Dave Bautista Calls His Guardians Of The Galaxy Audition 'A Nightmare'

Dave Bautista Calls His Guardians Of The Galaxy Audition 'A Nightmare'

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a behemoth undertaking, with many franchises and heroes occupying the big screen. But there are certain properties that have especially resonated with audiences, and chief among them is James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy. Gunn took a relatively unknown group of motley characters, and brought a quirky set of movies that elevated the cast to fan favorites. And that includes Dave Bautista's Drax the Destroyer.

Drax is a scene stealer in the Guardians and Avengers movies, with Bautista showing off his comedic chops in the process. But according to the wrestler turned actor, he had a terrible audition for the role. He recently opened up about this during a public appearance, saying:

Oh my God, it was a nightmare. I was terrified. I was really desperate at the time, I had hardly worked in three years, and I had gone broke from wrestling and I was desperate to get a job. I finally got an agent like two weeks before I got the audition for Guardians. My agent says 'You know, I really had to fight to get you this audition. It was really hard to get, they didn't really want to audition you. They didn't want any pro wrestlers, so I don't want to get your hopes up.’

While auditions are always a nerve-wracking experience, it looks like the stakes were especially high for Dave Bautista when it came to playing Drax. He needed a job badly, and apparently the odds were stacked against him. But we all know how that turned out.

It's hard to imagine anyone but Dave Bautista playing Drax, but that doesn't mean the role was straight up offered to the 50 year-old actor. His star power has grown significantly due to playing the Marvel hero, but he was lacking that reputation back when he was auditioning to play the role. As such, he had to work doubly hard to bring something unique to the room, and truly be considered to be a Guardian of the Galaxy.

Related: Dave Bautista Doesn’t Think The Rock Is A Good Actor

So how exactly did Dave Bautista do it? Namely, but working hard on the audition material with an acting coach. Later in his appearance at Denver Pop Culture Con (via CBR), he explained what ultimately went into that fateful audition. He said:

He built my hopes really low, so I went in with low expectations. I didn't understand Drax. I called my acting coach and said 'I don't get this,' and he flipped out because he's like the biggest fanboy. Anyway, he made me do the research and I found one picture of Drax, and I said 'That looks like me!' He babied me through this whole process, my first and second auditions, my acting coach came with me. I read for Sarah Finn, she's amazing. I read with her and she said 'Don't be nervous. Take your time, we can be here all day.'

While Dave Bautista really needed to land the gig of Drax, it looks like he did have a fair amount of support behind his Guardians and the Galaxy try-out. That includes a warm room, with the casting director encouraging Bautista to take his time and make the most of his audition. It was a formula that worked, and he's been killing it as Drax the Destroyer ever since.

You can see Dave Bautista as Drax in Avengers: Endgame now, and he'll eventually reprise the role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

To 3D Or Not To 3D: Buy The Right Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Ticket

To 3D Or Not To 3D: Buy The Right Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Ticket

Oh friends, they say he’s back again; go go, Godzilla! The world of Titans and man has been brought back into our cinematic lives again, as Godzilla: King of the Monsters is ready to take theaters by storm. In addition to the chaos and destruction it’s ready to leave in its wake, the film has us asking that question we love to trot out in the face of utter desolation: to 3D, or not to 3D?

If you’re curious what our thoughts on Godzilla: King of the Monsters are, check out the official CinemaBlend review of the film. Otherwise, it’s time to go Monarch on this monster movie and analyze just how well director Michael Dougherty’s follow-up to 2014’s Godzilla fares in terms of its third-dimensional experience.

Gigantic Titans fighting it out in the streets on a global scale is one of those delights that 3D has always been meant to draw its audience into. And Godzilla: King of the Monsters has all those thrills that promise to be 3D delights, should the right conversion be in play. Not to mention, all of the destructive activity that is required to free the Titans in this film lends itself to some extra third-dimensional thrills as well. Of course, the best intentions can lead to the worst let-downs.

This isn’t the first time a Godzilla film, or even a Monster-Verse film has been brought to the masses in 3D. So seeing Godzilla: King of the Monsters coming in at slightly below the efforts of those two previous films is kind of a bummer. There’s definitely a thrilling aspect to seeing the film play out in the third dimension, but the age old problem of brightness levels rears its head again to challenge this clash of Titans. That said, there’s still some rather impressive elements in this 3D presentation’s cannon.

