Humor aside, obviously.
It just struck me as odd; I enjoyed this film, and it was well acted by all who starred in it. And yes, Shazam is technically an immature 14-years-old kid with a chip on his shoulder in the films, so his behavior, in that context, makes sense. However... he was stated in film to have an ability which was supposed to surpass all that: the Wisdom of Solomon, supposedly the wisest human being to ever live, to the point of where he was considered divine. This power, by all accounts, gives Billy "excellent mental acuity and nearly infallible wisdom, including an innate understanding of virtually all known languages and sciences."
In the comics, Billy has used this ability to solve complex equations, make highly accurate intuitive guesses based on limited data, and have an almost clairvoyant insight that lets him turn disadvantages into advantages in battle. But we NEVER see this used out-rightly in the film! There are several opportunities for him to do so, too, but they are never capitalized on:
- He has Freddy help him test his powers, which is basically guessing and trial and error (granted, again, this was Funny, and both gave Freddy a purpose and a reason for their friendship to build... but considering Solomon's Wisdom should logically encapsulate at least some knowledge about his other divine powers, it makes little sense).
He acts somewhat irresponsibly with his powers, charging people for selfies and such. He doesn't even use this new wisdom to try and find his mother, even though as Billy he had run out of leads previously.
He doesn't know which doors to go through in the Rock of Eternity (again, comedy happens when he opens the doors, but still...)
It's Mary that tips him off to Sivana's weakness. (Though, to his credit, he does show cleverness realizing they were the source of his power, as well as in luring Envy out of Sivanna).
All the other Marvels get their abilities and immediately show far more acuity with their specialized power-sets than he did.
Dude can't even figure out how to use the bathroom in his Hero form.
Again, I recognize a lot of the comedy of the film and the effectiveness of the others was built on these "daft man-child moments," but it seems like they severely underplayed the ability.
Was there some in-universe reason for this (other than the "rule of funny", of course)?