Movie Review: ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’

What is the plot of ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods?’

Following the occasions of 2019’s ‘Shazam!,’ Billy Batson (Asher Angel), Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), and their foster siblings can remodel into highly effective superheroes utilizing the magic phrases “Shazam.” But with the Wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) lacking, when the daughters of Atlas (Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler) return to Earth to say again their magic, it’s as much as Billy, Freddy, and their brothers and sisters to avoid wasting the wizard and cease the evil sisters.

Who is within the forged of ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods?’

‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ as soon as once more stars Asher Angel and Zachary Levi as Billy Batson/Shazam, Jack Dylan Grazer and Adam Brody as Freddy Freeman, Meagan Good and Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley, Ross Butler and Ian Chen as Eugene Choi, D.J. Cotrona and Jovan Armand as Pedro Pena, Grace Caroline Currey as Mary Bromfield, and Djimon Hounsou because the Wizard Shazam. Joining the sequel are Oscar winner Helen Mirren (‘The Queen’) as Hespera, Lucy Liu (‘Kill Bill Vol. 1’) as Kalypso, and Rachel Zegler (‘West Side Story’) as Anthea.

(L to R) Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy, Zachary Levi as Shazam, Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla and D.J. Cotrona as Super Hero Pedro in New Line Cinema’s motion journey ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods,’a Warner Bros. Pictures launch. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.

Initial Thoughts

While ‘Fury of the Gods’ is a extra mature installment than the unique, it loses a few of its magic and allure alongside the best way introducing a number of new characters, however not having sufficient time to adequately discover all of them. Helen Mirren and Rachel Zegler are welcomed additions to the forged, and whereas Zachary Levi, Jack Dylan Grazer, Meagan Good, and Grace Caroline Curry all give good performances, it’s not sufficient to beat a sophisticated script and undefined VFX characters within the third act.

(L to R) Zachary Levi as Shazam and Helen Mirren as Hespera in New Line Cinema’s motion journey ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures launch. Photo Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Related Article: Zachary Levi Talks ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ and Playing a Superhero

The Story and Direction

Through no fault of its personal, ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ arrives in theaters considerably useless on arrival, as the whole DCEU will probably be rebooted into the DC Universe, overseen by James Gunn and Peter Safran, after the discharge of this summer season’s ‘The Flash.’ While we all know that we’ll not see Henry Cavill return as Superman, and ‘Wonder Woman 3’ isn’t any lengthy in growth, the way forward for DCEU actors like Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, and even Zachary Levi are considerably in query. But, since new DC co-chairman Peter Safran is a producer on ‘Fury of the Gods’ and ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,’ there could be an opportunity to see these actors return of their roles.

I point out this solely as a result of it takes away a few of the urgency of the film, since there’s a chance all the pieces that occurs may very well be erased by ‘The Flash.’ It makes it troublesome to care about these characters and what occurs to them, since their future is up within the air after ‘The Flash’s launch.

The sequel additionally needs to take the ‘Empire Strikes Back’ strategy and be a darker toned comply with up. It manages to succeed however on the sacrifice of plenty of the enjoyable and innocence of the unique. Billy’s wrestle to search out his place on this planet, each as a hero and a younger man is a well-executed theme of the movie, and works for essentially the most half however they don’t fairly stick the touchdown. Director David F. Sandberg’s tackle the unique film was good, making a superhero model of ‘Big.’ But the sequel is weighed down by the darker tone and the a number of characters and villains the film tries to juggle.

The visible results within the film are used fairly nicely, particularly Kalypso’s dragon and the Dark Unicorns that seem on the finish. But the finale additionally options quite a few VFX creatures that don’t look as sharp, and muddy the ultimate scenes of the movie.

(L to R) Ross Butler as Super Hero Eugene, Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy, Grace Caroline Currey as Super Hero Mary, Zachary Levi as Shazam, Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla and D. J. Cotrona as Super Hero Pedro in New Line Cinema’s motion journey Shazam! Fury of the Gods,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures launch. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2022 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.

The Heroes

Zachary Levi is a really likable actor, and was completely forged within the function of Shazam within the unique, portraying an grownup superhero who can be a baby. The actor’s personal childlike enthusiasm leant itself nicely to the function, however with the darker tone of the sequel, the character is at instances misplaced amongst the motion and different super-powered beings. Levi does as a lot as he can with the fabric he was given, however the character fails to resonate in addition to he did within the unique.