When Godzilla: King of the Monsters uses its ability to project items off the screen, it’s pretty damned cool to look at. In particular, there are scenes where guns are drawn by various characters on either side of the conflict, and they feel like they’re pointed right into the audience. Unfortunately, for a movie with debris flying everywhere, explosions going off left and right and a three-headed Titan staring down an army of humans, the effect of objects coming off the screen isn’t used nearly enough. But at the very least, there’s an admirable effort.

Peering into the depths of this particular film’s 3D conversion is an absolute treat, as Godzilla: King of the Monsters definitely takes the time to flesh out the world beyond the characters, and in various settings. From the hallways of a Monarch bunker to underwater depths that Godzilla swims through, you can feel the endless world spanning behind what’s in front of the audience at any given time. As such, characters are sharply drawn with spatial reasoning that sets them apart from each other, as well as the environments they occupy, allowing the characters and the background to have impressive depths of their own.

When you have a movie that takes place mostly in dark, lowly lit settings, the brightness factor is always going to be a challenge. Godzilla: King of the Monsters is one such film, as it bathes its settings in various shades of blue and orange, and takes place during some very cloudy weather events. While mileage always varies on this sort of thing, as the brightness partially depends on how well your theater maintains its projection equipment, Godzilla: King of the Monsters has a brightness problem that extends through most of the film’s running time. Daytime scenes are coated with the usual grey dimming, but the lowly lit scenes are a bit of a chore to watch, and that’s a good majority of the film’s action.

If your eyes happen to get tired, and they might with Godzilla: King of the Monsters, you’ll be tempted to raise your 3D glasses and peek at the screen. Naturally, doing so will show you the blur that makes any 3D enhanced film what it is, as typically the blurrier the film is, the more it’s playing towards the 3D thrills you’d expect. And there’s definitely a healthy blur factor, in particular with the backgrounds that are being shown to the audience. A lot of scenes will have close-ups of characters drawing those figures in slightly more 2D fashion, as if to anchor the action going on in the back.

There are a lot of panning shots and quick cuts of action that mess around with Godzilla: King of the Monster’s 3D presentation, and as such the audience health will be impacted by movement so swift the eyes don’t have a chance to settle. Pair that with an overall dimness in what’s being presented, and you have a recipe for some eyestrain soup that tires the audience when they look at it.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is enough to make one long for the days when IMAX used to do large format presentations in 3D. Alas, you’re most likely to find standard 3D as your only option for third-dimensional thrills, and if you know a theater you trust to keep their rigs bright and tidy, you’d probably have some fun with Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

That said, it’s by far the weakest of the three Monster-Verse films committed to the medium, and as Godzilla Vs. Kong is undoubtedly going to be both a large format and 3D release, there’s a lot to think about before heading into the third dimension yet again. It’s not a bad conversion, but overall, it’s not impressive enough to sing the praises of.

Be sure to visit our full To 3D Or Not To 3D Archive.

Jordan Peele's Inspiration For Us Came From His Own Fear Of Doppelgängers

Jordan Peele's Inspiration For Us Came From His Own Fear Of Doppelgängers

The most terrifying entries into the horror genre are the ones that address our own deepest fears, and Jordan Peele’s second film Us looks to be explore a common anxiety with the tagline “we are our own worst enemy”. What’s more spine-chilling then the idea that we are the villain holding ourselves back from greatness or tearing ourselves down?

While it’s unclear just how Us will tackle this fear and will likely be open to interpretation, repeated viewings and ongoing discussions, Jordan Peele recently revealed how he originally had the idea for his latest movie. In his words:

I’ve been terrified of the idea of doppelgangers since I was a kid. I always had this vision of seeing myself across the subway platform.

Looks like Jordan Peele was inspired by his own fear of doppelgangers for Us. During his visit to Late Night With Seth Meyers, he said he imagined the figure on the other side giving a creepy smile in his direction and decided to go from there. Once he had the idea for a doppelganger family, Peele explained his imagination went crazy and out came Us.

The filmmaker then talked about the challenges that came with directing the family of four as both the typical vacationing bunch introduced in the beginning, with their villainous counterparts who will terrorize and invade their home in Us in the relentlessly-bloody thriller. It was both logistically tough and made for an interesting dynamic on set. Here’s what he said:

Very difficult as it turns out. On the days where the actors are the family, it’s fun and light and when they come in as the scary versions, you just feel the crew and everyone’s ass drops out from under them.

