In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Kazaam has been sealed up for thousands of years, until one day he is accidentally freed by Max, who is on the run from a local gang. Kazaam explains that he belongs to Max until he grants him three wishes, but what Max really wants is to get to know his estranged father. When the genie, who considers trying his hand at a music career, forgets about his young master, Max is attacked by villainous club owner Malik..........Shaq had a couple of years in the nineties where the marketing bods saw something I the brand that was Shaq. First there was his silly game, Shaq-Fu, which was a Mortal Kombat rip off, then there was his illustrious music career, which in turn gave him the chance not only to star, but to executive produce his two 'big' movies.Steel came after this, and is decidedly better than this, but there is something really weird about Kazaam, it's bad, sometimes hilariously bad, but the studio must have had a little faith in the film, being released in the summer, just a couple of weeks after Independence Day.So Max finds Shaq, hates his mother and step dad to be, finds his real dad, who hates him, and in turn, influences Shaq to hate everybody via the power of rap, and his magical boom box.The first wish Max should have asked for was to repair that distracting crooked tooth to be corrected, and to get some manners, because Max has to be one of the most unbearable child characters I've seen in a while. He's abhorrent to his mother, who appears to be in a totally different film, and he looks up to a man who wouldn't give him the time of day.Shaq cannot act for a toffee, here it seems that he was just trying to showcase his rappin' talents and hope that the two combined would catapult him to the big time.It didn't,And the fact that Max falls the equivalent of the Chrysler building through the film begs the question, is all this happening in his subconscious? Die he really see a man take a shower in his own room?Clearly not as horrid as most say, but it's still pretty terrible.

First off, I will not sit here and say that the movie was perfect.However, I feel like everybody did great in their roles for their character portrayals. Personally, giving the overall movie a rating of 2.6 is a little harsh,don't ya think?It wasn't that bad,but then again I enjoy ALL movies and I only know of a few that was a waste of film!It all depends on the viewer and their perspective of things.Im an artist so naturally Im a little more open minded than some,but honestly,what did you TRULY expect from this movie?What would YOU have done differently?This is a general question.For me,once you can answer that, then you'll see how ridiculous panning this movie is.lol ^_^

The movie Kazaam featuring the multi-talented Shaquille O'Neal should be the standard which all movies are held to. Since originally viewing this wonderful work of cinema 15 years ago, I can say it has definitely held up to the test of time. I've yet to see a movie that even comes close to achieving the depth of character, raw emotion, and beauty that Kazaam portrays. Shaq is definitely a triple threat -- basketball, acting, and singing, what's next!? I can't wait to see more from this truly awe-inspiring man. This film has definitely slid under the radar of Hollywood critics, which I see as a blessing. I'd hate for this movie to get wildly popular and lose its innocence. Once I have children of my own, this will be one of the few movies I allow them to watch since it preaches such good morals & values. If you're debating whether to watch this film or not -- DO IT! Your life will never be the same in the best way possible.

Quite simply I want to say that this shouldn't be in the bottom 100 movies as voted by the users of IMDb. It is a great heart warming movie, perfect for the whole family. There are many many many other movies out there so much worse than this movie. It made me laugh and that's exactly what a good comedy should do.This movie was hilarious! A rapping genie who knows kung fu and lives in a boom box played by none other than Shaquille O'Neal, what more could you want in a comedy?! I mean sure some of it was cringe worthy and it's not exactly Oscar material, but overall it was a great laugh. Anyone who wants to dis this movie needs to lighten up a little. Shaq has the greatest sense of humor!