Certificate: 12A (moderate fantasy violence, threat, sex references, implied strong language). Running Time: 130 mins. UK Distributor: Warner Bros
WHO’S IN IT?
Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Adam Brody, Rachel Zegler, Ross Butler, Ian Chen, Meagan Good, Faithe Herman, Lucy Liu, Djimon Hounsou, Helen Mirren, Grace Fulton, D.J. Cotrona, Jovan Armand, Marta Milans, Cooper Andrews, Rizwan Manji, Lotta Losten
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
David F. Sandberg (director), Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan (writers), Peter Safran (producer), Christophe Beck (composer), Gyula Pados (cinematographer), Michel Aller (editor)
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Teenager Billy Batson (Angel), as his adult superhero alter-ego Shazam (Levi), faces off against a trio of vengeful gods…
WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS?
When the first Shazam! arrived back in 2019, it was right in the middle of an identity crisis for DC’s Extended Universe. The franchise had gotten off to a rocky start following the heavily divisive reactions to darker-toned films like Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, with only a few bright spots including the first Wonder Woman film and Aquaman, but even those were overshadowed by how inconsistently brooding this universe had already been established as. All of that made Shazam!, the light-hearted Big-meets-Superman family comedy, a genuine beam of much-needed lightness that was warm, likeable, funny, and with a great deal of heart to carry itself, which a number of DC movies following right after, from Wonder Woman 1984 to Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), also adopted for their own.
It’s only fitting, then, that the sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods comes slap-bang in the centre of yet another DC identity crisis. With new head honchos James Gunn and Peter Safran planning a much more consistent cinematic universe, increasingly little room is being made for many of the previous DC franchise holdouts. Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck are out as Superman and Batman respectively, Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam is pretty much toast – ironically, because the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe really did change – and The Flash (out later this year) is set to shake things up considerably. Whether or not there’ll be space left for other heroes like Shazam in a fresh(ish) new universe is currently a mystery, but even if this is the last time we’ll see him in this current format, he’s at least going out on a pretty decent, if not completely airtight, note.
Taking place some time after the events of the first movie, we pick up on teenager Billy Batson (Asher Angel) – who had previously been chosen by the sorcerer Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) to be his superpowered champion (Zachary Levi), which he turns into whenever he shouts the sorcerer’s name – as he and his foster siblings, who had been granted the same superpowers in the last film, are trying to perform heroic duties in the city, but aren’t having much success. In addition to causing a bit more damage than they start out with, some of them have started becoming irresponsible with their powers, including Billy’s handicapped buddy Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) who, as his adult alter-ego (Adam Brody), is getting an ego too big for his spandex. It’s not long before a new threat arrives, in the form of Hespera (Helen Mirren), Kalypso (Lucy Liu) and Anthea (Rachel Zegler), the daughters of the Greek god Atlas who are understandably miffed about their father’s powers running through the bodies of children, and seek to reclaim them in order to revitalise their desolate realm. So, can Shazam rally his teammates and overcome their adolescent mindsets? Well, it wouldn’t be much of a superhero movie if they didn’t, but they nonetheless set out to save the day anyway.
The film not only has much of the same cast, but also a lot of the same creative team – including director David F. Sandberg and writer Henry Gayden (who here is joined by Fast & Furious regular Chris Morgan) – so, in a lot of ways, Shazam! Fury of the Gods does aesthetically and tonally feel like it’s from the same continuity as the first film. However, it is one of those sequels that goes a lot bigger than before, which does remove some of the self-contained nature that helped to make the previous film a standout, but the larger scale does make for reasonably entertainment on the big screen. Much of the light-hearted humour is retained, often resulting in some very funny sequences that many of the actors, including Levi who continues to have a blast as the literal kid in a superhero’s body, exemplify with some heavily in-tune performances. The fantastical elements are also dialled way up, with the deeper delve into Greek mythology and the mighty (but sometimes ill-defined) powers of these villains allowing for greater opportunities to show off a wider range of effects and creative set-pieces, including ones that include a pretty cool-looking dragon which, instead of breathing fire, makes you see your biggest fears.
There’s also a nice bit of heart to it as well, which despite not being as strong as in the first film, does still make you really like a lot of these characters, and even adds some further dimensions to them as well. Shazam forms a fun unit with his equally adolescent heroes, and it is enjoyable seeing them work together and genuinely trying to be the heroes that they want to be seen as. There’s also some good scenes between Jack Dylan Grazer and Rachel Zegler (who initially disguises herself as a high school student), both of whom have some lively and sweet chemistry that further proves both of their radiant star power, particularly Zegler who is rapidly becoming a household name after her breakout turn in West Side Story. As for the other villains, while Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu go for comfortably hammy performances (which you kind of have to if you’re Oscar-winning actor Helen Mirren in a big-budget superhero movie), there’s a bit of humility and grace to their characters which can be surprising at times, although it’s not long before at least one of them completely adopts the straightforward villain role for most of the second half.
However, there are times when its lighter elements do tend to feel a bit too much, to where it starts to become a little obnoxious. While a good chunk of the comedy does work, some gags tend to rely solely on an actor overexaggerating their lines rather than the line itself, which can get a little irritating after a whole since you’d rather they just get on with it rather than ramble for five minutes. It’s also one of those movies where the climax tends to go on, and on, and on, until much of the action starts to get repetitive and even dull (which is shocking to say about something that features the main hero punching a dragon), with parts that could easily have been edited out to get it under two hours. Some of the final moments also include a surprise appearance that’s bound to excite DC fans – which, sadly, has already been spoiled by the film’s marketing department – but their incorporation into the moment comes extremely randomly, and is bound to annoy those who strongly dislike anything that involves the classic deux ex machina device.
It definitely isn’t perfect, and isn’t quite on the same level as its predecessor, but Shazam! Fury of the Gods does have enough fun moments to give the audience a decent time, and if this is indeed the last we’ll see of this particular superhero in DC’s plans going forward, then it was at the very least fun while it lasted during yet another DC identity crisis.
SO, TO SUM UP…
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a decent superhero sequel that goes bigger with its humour, fantasy and heart, though not always for the better, regularly teetering on the edge of being obnoxious and overly indulgent in its effects-heavy climax.
