The wisdom of Solomon
The strength of Hercules
The stamina of Atlas
The power of Zeus
The courage of Achilles
The speed of Mercury
These are the multitude of powers bestowed upon the humble teen, Billy Batson, who is chosen by the wizard Shazam to be earth's next greatest champion. But alas, even with all his godly gifts and grade-A gumption, they alone aren't enough to sway the masses to the theaters.
It’s hard to believe that after director David F. Sandberg’s first amazing outing with Shazam! that his follow-up, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, would be anything less than spectacular. But if one were to take to the sacred domain of online film critiques, the arbiters of Fresh and Rotten would gleefully tell you that Mr. Sandberg fell painfully short of that once bright prospect. However, I tell you now that nothing could be further from the truth as Shazam! Fury of the Gods, although not perfect, is still a great time at the theater and in my opinion, better than its predecessor. So then, where are these negative viewpoints stemming from? And if it is truly so good, why did it still flop at the box office? Let's dive in.
This time out The Children of Atlas have their sights on recovering the ancient power of the gods, which in their view was wrongfully stolen from them many lifetimes ago by humanity. So it's up to Shazam and his super powered family to come together, stop the three wrathful goddesses, and prevent the destruction of the world.
So the premise at first glance appears a little trite, which is a common jab at the film. However, the devil or in this case, magic, is in the details as the film once more leans heavy into the concept of family, However it pulls this off not by merely championing the power of coming together or supporting one another, but also hammering home the importance of recognizing one's own gifts as an individual and how family can help foster and bolster them.
Throughout the film Billy (Zackery Levi/ Asher Angel) has a stifling fear that his family may break up, causing him to doubt his ability to be the champion he was chosen to be. But when the chips are down, it's through the love and support of his family that he finds the confidence and strength to fight on. Beyond that, you also have the character of Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer) who after becoming accustomed to his superhero stature and status has to fight what he loves with nothing more than his wits and courage, after his powers are taken away. All together this gives us a movie with a vibrant soul. But even more than that, it throbs with a bleeding heart especially from a writing and production standpoint.
If you're looking for the best bang-for-your-buck out of a sequel, this film is it. For not only does this movie bring the same great spirit as its predecessor, it also gives you more of everything you loved about the Shazam in the best ways possible. It has motivated characters, intense drama, inventive godly powers, interesting and digestive mythology, enthralling action, destruction with consequences, visual splendor to dazzle any eye, playful off-the-wall fun, practical creatures, God damn unicorns (mild spoilers, sorry) … I mean, COME ON! This film dares to give its audience a delicious, but also cohesive smorgasbord of cinematic delights and pulls it off famously and all while being endlessly hilarious.
Jokes come a mile a minute and land nearly every time. Which, in my opinion, makes the film a great re-watch to maybe catch a few jokes that whizzed by on the first viewing. And what's great is it's not just quips like in a lot of Marvel films. It's great callbacks, bizarre creatures and characters, physical gags, and genuine smart humor that both kids and adults can enjoy. But even for as funny as it is, the jokes thankfully never overshadow the drama as they are well placed and timed exquisitely. So then what's the problem? Was there ever a problem?
As far as I can tell, the announcement of James Gunn taking over the DCEU led to the assumption that this movie would end up being irrelevant to any sort of larger narrative going forward. Couple that with The Rock "allegedly" snubbing Shazam from the Black Adam film and the lack of studio push in advertisement, and you have yourself a movie, spectacular as it may be, with very little hype behind it. And given Shazam is already not an A-List or widely known household name (as far as the general populous is concerned), then OF COURSE people are not going to really go see it. It was nearly dead on arrival from an advertisement standpoint. That being said, it's faults don't only stem from fumbled PR and studio regime change.
Looking at the film objectively, it's not without fault, despite my love for it. The villains for instance, although well motivated aren't anything super memorable, thus making the inclusion of Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren a little superfluous. They do a great job for what the material allows, but admittedly, anyone could have been in those roles and they probably would have played just as well. And then there's the jokes that, although numerous and extremely consistent, do suffer from the occasional cringey one here and there. And lastly, we have the finale, which drips with a plethora of wild, fantastical splendor, say for the final throwdown. It's not bad, nor lazy. It just lacks creativity. But even then, it's not without heart, which I believe matters more than the spectacle itself.
So where does that leave this film? Well, despite the sour numbers, lack of backing, some external bad luck, its disconnect from any larger universe, and a few spots of imperfection, the film stands well on its own as a fun piece of entertainment. It's a true gem within the superhero genre that all can enjoy, ones whose pros far outweigh its cons, while also not needing an expanded universe to prop it up. Shazam! Fury of the Gods stands as a solid cap to an incredible duology, one that I'm sure will come to be as timeless as the gods themselves.
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