Shazam’s first scene would immediately make you feel like it’s in a David F. Sandberg movie when the Daughters of Atlas (Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu) ask a large number of people to “unleash chaos” and they do the same by creating the zombie chain reaction eventually turned to dust. Yes, the opening scene screams David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation), but that’s about it, because after this post, we see routine superheroes saving the world and family.
Why are the daughters of Atlas wreaking havoc on the people of Earth? Remember how Shazam (Zachary Levi) broke the magic wand in the first movie? Yes, it belonged to the goddesses, and that’s why they’re here to unleash their fury on the gullible laymen (and women) of planet Earth. Shazam has also put superpowers into his foster family, and you won’t get any points for guessing who will be on his side against the fury of the gods. Family!!!
Shazam! Fury of the Gods Movie Review: Screenplay Analysis
Henry Gayden (Shazam!) and Chris Morgan (Fast & Furious) are two writers who instill in the story exactly two variants that they know and master. The flavor of the superhero doing the routine is from Henry and why it takes a family to save a superhero is the essence brought by Chris, who wrote six of the ten Fast & Furious films (+ also Hobbs & Shaw). It kills the fun parts, but otherwise can’t do it.
From the main character going to the pediatrician for therapy, to “Chat GPT” as a pen named Steve helping the team write letters (delivering one downright hilarious letter-reading scene), the movie’s interest in watching goes way up when it’s not trying to. doing ‘superhero’ things. Besides, every other superhero movie these days travels in the same boat by presenting a threat to the country/world and having the heroes clean up the mess to get applause at the end (and a guaranteed sequel with a post-credits scene). .
Shazam! Fury of the Gods: Star Performance movie review
Zachary Levi continues to be the Deadpool for kids with his imposter syndrome and childish ability to act like a superhero with Shazam. The idea of an innocent, harmless and naïve stocky superhero was just scratched by the first two installments and could become something in the future. Adam Brody, Ross Butler and the other superheroes in the family don’t do much to make the movie stand out.
Rachel Zegler as Anne slips into one of the film’s most suspenseful tracks without exploring much, despite having plenty of screen time. Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren, as Anna’s older sisters and the daughters of Atlas, needed more attention than they got. Djimon Hounsou is hilarious AF and his wizard character is given plenty of meat to provide comic relief whenever the story starts to sag.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods Movie Review: Direction, Music
When reviewing the first volume I mentioned in the “What’s wrong?” section “The story is divided into two parts – one that is deceptive and fun, the other that takes itself too seriously than it needs to be – the other is a drag!” and almost four years later it’s the same case, with David F. Sandberg playing to the same strengths and weaknesses as in the first installment, in exactly the same places, and failing.
Jumping between Marvel and DC, Christophe Beck is back after Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, and it’s clear that he’s revealing a bit more than he needs to. What in Ant-Man (as a separate entity) felt like a soundtrack blast, here feels every synonym for “routine”. Playing Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out For A Hero while Shazam saves a civilian was a decision I expected more from the soundtrack.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods: The Last Word Movie Review
All said and done, Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania made Marvel look more like DC and Shazam! Fury Of The Gods makes DC look more like Marvel. It would be fascinating to see more moves of these superhero movies churning out production houses while we wait for some unsubstantiated mid/post-credits scenes (this one has 2).