Shazam! Fury of the Gods will have a hard time convincing audiences about its necessity – even with balanced humor and nice comic book details, its story and characters are mediocre at best, making it one of the many forgettable superhero flicks of the past few years… but it has a soul, which kind of saves it.
In 2019, “Shazam!” was a game changer for the DCEU. It was funny, it was fresh, it was everything Warner Bros. needed at the time. Although the box office numbers do not indicate any loss of interest towards the superhero genre, the latest reviews by critics and audiences show a higher demand for quality storytelling and real character development, on the side of Marvel and DC alike. It’s been over a decade since Marvel turned the film industry upside down with the start of their cinematic universe, so it’s only natural that people get tired at some point. It seems that might be true for the creators, too, since they are desperately trying to sell us movies made by the same recipe, with some minor changes. Unfortunately, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” falls into this exact category, as it feels like an unnecessary placeholder between the first and the planned third installment of a trilogy.
It’s been 2 years since Billy Batson (Asher Angel/Zachary Levi) shared his power with his foster brothers and sisters. While the kids are trying to prove their worth in Philadelphia, a new magical threat appears: Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu), daughters of the Greek Titan Atlas, acquire the magic staff of the last wizard (Djimon Hounsou), previously broken in half by Billy. As if a whole movie revolving around the solving of somewhat fabled problem by our hero wasn’t enough, further nonsensical story elements include a bridge collapsing just because it’s necessary for the story, questionable romances, and a rarely convincing depiction of Greek mythology. Surprisingly, despite all of this, the movie works.
Although its villains do not originate from the comics, the film does a great job reminding us that there is indeed a DC universe in existence, with constant references to the Justice League and several little details pointing towards something bigger. Like the first movie, the sequel once again shows the world that DC does not always mean a dark, moody universe, but it has exceptional, witty humor.
Fury of the Gods also does a bad job at managing its many characters, with the performances ranging between average and laughable in the case of some main characters and especially extras (not Zachary Levi, he is still great in the role). Action scenes are far from what fans of Shazam would expect, usually worsened by poor CGI and boring choreography.
Don’t get me wrong: “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is a very fun ride, for the most part. It just requires you to forget how good the first film was, which is not an easy task. Luckily, there was a whole lot of soul put into it, even if it’s just a fraction of what it was 4 years ago.
