Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Shazam! Fury of the Gods remembered everything that made its predecessor so delightful and delivered a sequel as fun as the first!

Shazam! Fury of the Gods matches the fun of the first film while, in typical sequel fashion, increasing the action, effects, and scope of the Shazam franchise. Despite being a Shazam movie, Freddy is the primary focus of the film, which I was unsure about at first but enjoyed as the story progressed. Fury of the Gods had many more characters to juggle, leading to some of the Shazam family being sidelined and the villains being reasonably stereotypical. However, all the charm was still there, helping overshadow these flaws. Djimon Hounsou and Helen Mirren brought some maturity and class to the goofball cas...

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.firstshowing.net/2023/review-shazam-fury-of-the-gods-falls-into-the-typical-sequel-trap/

"Shazam! Fury of the Gods is almost saved by the incredibly charismatic, energetic cast, as well as by a truly thrilling third act. Unfortunately, the movie falls into the trap of exaggerating what worked in the original, excessively tackling every narrative aspect, and losing authenticity along the way. Way too long, boringly generic, and lacking a clearer direction, namely in the treatment of its family themes. Comedy is far from the efficiency of its predecessor. I recommend it to the vast majority of fans of the genre, who will certainly enjoy the lightness still present in this sequel."

Rating: C

Ok, so I know I shouldn't have - but I did enjoy this. "Billy" (Zachary Levi/Asher Angel) and his gang of rather hapless super-heroes locally lauded as the "Philadelphia Fiascos" find themselves pushed to the very limits when the daughters of the legendary "Atlas" manage to breach a magical boundary between their world and our's and are soon on the hunt for the magical staff that "Billy" snapped in two at the end of the last film (remember?). The daughters are led by the menacing "Hespera" (Dame Helen Mirren) with her potent sidekick "Kalypso" (Lucy Liu) and the slightly more humane "Anthea" (Rachel Zegler) making up this dangerous triumvirate. What now ensues are some genuinely entertaining set piece battles that unlike so many from the MC...

The movie is decent enough, although formulaic and predictable. But the 12 year old level humor has long since worn out its welcome.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a run-of-the mill superhero sequel that doesnt progress the genre forward, but delivers two hours of pure entertainment.

This film does not do any one thing great, but it was still a pretty decent watch. The plot is averagenothing we have not seen on the big screen before. Our villains have no development; their motivations are sound, but there is nothing further that develops them into something greater.

This movie starts off incredibly strong, with a fantastic first act that had me laughing hysterically. The comedy hits more often than not, which was a surprise for me. There is a bridge rescue scene that is electric. The combination of "I Need a Hero" mixed with all of the heroes showcasing their abilitie...

Passably entertaining sequel that lacks the charm of the original to go along with the over-acting from Lucy Liu as the primary antagonist; really miss the great menace Mark Strong brought to his role. Still Zachary Levi was still great as Shazam and there were some fun scenes between Djimon Hounsou and Jack Dylan Grazer. Not great but still decent enough especially for families. 3.25/5

I genuinely had a blast with this!

I also had much fun with the original 2019 'Shazam!' so I guess the aforementioned isn't too much of a surprise, though I actually think this as entertaining in differing ways... and I'd class it as an improvement. The first film is more funny, though the story and characters are more interesting here in my opinion.

Big fan of the special effects throughout, the whole look of film in general is pleasant and I like how bright it all is for the vast majority; as opposed to the dreary darkness that superhero flicks seemingly tend to bring, especially in the DCEU. The score is excellent, not necessarily one I'd add to my movie soundtrack playlist but with the context of what's onscreen it's great.

The...