Lupita Nyong’o in particular became a terrifying player on set as she would stay in character as her doppleganger, even when requesting Chex Mix to the director. The actress is both the main protagonist and villain on Us, and assumes a quite creepy voice as the horrifying doppelganger.

You can watch more of Jordan Peele’s interview with Seth Meyers below:

Us comes two years after Get Out, Peele’s directorial debut, which redefined the genre as it touched on socio-political horrors and earned Peele an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. When Us premiered at SXSW, it earned highly positive reactions from audiences who have called it “terrifying”, “unnerving” and Peele “our modern day Hitchcock” (the filmmaker is also reviving The Twilight Zone on CBS All Access come April 1).

The movie also has a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes of 98% ahead of its release this Friday, March 22. Anyone else both incredibly excited and frightened to witness the upcoming Jordan Peele project?

Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow Is Looking At A Fighting With My Family Actress

Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow Is Looking At A Fighting With My Family Actress

With Marvel Studios still holding off on releasing their plans for Phase 4, we currently know very little about the status of the upcoming Black Widow movie - but one thing that's for sure is that the film is developing quickly. Naturally, Scarlett Johansson is attached to star - reprising the role she first played in Iron Man 2 - and Cate Shortland has been brought on to direct. Now we have the latest news about the project, which is that it's adding a second member to its cast: Fighting With My Family star Florence Pugh.

The news on this casting development comes from Variety, though the details sadly end there. Because next to nothing is known about Black Widow (including when the movie is actually set), there are no clues regarding what role Florence Pugh might play, or which side she will be playing when it comes down to good vs. evil. All that we really know is that Pugh is getting a lot of attention right now thanks to her turn in Fighting With My Family, and Marvel Studios decided that they wanted to be in business with her.

Born in Oxford, England, Florence Pugh has been acting since 2014, getting her first role acting opposite Game Of Thrones star Maisie Williams in Carol Morley's feature The Falling. Since then she has found work on both the big and small screens - arguably the biggest project before this year being David Mackenzie's Outlaw King with Chris Pine.

She is now very much a star on the rise, however, and it's in large part thanks to Fighting With My Family - a film that tells the backstory of WWE star Paige and has Florence Pugh as the lead. The movie wasn't exactly a huge box office success, earning just a little over $20 million domestically, but it earned rave reviews, particularly for Pugh's performance. That's the kind of stuff Marvel Studios notices, so this development isn't really that big of a surprise.

Again, nothing is really known about the part that Florence Pugh plays in Black Widow, but it is worth noting that the actress apparently beat out some interesting competition for the part. For example, Variety's Justin Kroll notes that Academy Award-nominee Saorise Ronan was also brought in for the potential gig, but Pugh wound up winning the role.

Jac Schaeffer, who wrote the upcoming Dirty Rotten Scoundrels remake The Hustle, is currently developing the script for Black Widow, and Cate Shortland is set to make the feature has her follow-up to the 2017 thriller Berlin Syndrome. The film is expected to be one of the earliest titles released as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Phase Four (especially because Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is no longer lined up for 2020), so it's likely that we will start hearing more about this one very soon - including more additions to the cast. For all of the latest updates, be sure to keep checking in here on CinemaBlend.

All The Harry Potter Movies, Ranked

All The Harry Potter Movies, Ranked

The Harry Potter franchise, for many individuals, was an integral part of their coming of age. Whether fans were the same age as Harry when he began his wizarding adventure, or a bit younger or older, the tale has amassed an army of fans with J.K. Rowling's novels and a successful film franchise to boot. Now as fans are in the midst of the spinoff Fantastic Beasts franchise, they may question whether the Harry Potter movies are still as good as they remember.

The short answer is "yes," although adult fans who already know the major beats may want to pick and choose which classic movies to revisit, and which ones may not be quite as fun now that they're all grown. Harry Potter's tale is still great, but some of the movies definitely stand out as superior to others. One may think all the films are the same quality, but will quickly realize upon re-watch this is far from the case.

Before diving into this list, it's worth mentioning again this ranked list is for those who know the world of Harry Potter and have already seen the movies. Trying to watch the movies in the ranking they're given for the first time would be absolute madness and is not at all advised by me, or probably any other fan. Watch the whole series through first, then come back to this list and see if you agree with these favorites.

8. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets may have been cool as hell to experience back in the day, but nowadays, it's a huge time suck. The Harry Potter movie clocks in at just under 3 hours in length, and was one of the last attempts to try and adapt even minor details from the corresponding book of the same name. It drags on upon re-watch, especially for audiences who know how it ends.