Unfortunately, Asher Angel, who performs Billy Batson earlier than he turns into Shazam, feels misplaced within the function. It’s a difficult factor as a result of principally Levi and Angel are creating Billy collectively, however Levi simply has extra display screen time than his co-star, making it very laborious for the viewers to narrate to human Billy, since we barley see him. And his emotional moments on the finish of the movie don’t appear to have the gravitas they deserve.

Jack Dylan Grazer, who performs Billy’s greatest buddy Freddy Freeman, is fortunately given extra to do that time round. The darker tone of the sequel mixes nicely with the character’s struggles, and Freddy’s relationship with Rachel Zegler’s Anthea, is on the coronary heart of the film. Adam Brody performs the superhero model of Freddy, however his efficiency doesn’t match as nicely with Grazer’s and it at instances looks like they’re enjoying two completely different characters.

Grace Caroline Currey returns to play Mary Bromfield, however in ‘Fury of the Gods,’ additionally performs her superhero alter ego, the one forged member to carry out each roles. Currey shines as Mary and has extra to do within the sequel, as she remains to be a mentor to her foster siblings, however can be struggling to steadiness faculty with crime combating.

The different standout from Shazam’s superhero household is Meagan Good, who performs Darla Dudley in her superhero type. Good’s efficiency is without doubt one of the most emotional and funniest of the movie, and the actress completely captures the younger and enthusiastic perspective of her co-star, Faithe Herman, who portrays Darla in her human type.

Djimon Hounsou additionally reprises his function because the Wizard Shazam, however his efficiency could be very one-note, and isn’t given the display screen time to actually make the character matter to the general story.

(L to R) Lucy Liu as Kalypso and Helen Mirren as Hespera and Rachel Zegler as Anthea in New Line Cinema’s motion journey ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods,’a Warner Bros. Pictures launch. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.

The Villains

Lucy Liu offers a enjoyable and villainous efficiency as Kalypso, however the actress is at her greatest when partnered with Helen Mirren, moderately than when she is on her personal. Lui positively excels within the motion sequences, and Kalypso’s dragon is without doubt one of the greatest VFX creatures within the film.

Oscar winner Helen Mirren offers a really menacing efficiency as Hespera, and is clearly having plenty of enjoyable enjoying the villain. The actress is commanding within the function, a fantastic advisory for Levi’s Shazam, and has sturdy chemistry with Lui and Zegler. There is a popular culture reference to ‘The Fast and the Furious’ franchise within the film, and the look on Mirren’s face, who herself is a member of that sequence, was a enjoyable little bit of meta humor. Mirren handles her motion sequences nicely, and injects simply sufficient humanity into the character that she is plausible, and never simply evil for evil’s sake.

But the true standout of the movie is Rachel Zegler as Anthea, the youngest of Atlas’ daughters and sister to Hespera and Kalypso. She begins the film as Anne, a classmate of Freddy’s, who he develops a crush on. As Anne, Zegler is good and harmless, however not an excessive amount of that her reveal as one of many sisters appears misplaced. The actress makes the twist within the character fully plausible and never an excessive amount of of a stretch for the viewers. She has nice chemistry with Glazer, and you actually imagine that Anthea likes him, and isn’t just utilizing him for her sister’s evil plans. Zegler has sturdy chemistry with Mirren and Liu as nicely, and you may perceive how she might get caught up of their energy seize.

Rachel Zegler as Anthea in New Line Cinema’s motion journey ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures launch. Photo Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Do Any Other DC Characters Cameo in ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods?’

Yes. Much just like the Superman cameo within the unique ‘Shazam,’ there’s a DCEU hero that seems within the film, however is barely seen from the neck down. However, surprisingly, the true performer that performs that character in different DCEU movies does reappear for a cameo by the movie’s finish. It’s not in an end-credit or mid-credit scene, and I gained’t say which character or performer returns, however I’ll say the scene takes place within the third act and is a little more than a cameo, however not a lot. The character in query is performed by a performer who’s future within the new DC Universe has been in query, however hopefully their look in ‘Fury of the Gods’ will shed some gentle on that.

Final Thoughts

While not a nasty film by any stretch of the creativeness, ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ tried to take an excessive amount of on, with a number of character arcs, a number of new villains, and a VFX heavy third act. There are some enjoyable moments and good performances within the film, however the filmmakers tried to tackle an excessive amount of with this sequel, and with the DCEU ending quickly anyhow, the stakes simply don’t appear that top in any respect.

‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ receives 6.5 out of 10 stars.

Zachary Levi as Shazam in New Line Cinema’s motion journey ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures launch. Photo Credit: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ is produced by New Line Cinema, The Safran Company, and DC Films, and is scheduled for launch on March seventeenth.