In this Shazam! Fury Of The Gods Review, we’ll also be talking about the pros, cons, favorite moments, least favorite moments, the story, the direction, the performances, and everything in between.
There have been a lot of changes in the DC universe. There’s been a lot of people out there saying “Is this Shazam 2, Aquaman 2, Blue Beetle, and The Flash even worth being excited for? We’ll be discussing that and so much more in this spoiler-free review.
Before we get into the review, do you want to see more of Zachary Levi‘s Shazam in this new future of the DC Universe, or do you want to recast it? Because after watching Shazam 2, you’ll definitely have your answer.
Shazam! Fury Of The Gods Review
So First, let’s talk about David F. Sandberg in this Shazam! Fury Of The Gods Review, who, on a personal note, I’m a fan of him as a human being. Like he’s a very self-aware, funny, followed on Instagram and Twitter type of guy. I think he’s such a genius regarding just some of his input on Comic book movies. He pokes fun at his movies. I just think he seems to be a great guy.
So I’m a fan of David F Sandberg. And I say all that to say what I loved about the first Shazam movie, which he did with the first Shazam movie, and he doubles down on that in the sequel. It’s not only having the heart of the family yet again and bringing out some of the fun characters that we got from the first one. But it’s also giving us more of the lore; there are more magic elements in this film.
There’s also a lot more dive into Greek mythology, and I’m a sucker for all that stuff. And also, being a DC fan, there are a lot of DC Easter eggs and other DC things that are in this film that are really appreciated and that I just really like that David Sandberg brought into this second film.
Bigger Action, VFX, And Direction
And also you can tell from a production standpoint that the budget was bigger, the visual effects were cleaner, and there was a lot more action this time around. We got the newly updated suits, which, let me just tell you all right now, the suits were clean. The suit upgrade from Shazam 1 to Shazam 2 was nine days, and I appreciate that.
But again, going back to David, I think he’s having fun in this world; he has fun with these characters, and he really just navigates you through emotions of having been on the edge of your seat with the action, having the spectacle of it, but also not forgetting the characters, the heart, the themes that we got from the first one about fighting for your family and having a family to lean on. So I really appreciate that.
And again, as I’m writing this, DCEU is now DCU. DC Universe has been a lot of changes. If this is David F Sandberg’s last time directing his characters, directing this world, I hope that James Gunn and Peter Saffron bring him back to maybe do some other characters or Justice League Dark because he has those dark type of vibes to him being the director of Annabelle Creation, being the director of Lights Out.
And he has his horror vibes that are definitely in this sequel. So I hope that they can bring him back into the fold. If this is indeed his last time directing a DC project with the Shazam family. So shout to him.
But also transitioning back into what made this fun? What made this entertaining? Going back to me, being a horror fan, David Sandberg knows how to not only have the family fun elements, but he also gives you a tinger horror as we got in the first one with the seven deadly sins in that scene with those creatures eating the heads off of the executives in the boardroom.
We get something similar to that in the sequel, but there are more Greek creatures that are involved and that type of flavor. So I definitely appreciated the horror beats in this film.
Performance And Theme
But also going back to the heart of the movie. The family is a back man, and I enjoyed the foster parents. I enjoy the foster family. The brothers and Sisters of Billy Batson shout out to Darla, who’s fantastic, and also shout out to Megan Good. I just like that character Darla and her as a kid and also the adult version of her; she’s great.
But again, going back to just that appreciation of the family elements and what really stood out to me in that first movie and doubling down in his sequel. And pivoting over to the characters that really stood out to me in this film, whether it be Damon Hanshu as the wizard who has a lot more to do in this sequel. And there’s a lot more of him being paired with some unexpected characters in the sequel that I appreciate, so shout out to him.
Also, shout out to the villains, man, I was a fan of Doctor Savannah in the first one, and I am a big fan of the Daughters of Atlas and his sequel. Helen Mirren, a G in this movie, plays the three daughters. Like she wasn’t playing any games, and I really appreciated what she and her sisters’ motives were was very General Zod in the Man Of Steel. Like we want our particular people, our particular family to be brought back.
So they’re fighting for what they care for. What makes a good villain, in my eyes, is fighting for something that you believe. You think you’re the hero of your own story. So I appreciate what Helen brought to the role.
Also, Lucy Liu is one of the villains, number one; we need more of her in more movies and also more roles of her being a villain, whether it’s in Kill Bill or this. She’s the more aggressive sister in the situation. She gets things done in a very different manner, but she is great.
