Rent Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)

Take the money and run, Helen - Shazam! Fury of the Gods review by Alphaville

Part 2 of kids become superheroes by shouting the word ‘shazam’, but without the original’s USP. If you sat through Part 1, you’ll probably be able to sit through the equally undemanding Part 2. It’s kiddie superhero nonsense with as much cgi as you’d expect and the usual bland banter, rousing orchestral score etc. Nothing new here except for Helen Mirren slumming it as a baddie. Move on.

Typical Sequel - Shazam! Fury of the Gods review by GI

The inevitable sequel to the 2019 film and I'm afraid one that doesn't do much except continue the tired old tropes of superhero movies. Whereas the original brightened up the DC comic world and had some very funny lines this one goes for the overly long destruction of many buildings scenario. So once you get over the joke about immature teenagers having super powers the rest is just about any comic book superhero film you'll have seen before. The odd joke sticks in the mind, in particular a cheeky 'Avengers' one, but sadly the teenage Billy (Asher Angel) is more mature and less puerile than his alter ego, Shazam (Zachary Levi). The story is that a group of fostered children have been given super powers when they say 'Shazam' and they fly around rather ineptly attempting some crime fighting. But three god like women led by Hespera (Helen Mirren) turn up to cause all sorts of mayhem and......blah, blah, blah; cue loads of flying around, monsters, teenage puppy love, and lots and lots of smashing up of buildings. It's too long, too dull and lets hope that's the lot.

Shazam - It is understandable why the gods might be furious I suppose? - Shazam! Fury of the Gods review by Strovey

The original Shazam proved to be curate’s egg of a film for the majority of people who viewed it, although I suspect the film suffered from the curiously inflexible ‘comic-book fans’ who can be particularly harsh and unforgiving if any output by Marvel or DC does not meet their exacting and precise expectations, although fans of any type of literature given the movie treatment can be like this to be even-handed. Personally, I really liked Shazam as it came in with the right dose of fun and action and used the comedy effectively and in the right portions and places. Something some other ‘comic directors’ of comic book stories need to really think about – but do not.

It is clear that the makers had the problem of what they bring to the table for Billy and Shazam to deal with, and herein lies the rub. Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren pop up, seemingly out of nowhere to become our antagonists Hespera and Kalypso the daughters of Atlas, along with a really, really obvious third in-disguise sister Anthea (so obvious that they disposed with the subterfuge part of the story early on) and to this end they are very vanilla villains.

As is usual they want ‘something’ and they will do ‘anything’ to get it – including threatening the world and in particular anyone Billy loves. Every villain does this, every villain fails. It was good that the sisters had different ideas of what they should do and how and that they fell out – often this is the group of superheroes that do this.

What is never addressed in this mainly light-hearted tale are the deaths. A lot of people die and not pleasantly in the opening minutes, Mr. Geckle, the headmaster played by stalwart Diedrich Bader, commits suicide in front of Freddie, where it is remarked that ‘Humans are squishy’ I paraphrase, even without any details it is unpleasant. Mr. Geckle was a fairly terrible headmaster, doing nothing when Freddie is beaten up in front of him, but he was nice and no one cares about him once he is murdered. Something that has bothered me in this type of film for a long time. Even Son of Kong way back in the early 20th century tried to answer this.

The story and acting just about keep Fury of the Gods above water although the cliches were piling up. The meet-cute with the world’s worst undercover god, and the psycho school bullies, who by now would be in prison, certainly took me out of the story. It has to be said, once again, why do they make these so long? The bridge rescue set piece could have been cut down or removed with entirely no effect on the story. There is so much filler that does not progress the story or characters, simply there to pad it out.

The effects just about hold up with some…errr…interesting Greek monsters of myth looking a bit strange. The dragon just about works although in some sections you can see where the money was saved, which really is not blaming anyone, it is just a fact of life making even expensive films.

The acting is good throughout and adequate even when it dips. Probably the weakest is a controversial opinion is the two senior thespians Liu and Mirren seemed somewhat miscast and were picking up a cheque. Levi owns his role, although seems to playing somewhat younger than the 18-year-old Billy Batson, which if the story carries on is not going to make sense in further instalments. Does Shazam as the hero being an ‘adult’ stay 12 years old forever, even when Billy Batson turns thirty – which he should in fiction and will in real life? The other adult hero actors are fine, look nice and certainly hold their own against their child versions. You do get the feeling throughout that aside from Freddie and Billy the writers were struggling to find space and time for the other characters.

Shazam Fury of the Gods is watchable and in general is fun but I felt I was watching the start of the law of diminishing returns. I could not help pondering what happens in the next Shazam instalment is going to be weaker.