What's going on everyone! Dan here and today I'll be reviewing Shazam! Fury of the Gods!
I'll try to not give as much spoilers as possible but there will be some, you've been warned.
First off I'd like to say, I loved the first Shazam! movie from 2019. I thought it was the best DC hero movie made in the 2010's even beating out movies like Man of Steel and the Dark Knight Rises. So when I heard Shazam! was getting a sequel, I was excited and looking forward to it thinking it'll be as good as the original, maybe even better. Unfortunately that was not the case as this movie was a bit messier than the original in terms of plot and some character development issues. This movie was horrible, but it wasn't as great as I was hoping either. I'll be going over the strengths and weaknesses of this film.
Now this is where the real problems start, Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock. As we all know, Johnson wanted the role of the Black Adam character and years later as he is now one of the top A list actors in the business, he got his wish. However, He would only do the role if he got his own stand alone Black Adam movie which he did, I have a full review of The Black Adam movie and mentioned this in that review but didn't go into how it would hurt the Shazam! franchise. At the cost of giving Black Adam his own solo film, it crippled the sequel for Shazam! especially given that Black Adam is the most iconic villain Captain Marvel himself has in his rogue's gallery. I'm sure this sequel was meant to have these two meet but unfortunately Dwayne got his way and pretty much left the Shazam crew scrambling. It's a similar situation to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever where they had the plot ready but due to the death of Chadwick Boseman they had to rewrite the script which had a very mixed reception to say the least. I find it to be a real shame we didn't get the battle of Captain Marvel vs Black Adam on the big screen, that would have been epic. Who knows? maybe they'll work something out to where they'll meet and fight, maybe Superman can get in on this too like Superman/Shazam: Return of Black Adam (which is honestly great). Though I highly doubt that as Zachery Levi and Dwayne Johnson are going through some beef due to this issue. But as it stands, they had to rewrite the script and salvage what they could.
The plot now is there are three daughters of a god named Atlas, these gods were sealed away and because of the events of the last movie, the seal is broken and they are free. Now they're after the Marvel family deeming that mortals should not have powers of the gods. They try to take those powers away all while trying to get the gold apple to plant the tree of life back at their home to restore it to its former beauty. The villains here were more or less made for the movie and aren't really Captain Marvel villains, they fit more as Wonder Woman villains if I'm being honest. The villains aren't bad and I do like the actresses who portrayed them. The sisters provided three different sides/views such as Anthea (Rachael Zegler) being the good side of the sisters, Hespera (Helen Mirren) being the neutral side of the sisters, and Kalypso (Lucy Liu) being the evil side of the sisters. They all did a great job in their role, their powers are cool but I feel are underutilized from their full potential against the Marvel Family. Hespera controlling elements she should basically be the Avatar and use all the elements to greater degrees but is mostly used as like a power puncher, Kalypso has the power to whisper in your ear and make you do as she commands and even spread it like a plague but its only used in the first half of the movie and is pretty much forgotten about later on when she has her dragon to destroy everything. Anthea has the power of accessibility where she can pull a Doctor Strange and can warp the room and areas around which is honestly cool VFX. The fighting and VFX were not bad honestly, definitely better than what Marvel has been churning out lately. As I said, they did good and served their purpose, but I would have preferred Black Adam or even another Captain Marvel villain like say Chain Lightning, she would probably be better to add to the story than random gods.
The main cast did a great job again like in the first one, Zachery Levi as Captain Marvel did great, I enjoy his humor and him as a boy in a grown mans body just like the rest of the cast being kids in adult bodies. I love the dialogue and humor with the Marvel family. I will say that there is a bit of development for Billy with having abandonment issues which makes him hold on too tight to everyone around him and Freddy especially gets sick and tired of it which causes some issues within the Marvel Family. Freddy was basically the B plot of this movie with him wanting to do his own thing whether it be as a hero or just his personal life in general but Billy is just reluctant to the idea of anyone in his family going off and doing their own thing. I wish these aspects of character development was more prevalent through out the film but it was sprinkled in here and there. at the end, Billy realizes that his family will always be there for him and this helps him realize that the wizard chose right with him. There is a cameo towards the end of a familiar hero and they'll be crucial towards the end after the final battle.
Post credit scenes are a bit jarring but reflects what plans they have for the Shazam franchise (if they can get any backing behind it now). There are two post credit scenes this movie has and both I think are meant to set up another Shazam! movie in the near future. Though after the mixed to somewhat negative reception of the Shazam! sequel, odds of there being another Shazam! movie is a bit slimmer than before. I honestly wouldn't mind another Shazam! movie but right now DC is just a complete mess with projects being cancelled out of nowhere, The Flash still going forward as planned despite the Ezra Miller controversies, and with Warner Bros just being a complete fiasco right now. Things are uncertain but hopefully things will be better from here on out or at least after The Flash movie.
Overall, the sequel wasn't as good as the original. I felt that Dwayne Johnson really threw this franchise under the bus and left them to pick up the pieces. As I said I like the Shazam! movie, I like Zachery Levi and I wanted to like this sequel but so many problems plagued this production. I wish they could have taken more time to make it better but I guess it is what it is. It's not terrible, just underwhelming compared tot he original. Hopefully DC/WB can get it together and churn out bangers in the future.
Rating this movie I'd give it:
6.5/10
Despite the problems it suffered in production, it is still a fun movie to watch and if you're looking for a fun movie with kids or family then this is definitely serviceable. I'm hoping The Flash and the upcoming Blue Beetle movie will be better but we'll see. That's all I have to say.
See ya!