And Speaking of fabulous, every time I’ve seen this young lady, she just blows me away. I’m talking about Rachel Ziegler, who plays Anthea in this movie. I saw the review from her a mile away, but neither here nor there; she just has this tenderness to her character and this badass nature character.
And again, whether it’s West Side Story or now this, I think she’s a megastar and was fantastic in this film. And collectively speaking, the entire cast, Jack Grazer and Asher Angel as Billy Batson, were amazing.
The Bad Things About Shazam! Fury Of The Gods
There Is a lot to appreciate about Shazam! Fury Of The Gods, but there’s also some criticism. Number one, I kind of briefly touched on the family element a little bit. I love the family, I love the dynamic, I love the messages with the family, but there wasn’t enough of the family. I wanted more from the family, particularly from the kids.
This film felt like IT Chapter 2, where obviously, if you’ve seen that film, we spent more time with the adults than we do the kids, for obvious reasons. And the same thing is applied to this film, where we spend more time with the Shazam family, them being the Superheroes more than they are the kids.
And the balance wasn’t there for me because I really appreciated those kids in the first one, and every time we checked in with them on the film. In this film, I just wanted more because I think they’re just so great in the role.
And the Shazam family, them being the heroes to me, just feels kind of like they have fleshed them out enough to be these heroes. And I think that really boils down to there being a four years gap between part one and Part 2. And the film plays within that time frame where they’ve been Shazaming across Philadelphia for four years. But I never got that sense of that teamwork or them really kind of being that experts, but being much better superheroes than they were in their first out.
And I wish there was more of that kind of understanding of what they’ve learned in the past four years. Because the way the film plays out, it’s just like they’re still rookies, and they really haven’t learned from their mistakes, which I thought was a little bit weird. But again, I wanted more of the kids, wanted more of the family.
And speaking, wanting more of Billy Batson. They shafted my man Angel Asher. He’s really not in the film, more so like Freddie is almost the lead of this movie. Like he has more scenes than Billy Batson himself, this to me is so baffling because I’m not the biggest comic book reader of the Shazam character, I’m a big comic book DC fan, but I haven’t really read a lot of DC Comics, but I’ve seen my fair share of Billy Batson in the animated films and whatnot.
But man, Billy’s rarely in this movie. And it was frustrating because it’s a particular part of Billy’s life where he’s 17 going on 18, maturing, he’s going through some dilemmas of potentially being aged out of this foster system and his home.
And I really like those elements where they were going, but it just wasn’t enough of Billie and that whole story, which was a shame to me. And, listen, I like Freddie. I think Dylan is great in the role, but too much Freddie and not enough Billy was not sitting well with me.
Shazam Is Dumb
This also brings me to Zachary Levi as Shazam. One of my biggest issues with him in the role in first one was I felt like the 14-year-old Billy Batson was way more mature than how Zachary Levi was playing him as Shazam.
Like him as Shazam was more childish, more kind of making silly decisions and it didn’t seem the same from the transition from the kid to the adult, or at least to the adult version of Shazam. It’s not as bad as it was in the first one. But there are still moments in Shazam Fury of The Gods where their personalities don’t match up.
But in particular, going to Shazam, I don’t know why they chose to make him dumb. Now listen, when I say dumb, I can have fun with a superhero character or character, in general, that might not be the smartest in the bunch or might not have the most intelligent ideas. But the thing about Billy Batson that they established in these films is he has street smarts. He knows how to escape the system. He knows how to get away from the police.
But the way Zachary Levi Shazam is in this sequel, there is a level of maturity. He does have to step up as a leader, but I feel like there were too many moments where the film made him seem stupid, like the moments where he feels like an airhead.
The man’s smarter than that. Even if he doesn’t have the intellect per se, he still has the street smarts that Billy Batson has. And I don’t think Zachary Levi plays that off well. And I don’t think the film does him any justice in that department. So I was kind of disappointed by that element.
And also, going back to disappointment, there are a lot of jokes in this film, which I appreciated. But there were too many jokes at points that took away from the seriousness of the situation at hand.
Final Thoughts On Shazam! Fury Of The Gods
So those are my main pros, and those are my main cons. Overall Shazam! Fury Of The Gods is a lot of fun. Listen, it doubles down on all the stuff that the first one had, plus adding more to the magic, the lore, and the mythology. Having some more DC connections and also just having that heart that I appreciated from the first one.
But now I do admit I wanted more of the heart; I wanted more of the family; I wanted more of Billy Batson and a little bit more maturity for Shazam.
Our Rating: ⭐ (3.7/5).
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