A One Mann’s Movies review of “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” (2023).
In 2019, “Shazam!” had its tongue firmly in its cheek, generally taking a snide-eye view of superhero capers. Now four years later, the sequel, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods”, with the same director and lead writers, finally appears. And it’s really more of the same-old – tired – same-old.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Billy/Shazam (Asher Angel/Zachary Levi) is happily living with his (now) superhero foster siblings in Philadelphia. But the Gods, who had their power stolen by the wizard (Djimon Hounsou), want them back. Sisters of Atlas, Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu), recover and restore the sceptre of power and visit Philly to extract the God-like powers from the meddling kids.
Certification:
UK: 12; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC: “Moderate fantasy violence, threat, sex references, implied strong language.”).
Talent:
Starring: Zachary Levi, Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler.
Directed by: David F. Sandberg.
Written by: Henry Gayden, Chris Morgan & Bill Parker.
Twitter Handle: #ShazamMovie.
A gathering of minor super-heroes. (Source: DC).
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” Review:
Positives:
- Acting:
- There’s charm and good-humour behind Zachary Levi’s performance here that transfers from the first film. Some of the comedy sequences are funny, such as a dream sequence dating Wonder Woman (when you see lots of Gal Gadot-like shoulders and thighs but never actually see her face!).
- Rachel Zegler. Wow. What a screen presence she has. If you thought that “West Side Story” might be a one-off, think again. Such beauty; such grace; such talent.
- Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu have a blast as two ‘old dames’ (well, they have 132 years between them) kicking butt in an action flick. Those scenes must have been a hoot to film!
- There’s a nice cameo appearance towards the end of the movie that I wasn’t expecting.
- A few of the one-liners made me laugh.
Negatives:
- It’s fine. It’s OK. But its nothing special. I sometimes speculate what would have happened if a film like this had slipped through a wormhole in space and emerged on release in summer 1977. We would all have gone “WOW – this is unbelievable, stupendous, riveting” and probably still be talking about it 40 years later. There would be Shazam! conventions every year in every continent. But it hasn’t, and we have had many great sci-fi/fantasy spectaculars and 15 years worth of Marvel and DC films to set the apathy bar at a considerable height. So it takes something more than this to move my interest needle any more. I actually found myself dozing off for a moment or two during this one, which is never a good sign.
Triggers
It’s a “12A”, but as in the first “Shazam!” movie, there are some disturbingly grisly monsters in this one that might scare younger children whose parents say “Oh, it’s a comedy/action film, it’ll be OK”.
Monkey?
There are two monkeys. One mid-credit, making fun of DC naming conventions, and another post-credit featuring a blast from the past.
Summary Thoughts on “Shazam! Fury of the Gods”
After “Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania” and now this, I’m really starting to think I am over these types of films. This is slightly less earnest and po-faced than that Marvel offering, but I would not rush to watch this one again either. If you have young teens in the family, and want a vaguely entertaining park-brain-at-the-door DC family film, then this might fit the bill. But for everyone else…
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Trailer for “Shazam! Fury of the Gods”
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIc671o9yCI .
