Shazam! Fury of the Gods

• Directed by David F. Sandberg
• March 14, 2023 (Fox Village Theatre) / March 17, 2023 (US)
• Based on the DC Comics character Shazam

The Daughters of Atlas escape from their realm and seek revenge.

I hear a great deal of smack said about Shazam! Fury of the Gods but I think it is largely undeserved. I am firmly of the mind that people like to hate on DC because it is not Marvel with little consideration to actual quality. Not that it is above critique but the reflexive dislike some seem to have is petty.

Fury of the Gods is a fun superhero movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously but also doesn’t treat everything as a goof either. It strikes a good medium between comedy and action. It’s fun and light and for me strikes all the right tones. Toss it in cool visuals with a witty (though not perfect) script written by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan and it is just an entertaining movie.

One issue is that while there are rules and logic to events, the audience is not necessarily informed of those rules so the logic is not possible to follow. I heard the complaint for example how powers come and go for no reason but if you watch closely, you see how that happens. But you need to watch closely. Minutia that you pick up on should be treat but not a requirement to find in order to understand the basics.

One thing though that completely slips through the cracks is how the wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) returns. I’m not sure if they really ever say. It just kind of happens. He’s imprisoned in the god’s realm but how that happened either I missed or they skipped. Shazam (Zachary Levi) never gets an answer even though he asks several times.

The wizard Shazam is less a stoic wizard and more comical as well as an active participant in the story this time around. He is not just jokes but more of an individual that does not have the time for what he is dealing with. Hounsou was quite charming and dare I say even dashing in his last scene.

I think Fury of the Gods biggest mistake is not following up on the post credit scene of the first film. That bit indicated that Dr. Sivana (Mark Strong) and Mister Mind (voice of David F. Sandberg) were going to play an important part in this film but nope. We get another tease here involving both characters but given current leadership it is unlikely that anything can ever come of it.

Billy’s (Asher Angel) seems to have taken a step or two in his emotional growth from the last film. He is now paranoid at losing those he has come to care about as well as security of having a home. He is not as emotionally mature as he was at the end of Shazam! or even as mature as one might be on the verge of 18.

They really play with magical elements here as well as diving into the Shazam comics mythology with references throughout this movie like a burning violin. Known as Nero’s Fiddle (though never named in the movie) it came from a 1946 story titled “Cult of The Curse Part 4: Flames of The Magic Fiddle” from what I have found. Pretty deep dive there and maybe a bit confusing to viewers. But there is also a magic pen named Steve, a dragon, and some of the angriest unicorns seen on film.

The use of superpowers is fun but not that creative. Hespera (Helen Mirren) is tossing people around while she herself gets slammed to the ground and others move with speed that would make the Flash envious. When used Anthea’s (Rachel Zeigler) power of reality altering looks like some scenes from Doctor Strange. In and of themselves they are nothing you haven’t seen before. That is until the dragon gets tossed in and they go all in on the visuals of the mythical stuff.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a bit bitter sweet for me. On one hand I enjoyed it but on the other its connections to the remnants of the Snyderverse means it’s most likely never going to get a sequel.

That’s said because it’s fun. There is nothing deep here. Sandberg and company are just seeking to entertain. It’s not pretentious or stuck on itself as other superhero movies can be. Aside from a reference here and there it doesn’t exist to serve a larger narrative. It’s just there to expand upon the story of Shazam.

Overall Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a fun and exciting comic book movie. Despite some narrative issues it is a great watch. If you want something good this would be a fantastic choice.