The first Shazam! movie released in 2019 caught this reviewer off guard. Director David F. Sandberg took one of the oldest superheroes in comic book history and brought it to the big screen in a fun and entertaining way. It was one of the DCEU movies that didn’t face a lot of criticism, and the approval from the general audience warranted a follow-up sequel. Shazam! Fury of the Gods has Sandberg returning behind the lens in hopes that lightning will strike twice – pun intended. However, what ended up on the big screen was a reminder that the DCEU needs to die and Sandberg polishing a turd in hopes that no one would notice the smell.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is the recent outing from DC Comic’s superhero, Shazam – or Captain Marvel. The core cast returns for a second go at their character with the addition of Rachel Zegler (Anthea). The Shazam family of superheroes battle against Hespera and Kalypso, played by Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu, respectively. Writer Henry Gayden also returns but is paired up with Chris Morgan, who has a decent history writing for the Fast and Furious movies.
The movie starts off promising with an impressive CGI sequence involving Shazam and his superhero siblings, preventing a city bridge from collapsing. There are a couple more well-done VFX scenes throughout the movie, but the rest begin to peter out in quality or lack of reasonable psychics. I know this is a comic book movie with psychics left in the backburner, yet particular objects or creatures offer no suitable weight to them. For example, one of the big set pieces involves Zachary Levi’s character, Shazam, confronting a dragon. The dragon has an impressive design, but it could’ve been knocked over with a gust of wind.
Additionally, the dragon and other monsters featured in the movie don’t share the same space as the real-life objections or the people, for that matter. They just look janky in some cases, out of place, and poorly used. For example, Sandberg used the creatures to ” raise the stake” in Shazam! Fury of the Gods but were turned into the equivalent of Chinese food – filling but ultimately empty. However, at least it’s better than Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Regarding some of the directions, Sandberg tries to make something out of this movie. Sandberg comes from a horror background with his previous films Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation and tries to use his skills in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Several horror elements are genuine and pretty cool to see. Some of these involve creature designs and shots that harken back to 80s PG-13 films that left a horrifying, yet impressionable, mental scar on that generation.
The acting is, well…not good. Jack Dylan Grazer (Freddy Freeman) is the only one that stands out the most. It’s interesting to see his take on the character for the sequel because his personality is more in Levi’s Shazam than in Asher Angel. It’s very perplexing why Grazer wasn’t cast as Baston, and it makes Levi’s acting all the more annoying AF. Lucy Liu makes her best Rita Ruplison impression – not a compliment – and most cast members do a “meh” job.
It’s as if they weren’t given enough direction to emote and act more stiltedly. Hell, even the character, Steve the Pin, was more entertaining to watch and offered one of the only two genuinely funny moments. The other includes Mirren reading a letter in a deadpan way that had legit humor behind it.
The most offensive part of Shazam! Fury of the Gods is the script. Gayden and Morgan do a piss poor job on their writing duties. The movie makes a series of logical leaps throughout the plot that make no sense or go against the character’s intentions. A strong example is when one of the main villains makes their objectives to destroy humanity known. The character is almost close to reaching their goal when, OUT OF NOWHERE, does a complete 180. There’s no lead-up to it or even earned.
Another example involves a “romance” between Freddy and Anthea. The chemistry these characters have with one another is out of place and is shallow throughout the movie. Yet, I guess the writers needed to add it to the story because of …plot? Lastly, Shazam! Fury of the Gods lazily set up this emotional moment between Baston/Shazam and Freddy that was supposed to land – but was just a wet fart. None of it was deserved and only added to this stupid fake-out at the tail end of the third act.
Sandberg grabbed the bag as soon as WB offered it to him. The director had one foot in and the other out the door to return to his comfy horror genre home. Therefore, I have to congratulate Sandberg on being paid well and reminding us why it’s not a bad thing that the DCEU is coming to an end. There are only two more movies, and thankfully, that’ll be the end of that era.