It was fine for the time it was released and, as mentioned, none of these movies are necessarily "bad." When measured up against its peers, however, there are far more engaging scenes to watch in other movies compared to Ron navigating a giant game of Wizard's Chess. Just remember that Harry unknowingly got Voldemort's diary, and ended up saving his future wife from a Basilisk while also unintentionally destroying a Horcrux. As for the rest, well, it can largely be forgotten.

7. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 isn't just an awkward title, it's a movie with an awkward ending. While the intention of splitting the final book into two separate movies was the right idea from Warner Bros., it required this Harry Potter movie to essentially end at the middle point in the story.

Now, that middle point was Voldemort's stealing of the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's corpse, which was pretty dark and crazy. Still, in the context of what's to come, Harry Potter movie lovers may find themselves a bit too anxious to suffer through all of the depressing parts of this movie knowing the real action is laying in wait in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2. As a consolation, it's one of the best in that it made Part 2 a stronger film, so there's that!

6. Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

Much like in the books, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the Harry Potter movie where the main cast "grew up." Everyone in the cast dealt with their own issues and the fact the magical world at large was unwilling to admit Voldemort had truly returned. This was also the directorial debut of David Yates, who would direct the rest of the movies from then on.

So, what makes this Harry Potter movie a cut above the two previous entries? Beyond the fact the general story shifts to a more adult tone, Dolores Umbridge was one of the best villains in the franchise. It helped that the actress who played her, Imelda Staunton, was a near-perfect casting that really encapsulated what made the headmaster so damn irksome and evil. Watch for Umbridge, stay for the heart-wrenching exit of Sirius Black.

5. Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

At the risk of proving my point with its middling status on this list, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is one of the more underrated titles of the franchise. It's forced to navigate a sort of sexual awakening amongst the characters, and also shows the death of Albus Dumbledore all in the span of two and a half hours, which sounds like a damn near impossible task.

Yet Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince manages to do both well enough, and may even convince some audiences to feel a sense of pity for Draco Malfoy, who never deserved any prior. The Slytherin goes through quite the gauntlet of emotions in this adventure, which is somewhat overshadowed by other events, but tragic to see nonetheless. It's a performance Tom Felton can be proud of, provided he ever re-watches the Harry Potter movies down the road.

4. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone

It's the Harry Potter movie that started it all, and just as enjoyable to watch today as it was back then. Perhaps it's the nostalgia of reliving the movie that showed Hogwarts for the first time, or the wonderful directing of Chris Columbus? There's also that awesome iconic scene of Hagrid's arrival to tell Harry he's a wizard, which remains one of the most memorable moments in this franchise.

Really, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the Harry Potter movie that set the standard for all of the films that followed. It's still very much a kids film, but there's enough maturity to it that older fans won't groan and feel bored living through it once again. At least, not as much as they would while watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and watching Ron Weasley freak out about spiders.

3. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban

This is hands down the best of the young Harry Potter movies, and a lot of that is credit to Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuaron. He expertly edited down the story into a masterful adaptation, which was a challenge the two prior films balked at. It was a great decision that effectively set a standard for the movie world of Harry Potter: that all events directly affecting Harry stayed, and the rest got shuffled out.

It also helps that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban marked a significant change in the main cast. Each actor came into their own as actors, and it was the first film in which Michael Gambon took on the role of Albus Dumbledore. There's so much that is different about Azkaban compared to the first two films it could've caused some massive backlash, but instead, it created one of the best Harry Potter movies of the whole franchise.

2. Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire

It was quite a tall order for a film to tackle Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which featured one of the biggest events to have ever happened at Hogwarts, The Triwizard Tournament. The scale of the film still feels massive upon re-watch, and while the movie left out a good deal of material from the book, it nailed the whole scope and majesty of the tournament rather well.

It's still so satisfying to watch, and fun right up until Cedric Diggory's corpse flops in front of the unassuming crowd at the final event. Some would argue the Harry Potter movie somewhat undersells Voldemort's return with too much emphasis on the tournament, but things get so dark after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, fans revisiting should appreciate the final truly lighthearted adventure in the franchise right before everything goes to shit.

1. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2

As mentioned earlier, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 took the bullet so that this Harry Potter movie could get a lion's share of the glory. It offered a non-stop thrill ride that led up to the final showdown between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. We even got a scene where Mrs. Weasley called Bellatrix a bitch; it's just all so fantastic!

