Movie review - Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Mostly family-friendly sequel has positive moments

Zachary Levi returns as the World’s Mightiest Mortal in the second “Shazam!” film, which doesn’t reach the heights of the first film, but does provide a mostly satisfying family-friendly superhero romp. 

Billy Batson (Asher Angel) and his foster siblings received the powers of the wizard Shazam in the first film, in which they faced the menace of Dr. Sivana. While the post-credits scene of that film teased a future meeting with the comic-book villain Mr. Mind -- a sentient genius alien caterpillar -- the second film instead goes in a mythological direction, as the Shazam crew must face off against the daughters of Atlas, including Hespera (Helen Mirren) and and Kalypso (Lucy Liu). 

The “Shazam” films have tried to make superhero films that are a little more kid-friendly fare, and they mostly succeed, though both films have scary/dark moments that could have been excised without losing much. I think Shazam works best when embracing that the concept is a wish fulfillment that’s prone to some silliness. (He was friends with a talking tiger in the comics and animated series, for example, which does get a wink and a nod here.) 

With six superheroes, a heroic mentor (Djimon Hounsou), some foster parents, multiple villains and a couple (sort of) love interests, this is a crowded film that still feels a bit long at 2 hours 10 minutes. Even so, we don’t really get the time with Billy or foster brother Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) that the first film provided; a few scenes encourage viewers to fill in the blanks with the growing pains the pair are facing. 

Longtime “Shazam” fans will be thrilled with one cameo in particular, and the film does eventually settle on a “what do we call this guy” answer. 

It’s too bad that we probably won’t see Levi in the role in some sort of “Justice League International” style film based on the comics by writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis and artist Kevin Maguire, as I think that would be a nice use of what he brings to the role.  

As a longtime Shazam fan, just seeing Mary Marvel (Grace Caroline Currey) and Captain Marvel Jr. (Adam Brody) onscreen for an entire film is a treat (even if that’s not necessarily what they call themselves). 

Sort of like “Age of Ultron” in the MCU, this film feels like a bit of a misstep overall even if it mostly works on its own terms. And like that film, just seeing some of these characters treated with care in a major Hollywood production feels like it should be a win. As it is, it’s an enjoyable film that may be caught in between changing tides at the studio. So if you want to see the hero originally known as Captain Marvel on the big screen, bolt to the theater soon. 

Matthew Price, matthew@matthewLprice.com, has written about the comics industry for more than two decades. He is the co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman, Oklahoma.