Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Billy Batson and his foster siblings, who transform into superheroes by saying "Shazam!", are forced to get back into action and fight the Daughters of Atlas, who they must stop from using a weapon that could destroy the world.
- Released: 2023-06-01
- Runtime: 120 minutes
- Genre: Action, Comedy, Fantasy
- Stars: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Grace Caroline Currey, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Lucy Liu, Helen Mirren, Rachel Zegler, Adam Brody, Meagan Good, Ross Butler, D.J. Cotrona, Cooper Andrews, Marta Milans, Djimon Hounsou, Patrick Reidy, P.J. Byrne, Kelvin Hodge, Rizwan Manji, Chloe Camp, Gal Gadot
- Director: David F. Sandberg
Comments
- srdjandelic-88980 - 21 April 2024
On what they spend money this days?!?!?!
No word....film industry lost all the mind.... I was hoping for some, and just little bit of entertainment....but no....they don't know what to do so they give everyone powers and movie whent to shiiittt... It's like u play a video game and u r awesome character, powers, weapons and stuff and there is also 100000000 others with same or better..... That's why Super man is amazing....most powerful, cool, alone, humble....not this garage today they make.... Can't belive that they got paid 4 it....like on set nobody has a brain, there's heads are filled with sand.... Don't waist your most valuable asset, time....on this rubbish. - tdxcwt - 14 January 2024
Shazam! Fury of the Viewer
This is a very bland, lazy and cliched superhero movie. Every ounce of originality from the first one has been tossed aside and banality has replaced it. Even the costumes are not as good. There are plenty of overused and oversized cgi monsters creating "menace" without ever feeling truly anyone was in danger or peril. The acting talent is wasted throughout and many performances feel phoned in. The action scenes could have been directly pinched from the original 1978 Superman movie, a film of its time, but nearly 50 years later we expect to experience something much more daring and original. Regurgitating bridges falling, sports stadiums and tall buildings being smashed by giant cgi dragons etc wastes the premise of beings with super powers being able to do unimaginable battles with gods in fantastical realms. It all looked a bit like cost cutting and had strong big, red, cheesy whiffs of Superman IV or the 70s Spider-man tv show. I hope they get the chance to redeem themselves with a third and final instalment. - fernandoschiavi - 2 January 2024
Extremely cliché and predictable, "Fury of the Gods" action does not captivate, but succeeds in the way its comedy takes on due to its charismatic characters and their dynamic
For the script, the film features the return of Henry Gayden and the arrival of Chris Morgan, known for writing several films in the Fast and Furious franchise. The duo creates an engaging dynamic that covers different stages of growth, from the childhood innocence of Darla (Faithe Herman) and Eugene (Ian Chen), through the arrival of hormones in Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) and Pedro (D. J. Cotrona), to the fears of early adulthood with Mary (Grace Caroline Currey). This diversity of perspectives and interests enriches Billy Batson's coming-of-age journey while giving his brothers well-defined personalities, tastes, and goals. A feature that becomes even more fun when this misfit family uses their powers, giving the "superhero" factor a more personal character that makes the team captivating - which justifies the choice of a "Fast & Furious" screenwriter for the project.
In addition to Billy, the highlight is Freddy and Mary, the oldest and owners of some of the richest exchanges in the production. The first for experiencing her own teenage drama between flirting and bullying at school, and the second for the dilemmas of becoming an adult. Relationships that find a new perspective even on the tired cliché of the "orphan hero". The young core shines especially in terms of comedy, exuding a lightness and comic timing that makes their adult counterparts envious, who largely fail at playing children in adult bodies. The same can be said of Djimon Hounsou, who finds his own voice for the Wizard Shazam and stars in one of the most hilarious moments in the DCEU without losing sight of the character's importance.
It's great to see superhero Darla (Meagan Good) be as naive as her child counterpart (Faithe Herman), just as the heroic version of Freddy (Adam Brody) tries to compensate for the insecurities his teenage self (Jack Dylan Grazer) presents. And both the text and the actors themselves know how to take advantage of this, making you see the same character and his mannerisms in different bodies - which is still a lot of fun. The big exception is Shazam himself. When Billy shouts the magic word and transforms, he doesn't just gain an adult body. In fact, he transforms into Zachary Levi himself - which is annoying after a point. Firstly, because the actor seems to be almost on automatic, opting to deliver an exaggerated and almost stupid performance that becomes tiring in a short time. More than that, it is a type of behavior that does not match what we saw in teenage Billy. Without his powers, the hero seems to have matured much more. Although he only appears in a few moments, he is always very serious and focused on what needs to be done and without Levi's crazy attitude. In the first film, this silly exaggeration works because Billy is like that too. He is an immature teenager who deals with all the problems in his life with jokes and sarcasm. In "Fury of the Gods", however, the young man is about to turn 18 and has matured - but all of this is discarded when he becomes Shazam. He's funny at first, but he gets tired very quickly, even more so when the rest of the team makes this transition in a much more competent way.