It's not often that fans of a franchise should hit up the final film first when contemplating a re-watch, but starting from the beginning may cause a burn out before hitting this gem. Hit this one up early because it's a great way to reflect on how far the franchise came leading to that grand finale. The book helped, but the movies really brought a fantastical and tragic final sequence together in a way imaginations couldn't quite do justice.

Related: The Harry Potter Cast: A Look Back Then And Now

Those who disagree with the ranking or just want to sing praises of the wonderful Harry Potter universe can do so in the comment section below. Make your opinion heard and then hop over to the other sections on CinemaBlend for all the latest news in movies, television, and pop culture.

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Spider-Man: Far From Home Wants Nick Fury To Be The Anti-Tony Stark

Spider-Man: Far From Home Wants Nick Fury To Be The Anti-Tony Stark

When Marvel Studios officially brought the character of Spider-Man (Tom Holland) over to the MCU, they immediately paired the teenage superhero with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) as a portal into the world and also a mentor. That relationship, which started in Captain America: Civil War, grew throughout Spider-Man: Homecoming… especially when Tony had to save Spidey’s ass on the State Island Ferry. And it took a tragic turn in Avengers: Infinity War, when Tony failed to save Peter from the Snap.

The MCU doesn’t have Tony Stark anymore, but Spider-Man will still have help in his next adventure, Spider-Man: Far From Home. As you guys likely saw in the trailers, Samuel L. Jackson will bring Nick Fury across the “pond” to hijack Peter Parker’s European vacation, and recruit Spider-Man in his battle against the Elementals, dangerous creatures from another universe.

CinemaBlend got the opportunity to visit the set of Spider-Man: Far From Home and interview director Jon Watts, and we learned that he wants Fury in this story to be the complete opposite of what Tony was to Peter in Homecoming. Watts said:

I always wanted to put our idealistic teenage hero Peter Parker against a jaded, world-weary super spy like Nick Fury. I always thought that would be such a great combination of conflict and relationship to explore. That was something that was in my very, very, very first pitch, and my very first meeting at Marvel. I was like, ‘I want to see this kid go up against this bad motherfucker.’ You know? And Tony Stark is like the cool, supportive rich uncle. Nick Fury is more like the mean, new stepdad. And I just thought it would be really fun to see those two worlds collide.

When Nick Fury approaches Spider-Man to help him on this mission, Peter initially refuses. He asks if Thor (Chris Hemsworth) or Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) might be better fits, as Peter still sees himself as that friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man.

But Fury is putting together a team to fight the Elementals, and it will include Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), who appears to be from a multiverse Earth.

While visiting the set, we spent time with Executive Producer Eric Carroll, who elaborated on the decision to bring Nick Fury into Spider-Man’s corner of the MCU, and how Fury will fit. He told us:

One of the themes we wanted to play with was youth. It's the timeless theme of these coming-of-age movies. Why do adults operate in the grey? Spider-Man is like, ‘This is easy. Let's just do the right thing.’ Or, ‘Let's just tell people what's going on and everyone will be okay.’ And Nick Fury's like, ‘That's not how the world works, kid.’ So, [Peter] just gets wrapped up in this sort of spy adventure, being driven by Fury and getting more and more caught between how he wants to operate and how he's being told he should operate.

This led to a big question on the set: Who is Nick Fury working for? S.H.I.E.L.D. is a complicated organization, and Fury has been off the grid for some time. Eric Carroll didn’t address the situation directly, but instead told us:

Nick's still doing what he does -- operating out of the shadows. I think he probably gets some funding from his buddy Tony [Stark], and stuff like that, to keep up this thing. There's even a line in the movie where he's kind of like, ‘Any other interesting case files come in?’ So it sort of seems like he's just trying to keep the planet safe in the way he does, which is looking out for these sort of extra-normal events. And making sure he and whatever team he puts together is there when the... you know.

He likely has a direct connection to all surviving Marvel heroes, and that would include Captain Marvel. But for this mission, he wants Spider-Man, whether Spider-Man wants it or not.

Take a look at the teaming of Peter Parker and Nick Fury in the latest Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer:

We will have even more from our set visit to Spider-Man: Far From Home. The movie hits theaters on July 2. Are you planning on checking it out?

Is Shazam! OK For Kids?

Is Shazam! OK For Kids?

The following contains some minor SPOILERS for Shazam!

