'Shazam! Fury of the Gods' Looses Its Magic
Another day another superhero movie. Shazam! Fury of the Gods provides more of the same one would expect from a lighthearted superhero flick. Whether it be Marvel or DC, if it's boring, it's boring. I gave Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania a pass since I was mildly entertained. Looking back on it, I wish I could have gone in a different direction in my review. With the acceptance of The Batman or Joker, every superhero movie is at a stagnant stage of mundane predictability.
After the snap and The Snyder Cut, what is there to show when connecting universes? There's more heart in Shazam! Fury of the Gods than Ant-Man 3 tried to have. However, the sentimentality only reaches so far until we need something more than a wink at the camera or a humble protagonist.
Billy Batson (Asher Angel) and his friends are gifted with superpowers; by using their potential for good, the little rascals transform into adults by uttering the word "Shazam!" Shazam (Zachary Levi) must manage his team of superfriends to help those in need. The film is the antithesis of Man of Steel, where we see our heroes defend lives instead of inadvertently taking them. This is highlighted by one of the film's action sequences taking place on the Brooklyn Bridge. As the bridge collapses, the super friends take turns saving civilians from the crumbling architecture. As our heroes zip and cross to save lives, we're reminded of these heroes' importance. Imagine if the bridge fell to pieces and nobody was there to help save people. That would be a very different movie, probably directed by Zack Snyder.
Billy needs help learning how to become a leader when not saving lives. To make things difficult are the three daughters of Atlas, with Helen Mirren playing Hespera, the main baddy amongst the daughters. The plot is familiar to any superhero flick. Our protagonist is learning how to manage life as a superhero; there's a glowing MacGuffin everyone is after, and the day is saved by the end of the film with a mid-credits scene tacked on as a bonus. It's average as average can be, which is enjoyable at first but tiring if you've watched comic book movies for the last three to four years. The structure is a bit like the ending of an episode of South Park, where either Stan or Kyle addresses the camera with, "I've learned something today." Indeed Shazam did learn something, but it's not enough for a two-hour and ten-minute film.
Shazam! And The Fury of the Gods can feel long. There's a significant amount of exposition that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of the plot, as we all know where everything is going. The audience is aware that the villain's ultimate plan is world domination. Whether it be General Zod terraforming the planet or Steppenwolf gathering the mother boxes, the plotline of the power-hungry antagonist gets tiresome. How often can we watch the same movie until it becomes apparent how the story will play out to the average viewer? If there is a saving factor for Shazam! FOTG, it's Zachary Levi's natural charm.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is enjoyable because of Zachary Levi. His innocence would make you believe that Shazam is a little kid living inside an adult's body. The Shazam movies are like Big mixed with The Goonies. Fury of the Gods acts as a successor to the first film but nothing that builds its character towards anything interesting. To view an example of a different film that helps build character, one can look at Spider-Man: No Way Home. NWH worked not due to its cameos but because it was about Peter Parker learning how to be a better person by fighting against the rage that comes with being a superhero. When the bad guys take away something precious from Peter Parker, how does he stop himself from getting revenge?
What's missing in Shazam! Fury of the Gods are stakes. With everything so light, a little darkness could go a long way. That's ironic asking for a DC movie to go dark, but I'm not asking for things to be entirely dark. Just enough where I have the sense that our heroes are in danger.
2019's Shazam! was the first DCU film to stand out as different from its gritty catalog by playing things light like Marvel does. After seeing Superman help level metropolis, audiences were looking for something more cheery from DC. Shazam! couldn't have come out at a better time. Zachary Levi's charisma helped carry the film and does so in its sequel, yet it's not enough to make what's familiar soar above the clouds. If you don't mind seeing the same superhero flick, then you'll probably disagree with my opinion on the movie.
With meaningless cameos, and constant comedic banter, Shazam! Fury of the Gods is more of the same, just from a different company that could go through another draft in the writer's room. If you want to have fun for two hours and don't care if a film is predictable, then by all means, purchase a ticket to see Shazam! Fury of The Gods. If you're looking for anything new, you won't find it here.
