Shazam! Fury of the Gods

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I tend to be a "Marvel over DC" guy with the superhero genre (except most 'Batman' films). But that does not mean DC hasn't given me anything I've enjoyed, either, and the original 'Shazam!' is one of those titles. For once, we finally had something in the DC universe that wasn't so dark, didn't feel rushed, and, above all else, knew how to have fun with what it had to work with. It was a pleasant surprise movie from DC for me. At the time, it was like the 'Ant-Man' of the DCEU, and I'm pretty sure it's my favourite film of its particular universe.

With that said, a movie like 'Shazam!' should be taken mainly with a grain of salt. Shazam is your fun superhero who relates to a kid's desire to become a superhero, and I went into this film carrying that expectation with me. However, instead of having as much fun as I had with the last one, I felt somewhat disappointed by this sequel as it's filled with superhero clichés. So, while it remains a fun title in some aspects, there's too much predictability here for those of us who have, perhaps, seen a few too many movies of the superhero genre.

It will be challenging to get into this review without spoiling a thing or two from the first movie, so as with many of my sequel reviews, continue reading only if you either don't care or have seen the first movie already. 14-year-old Billy Batson (Asher Angel/Zachary Levi) obtains superpowers from a wizard named Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) to put a stop to Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), who uses the Seven Deadly Sins to his advantage for power and revenge against his family as well as the wizard, Shazam, who once denied his corrupt mind his powers.

By the end of it all, Billy learns a thing or two about teamwork and family and shares his powers of transforming to his full potential (which is why he becomes an adult) with his foster family: Best friend Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer/Adam Brody), eldest sibling and bookworm, Mary Bromfield (Grace Caroline Currey as both versions), the adorable Darla Dudley (Faithe Herman/Meagan Good), techie, Eugene Choi (Ian Chen/Ross Butler), and the introverted but kindly Pedro Peña (Jovan Armand/D.J. Cotrona), all of whom form a secret superhero squad and now work together.

In the meantime, two daughters of the Titan Atlas show up, Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu), breaking into the Acropolis Museum in Athens and stealing the Wizard's now broken staff (broken by Billy in the first film). They then take it to the now-imprisoned Wizard (A.K.A. OG Shazam, who once killed their father) and force him to repair it. The sisters then plot revenge by finding a golden apple, the seed of the Tree of Life. Hespera wants to plant it in the God Realm so it can flourish and bring life back to their world. However, Kalypso would use it as all-out revenge on humankind by planting it on Earth.

A third sister, Anthea (Rachel Zegler), becomes Freddy's love interest in this and is the best of the sisters. She's your typical would-be villain who sees the good in humankind and doesn't quite fit in with her other sisters. That's one of a few clichés here, but I'd say the worst part was how it predictably ended, which I won't spoil here, but you'll see it coming from miles away. Let's say not much will come as a surprise here. But, even if this is jumbled with clichés, I'd still probably be able to recommend this on the almost guilty pleasure level. It still has its moments, and many of them are pretty funny.

Much like with the first 'Shazam!', this wasn't something to be taken seriously for the most part. Although, at times, it does have a few genuinely emotional moments. But it was hard for me to empathize with the film's overall predictability. And I don't tend to be that guy who "knew it all along," either. But to be perfectly fair, I won't say it's "bad." If you can take it for the fun time it provides and laugh with it, it's a decent flick. But all in all, its predecessor is still something much better.

3/5

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