For a long time, comic books were viewed as a medium geared toward kids, but the movies based on them certainly have not been. While most aren’t as mature as Deadpool or Logan, you probably still don’t want to take really little ones to watch their favorite heroes turn to dust in Avengers: Infinity War. That was mentally scarring even for some of the grown-ups.

Part of the appeal of Shazam! as a character is that the hero is actually a young kid who gains superpowers. Even when Shazam looks like Zachary Levi, he's still mentally the same kid. You might think that this means the movie is more accessible for younger children than some of the other recent films of the genre, and while that’s largely true, there are a few elements that parents are going to want to be aware of before taking kids to see this one.

Shazam! is absolutely a movie that many kids can enjoy and it will probably work for a wider cross section of the younger audience than most superhero movies. However, the important distinction is that while Shazam! is largely going to be ok for kids, if you have the impression that Shazam! is for kids, we should clear that up right now.

As with every superhero movie, there is a lot of action that comes from the hero. Shazam and the villain Doctor Sivana fight each other in multiple bombastic, over-the-top sequences. While bodies go through walls and get hit by cars, the action is almost entirely bloodless, as is standard for PG-13 superhero movies. Shazam gets a bit of blood around his nose after being punched in the face by the supervillain, as a way to show the bad guy is actually capable of hurting the otherwise invulnerable hero.

However, while a lot of the action is what you're likely familiar with, the movie isn't without darker, and potentially scarier, elements. The film actually opens with a fairly visceral car wreck. One of the passengers is shown to be seriously injured and their ultimate fate isn't revealed until later in the movie.

In addition, Mark Strong’s villain Doctor Sivana works alongside physical manifestations of the Seven Deadly Sins. They are represented as a collection of monstrous creatures with demonic faces. Young children might be truly terrified by these monsters. The recent character Venom comes to mind as a comparison, probably because one of the monsters has an incredibly long tongue that's meant to creep you out, and many of the creatures have some disturbing teeth as well. This image isn't quite what you get from the Sins, but it's close. If the picture below is too disturbing for your child, then a few parts of Shazam! might be as well.

However, beyond what the creatures look like, what they do is equally disturbing, The Sins kill an entire conference room full of people at one point. One victim is thrown from a window dozens of stories in the air, and we watch the body go falling out of sight. We see several others get killed by the creatures from the other side of a translucent wall. Their bodes are thrown up against the wall and we hear them screaming. Again, there's no blood, but what's happening to them is being made perfectly clear.

I’m not sure if the way we see these characters die is inherently any more violent than characters in other superhero movies, but the juxtaposition feels far greater because so much of the rest of the film is silly fun. These potentially scary moments feel that much more violent because you didn't see them coming. I could certainly see some kids hiding their faces to avoid seeing some of this. Shazam! director David F. Sandberg compares the scares and the violence to the original Jurassic Park, and that's probably a fair comparison. If the viewer can handle watching a dinosaur eat somebody, as well as the tension of velociraptors stalking children, then they can handle Shazam!'s darker moments.

Beyond the violence, there are a few other elements parents should be aware of. Shazam! is a funny movie, and while most of the humor is perfect for kids, some of that humor, as is often the case with young teenagers, is sexual in nature. During the sequence when Billy Batson is first testing his grown-up body, he uses his new adult look to get by the doorman at a strip club. He comes out with chicken wings, but all his friend Freddy wants to know is what he saw inside. The same location makes a second appearance later in the film as well and several kids end up inside the club. The camera never goes inside the building either time, so we never see anything, but references to what can be seen are certainly made. Freddy takes his time exiting in the latter sequence. Somehow he ended up with some glitter on his face.

Another scene played for laughs sees our two main characters purchase beer at a convenient store, since Zachary Levi clearly looks older than 21. For what it’s worth, both characters take one sip of the beer, spit it out because they think it tastes awful and go back to buy soda, energy drinks and junk food.

Finally, we have the question of language. As a PG-13 movie, Shazam! is allowed to use profanity in a limited fashion and it certainly does. A few characters do use profanity but it is primarily, if not entirely, the adult characters (I don't recall hearing the teen or child characters using words they should not), who tend to use it to punctuate lines of dialogue at highly emotional moments. The movie never uses any F-bombs, although one minor character does break into a profanity laced diatribe near the end of the movie that clearly would include the F-word if you could hear it. Because the scene takes place as part of a television news broadcast inside the movie, everything gets bleeped.

Everybody's kids are different, and so how much any of these issues are actually problems will certainly not be the same across the board. Still, it's best to go in knowing what you're going to get.