The plot of "Fury of the Gods" is not at all innovative or original, but the main problem is the lack of depth of its characters. Even though it is cliché, if the script had been concerned with creating a minimum of empathy for the characters, the film's performance could have been a little better. However, there is no significant development in any of them, so we don't care what happens. This also applies to the production's villains who, despite having veteran actresses like Lucy Liu (Kalypso) and Hellen Mirren (Hespera), are shallow and predictable. The formula of humor with jokes present in the first film continues on the scene, but the script doesn't know how to balance comedy and action to make it something fun.
Fortunately, it doesn't end up being the joke we saw in "Thor: Love and Thunder", as "Shazam 2" still has some funny moments. But most of the jokes come at the wrong time. The premise of the film talks about teamwork between Shazam and his brothers; however, his family loses importance throughout the narrative until it becomes completely in the background. If this inconsistency were not enough, some situations are disposable and do not contribute anything to the development of the story, such as the appearance of monstrous unicorns that like sweets, for example.
It's a shame that the superhero side doesn't receive the same whimsy. This mission pits the Shazam family against Hespera (Helen Mirren), Calypso (Lucy Liu) and Anthea (Rachel Zegler), daughters of the Greek god Atlas. The trio arrives to recover the deities' magic, even if it puts the heroes and the world at risk. Firstly, this plot draws attention for repeating the dynamic beat of the invasion of Earth. A cliché that could be overcome with a creative development, which would be possible thanks to the magical context that unites heroes and villains, in addition to the personal nature of the mission for the villains. But what follows is a waste on both counts.
The clashes between heroes and villains are repeated to the point of repeating the same dynamics from start to finish. It is no exaggeration to say that most fights are slow and not very urgent to the point of tiring. This even affects the grand final battle, which despite being neat and fun, arrives so late that it may not excite anyone who hasn't bought the adventure up to that point. The disregard for action is so great that the antagonists' most memorable moments are barely linked to this aspect. At the end of the session, it is easier to remember comedic scenes from Helen Mirren or the cute teenage romance in which Rachel Zegler is involved than the threats or challenges proposed by them. This difficulty in making the heroic side exciting is especially frustrating due to the possibilities contained in "Shazam!". With connections to mythology, the hero and his universe could easily travel along unique paths. A thesis brought by Fury of the Gods himself, which delves into the magical side of these characters thanks to a slightly larger budget than the previous film.
If on the one hand the film's action does not captivate as intended, "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" succeeds in the way its comedy takes on. There is a tone of parody and nonsense that characterizes the sequel's greatest triumph, with a similar flavor to superhero parodies before the studios' forays into shared universes. This style also promotes a more assertive dynamic for the range of characters, especially for the villains and the insertion of Greek mythology. Everything is done with a fun, ironic and conscious arrangement that needs to be ridiculous, and Helen Mirren is one of the biggest surprises within this cynical approach that doesn't want to be taken seriously. The film greatly increases the scale of what its predecessor presented and, perhaps for that reason, it seems to be much more of a standard superhero film than the surprise we saw in 2019. It's not a problem, but it's noticeable that it doesn't It has the same shine as before. The original adventure is almost a children's fantasy: the story of a child who discovers that he is capable of becoming a super-powered adult. In this sequence, on the other hand, this tone is left a little aside to tell the great story of the daughters of Atlas threatening the heroes and the world itself. With this, the film remains more within the box of the most standard films of the genre. And, although it doesn't bring anything new, it works well within what it proposes.
As it seeks to be a bigger film, "Fury of the Gods" has a more difficult task with the characters, and in this sense, it fails to organize screen time and in the treatment of the arcs, which are divided between drama and comedy. Observing all the intentions of the premise and how it is executed, it is possible to enjoy it better in isolated sections than as a whole, and a moment that illustrates this is in the final act, where a conflict with great visual and melodramatic appeal is concentrated, but which loses points in its outcome thanks to resolutions stuck in convenience. In this section, this is when the approach also disconnects from the more unpretentious tone of the comedy and paints moving contours, even though what will come next is logical.
On the story side, without revealing exactly what happens, it is somewhat predictable, including its plot twists (which are hardly surprising). However, "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" has more problems with the pacing of the story than with the construction of the story itself. The rhythm of moments of high action, mixed with stories that seem to be halfway through, especially Billy's family dynamics, make the film get lost in itself. Several themes could have been explored further, such as Billy's relationship with his adoptive parents, which is almost resolved 'with three knocks' to hear the word mother in one of the moments that anticipates the film's big event. This production does not stand out within the general universe of superheroes, and not even within the DC Comics universe it manages to be the most memorable. Even though the surroundings are a tangle of clichés without much excitement, we have here as our center one of the most fun and charismatic families in the superhero multiverse, which guarantees good fun.
