“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” has come and gone with a low box office opening weekend which could be signs of superhero fatigue from audiences. Here are our thoughts on the film:
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is a generic but heartfelt and comedic superhero film that serves as a good time at theaters but nothing more.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Story
Two years after the events of the first film, Billy and the rest of the Shazamily are out saving the day but slowly drifting apart. The Daughters of Atlas are after the Shazamily to steal back the abilities stolen from their father and regrow their home in Philadelphia. The Shazamily band together with the help of the Wizard and their parents to stop the Daughters of Atlas in an interesting battle.
The Good
The first noticeable good thing was the lining up of Billy and Shazam. One of my main complaints about the first “Shazam!” was how Billy and Shazam felt like two different people which just didn’t align with the character. This film made Billy a little more lighthearted and definitely aligned his personality with grown counterpart better.
The two standouts of this film were Freddy and Anthea. Both Jack Dylan Grazer and Rachel Zegler had amazing chemistry and stole every scene they were in. While the lying about who you are or where you come from story is a trope, Grazer and Zegler did a good job with what they were given.
A lot more screen time was given to grown up members of the Shazamily which was really cool to see. Getting to see them in action and showing off their powers as a unit was awesome, but also seeing them as a team and interacting personally in their lair showed a great dynamic.
Helen Mirren also appeared to have a great time with this film and not only showed her character’s pure power but her own comedic chops.
The scene that definitely hit the hardest was Billy’s death. It got an actual tear out of me and did actually capitalize on the stakes of the movie. Of course his death was resolved with Wonder Woman reviving him which was also a great cameo.
The main upside to this film was its comedy and lightheartedness. Some of the jokes may have been a little corny or campy but at the end of day, they brought laughs for a fun movie.
The Bad
While this film was enjoyable, it is not worth remembering or watching again. There was nothing special or intriguing that made you want to return to it or even be curious about the future.
While I am a fan of Lucy Liu, I did not like her performance in this movie. Some of the line deliveries were just plain awful and sounded like she hated this project. It was also extremely obvious from not only her first scene but the original trailers that she had her own agenda compared to her sisters making her reveal not suprising.
The last problem is that now that the DCEU is ending, the viewing of this movie felt pointless. It finally felt like the DCEU was gaining traction again, however I am still pleased that James Gunn is essentially rebooting.
Review
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is a fun time to watch a mindless ride of comedy and action, but falls flat in comparison to some of its other DCEU predecessors. “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is 7/10.