Alright, I have to admit that when the first ‘Shazam!’ film came out in 2019, I was taken in by the novelty of it and the approach to making the main character relatable.
But, with said main character now on the cusp of adulthood and aging out of the foster care system – it’s harder to sit through the teenage antics.
And while I assume that’s part of the point, it does add a lagging element to the overall storyline and makes it seem like the protagonist hasn’t learned anything between the films or grown.
Maybe I’m just asking too much of a 17-year-old character with trauma who needs therapy instead of playing a superhero?
Regardless, the film is visually appealing while watching mythical creatures rampage across Boston along with a huge dragon tearing up the cityscape, too.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a superhero film based on the DC Comics character Shazam.
Produced by New Line Cinema, DC Studios, the Safran Company, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the sequel to Shazam!, and the 12th installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).
The film was directed by David F. Sandberg and written by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan, and stars Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, Jovan Armand, Meagan Good, Lucy Liu, Djimon Hounsou, and Helen Mirren.
It clocks in at 130 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for sequences of action and violence and language.
Two years after Thaddeus Sivana’s defeat, Hespera (Mirren) and Kalypso (Liu) - daughters of the Titan Atlas - break into the Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece, to steal the Wizard’s broken staff.
The duo then takes it to the imprisoned Wizard, forcing him to repair the staff and activate its powers.
In Philadelphia, Billy Batson (Angel) and his “Shazamily” of foster siblings save people on the collapsing Benjamin Franklin Bridge, but are called out for its destruction.
The group is drifting apart at home due to their growing up and having personal interests.
Billy is worried about being kicked out of the Vasquez family after he turns 18 and ages out of the foster system.
In a dream, as Shazam (Levi), Billy is warned by the Wizard about Hespera and Kalypso — he and the Shazamily research the Daughters of Atlas.
Freddy Freeman (Grazer) is still bullied at school and ends up falling for a new girl named Anne (Zegler), to whom he shows off his superhero self.
Unfortunately, Hespera and Kalypso arrive with the staff and steal Freddy’s powers before Anne is revealed to be their youngest sister Anthea.
Billy and the other Shazamily try to save Freddy, but the daughters kidnap him and place a dome around the city, trapping everyone inside.
Freddy is imprisoned along with the Wizard (Hounsou) in the Gods’ Realm.
Hespera and Kalypso reveal they want revenge because the Wizard killed their father and sealed their realm off from Earth.
Meanwhile, the Shazamily enter the Rock of Eternity, where they encounter a sentient pen named “Steve,” which they use to draft a letter to Hespera as a negotiation for Freddy’s release.
Billy meets Hespera, and, while the meeting is initially cordial, she and Kalypso soon fight the Shazamily.
Honestly, the best part of this film is watching Mirren and Liu be supernatural villains out of touch with the modern world.
That being said, if you want the best experience, catch the dragon and other mythical creatures on the big screen and stick around after the credits for extra scenes.
