that embraces everything that has come before it in the DCEU, but without forcing the narrative to include plotpoints or easter eggs for their own sake.

It tells its own complete story — one with it’s own unique tone, plot and characters — set against the background of events that have occurred in the DCEU and connected to the broader universe literally and thematically.

Simply put — it’s a superhero film where both DCEU fans and DCEU haters can come together and enjoy.

Shazam! heartfelt film, one that isn’t afraid of displaying a sort of wide-eyed appreciation and excitement for having superpowers. Far from being burdened by his powers, Zachary Levi’s Shazam is delighted by them — as he should be, seeing as he is a 14 year old in an adult superhero’s body.

It’s the DCEU at its sunniest and funniest — heavy on the humor, chock full of boyish optimism, and with a lighter touch on the big ideas of power and responsibility found in other DCEU films.

In short, it’s the type of DC film that even DC skeptics and cynics would like.

Or, more accurately, it is a film that DC skeptics — and even some DC haters — have definitely liked. Some of them have even admitted to loving it.

And why shouldn’t they? As I mentioned in my review for the film, Shazam! is a film that I feel like I can recommend to the general public without any caveats — meaning that it’s a good time for everyone, even those who seem to be reluctant to have a good time.

It’s sweet without being saccharine, earnest without being cloying — a movie with child actors and childlike awe at the world of superheroes, made for kids (and immensely enjoyed by them, if my 9 year old goddaughter’s reaction is anything to go by) but one that still appeals to the adults in the audience as well.

In fact, its lighthearted tone and widespread acceptance from general audiences might tempt some to think (and more than a few to come right out and say) that Shazam! breaks away from the DCEU completely and stands as a rebuke from the darker, more serious films that came before it.

Except that it doesn’t.

At all.

First, Shazam! situates itself within the DCEU thematically, giving us another story which emphasizes the role and importance of family.

Like Bruce Wayne, Billy Batson has spent much of his life defined by the trauma of losing his mother. Like Clark Kent, he found hope and love in the arms of his adopted family. Billy Batson shares a longing for home and family similar to Arthur Curry’s, and, like Diana, he must come to terms with his inability to return to that home.

And like all the heroes of the DCEU, Shazam realizes that his greatest strength lies in empathy, compassion and hope.

Billy’s journey isn’t solely about learning how to use his powers; rather, like all the heroes of the DCEU, his journey is about the responsibility inherent in having those powers.

And if that realization isn’t as heavy or burdensome as previous films in the DCEU, that’s just as it should be — these are the ruminations and realizations of a 14 year old boy, not the super man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, nor the dark brooding of a vigilante weighted down by his own deep trauma.

This, after all, is a story of pure wish fulfillment — a movie in which a lost, lonely 14 year old boy gets to become a superpowered adult with very few limits. Which means that the tone of Shazam! is lighthearted and fun because that’s as it should be.

But despite its marked difference in tone from previous DCEU outings, director David Sandberg fully situates Shazam! within the world of the DCEU — not just thematically, but literally as well.

Whereas previous DCEU films have both shown the reaction of the world at large to superheroes like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman and detailed the feelings of those higher ranking individuals in power, Shazam! takes a smaller, more intimate look at the gods and monsters of the DC Universe.

It gives us these big heroes from the perspective of kids — those who have grown up in a world where Superman leaps buildings in a single bound and Batman brings in criminals with his nocturnal vigilante activities.

And guess what? Those kids think that all these heroes — Superman and Batman, along with Wonder Woman and Aquaman — are pretty damn rad.

Far from ignoring or denigrating the DC films that came before it, Shazam! celebrates them by showing how inspirational and uplifting the DC superheroes have been to everyday people.

Perhaps the heroes themselves have struggled with the burden of their powers or the weight of being a superhero, but to those ordinary people living in the world with them, these are individuals worth admiring and emulating.

So bravo to David Sandberg and all the cast and crew of Shazam! for creating a movie that not only satisfied DCEU skeptics, but one that DCEU superfans could cheer for as well.