Rating of
3/4
"Taste the rainbow, motherf... .!"
Matthew Brady - wrote on 04/24/23
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a perfectly fine and enjoyable movie. It does not change the superhero genre or anything like that. If you have seen any superhero movie, you have already watched Shazam 2.
I liked the first film a lot more, as it was tighter in structure and had mature themes.
It is a movie that will fill the empty void in your life.
I liked the Sam Rami-like dark scenes that reminded me of his Spider-Man trilogy, also present in the first movie. There is one death scene involving someone possessed by one of the villains and ordered to walk off the building, and you hear the body hit the ground (off-camera) while a kid looks on in utter shock. I did not expect to go that far, but I respect it for doing it either way.
I like Zachary Levi, but my biggest problem is that he turns the dial up to 110% to the point he feels too immature. He comes out as a moron who causes most of the conflict in the movie. Kid Billy and Superhero Billy already felt like different characters, which was the same problem in the first movie, but it is much worse here.
Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren are generic movie villains who have their share of brutal kills. Mirren is great at playing it straight with a no-buffoonery attitude to her. Djimon Hounsou returns as the Wizard from the last movie and has his time to shine, especially by flexing his comedic chops.
Jack Dylan Grazer, bless his heart, is giving it his all, and the dramatic elements of the movie come from his performance.
There is one cameo, which was spoiled before the movie came, with Wonder Woman coming out of nowhere. I could tell Gal Gadot was not physically on set with the actors. Quite frankly, the scene itself was so awful and forceful. Was I supposed to cheer at this moment?
Overall rating: Those are my general thoughts. It’s a shame how badly the movie was received before and after its release. Firstly: nobody was hyped about it, as the people I talked to express no excitement. It then did so poorly on its opening weekend at the box office and failed to out-gross the masterpiece known as Morbius. Critics and fans did not care for it. It is one of the biggest superhero box office bombs for DC. It didn’t take long for it to be on streaming, more like three weeks later. Any continuation for these characters in the future is slim.
Again, not a fantastic movie, but I cannot help but feel bad for everyone involved. It’s a harmless movie that only wants to entertain.
