‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ review: Sequel conjures an overstuffed, unbalanced still heartfelt spell

The newest adventure with the Shazam! family in Fury of the Gods doesn’t quite reach the heights of its predecessor. However, an interesting trio of villains, strong comedic moments and plenty of heart make Fury of the Gods a very good sequel.

Since giving his foster siblings powers at the end of the first Shazam!, Billy Batson and his family serve as Philadelphia’s blundering heroes. Billy is concerned about his 18th birthday. Once he turns 18, Billy can age out of the foster system, which means his foster parents Rosa and Victor Vasquez can kick him out of the house. Billy’s fear of abandonment causes him to hold onto his siblings too tight. Meanwhile, the daughters of Atlas are looking to take over the world after they were shunned by the wizard (Djimon Hounsou).

Asher Angel and Jack Dylan Grazer are great whenever they’re on screen as Batson and Freddy Freeman. However, the superhero personas are the main focus of the sequel which is a shame. The first Shazam! film shines in balancing the different personas. In the sequel, Freddy gets some interesting scenes, but young Billy has very little screen time. Luckily, Asher nails the emotional beats every time he’s on screen.

Zachary Levi is pretty good as Shazam. He overcooks the child-like persona at times, which feels off compared to how mature Asher plays Billy as a teen. However, Levi nails the 3rd act’s emotional beats, so it does appear like the over-the-top teenager persona is a directorial choice by David F. Sandberg.

Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler are fantastic as the more-than-they-seem villains. Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan‘s screenplay does a great job of giving each of the villains an arc.

The action sequence and VFX are strong throughout the film.

Surpassing the first Shazam! film is a tough test. Unfortunately, the lack of balance between the superhero alter-egos and teenagers hurts the sequel a bit. Also, the attempts to connect to the wider DCU in the post-credit scenes fall woefully flat.

In spite of wanting more out of talent young cast, it’s tough to deny the heart in this film, especially in scenes like when Billy calls Rosa “Mom” for the first time.

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive into the elements that stand out in Fury of The Gods. Shazam! is available to stream on HBO Max.

Fury of the Gods Unleashed

Hespera (Mirren), Kalypso (Liu) and Anthea (Zegler) are the daughters of Atlas. They were banned from the earth realm by the wizard. However, when Shazam snapped the staff in the last film, he broke the barrier between the worlds. The rebuilt staff has the power to remove abilities like transforming into superheroes.

The daughters of Atlas are looking for revenge. However, each of the characters has a slightly different disposition and all three of them change over the course of Fury of the Gods.

Mirren’s Hespera starts outs as the leader. She’s powerful and hungry for revenge but possesses some restraint. Hespera simply wants to take back the powers entrusted to the Shazam family. She stops short of trying to destroy the world.

Liu’s Kalypso is the most bloodthirsty. She wants to change the earth to mirror their home world.

Anthea is the most sympathetic and has feelings for Freddy. She wants to stick by her sisters but works with Freddy and Billy to protect them.

The daughters of Atlas are interesting villains. Their diverging agendas serve as a nice parallel to the strained, but far more loyal Shazam family.

Aging Out

Similar to Sam in Scream VI, Billy is holding a tight leash on his siblings. Whenever there’s a mission, Billy insists on the whole family working together much to their chagrin. However, since they’re family, they always follow Billy.

The friendship between Billy and Freddy is less of a focus, which is disappointing. However, Anthea and Pedro are given a bit of a boost in the sequel. Anthea is the oldest of the adopted kids and wants to focus on studying so he can help Mr. and Mrs. Vasquez pay their bills.

Pedro is trying to come to grips with his sexual orientation. When he does come out, he’s met with knowing support from everyone in his family.

The scenes involving the younger cast are fantastic. Full of humor and heart these scenes are where Fury of the Gods shines brightest. There’s a particular scene involving Billy and Rosa that’s incredibly moving especially if you recently watched the first film.

Shazam family in action

The Shazam family is viewed by the residents of Philadelphia as well-meaning heroes who constantly fail to get the job done.

For example, an early sequence involves a bridge collapse. The family is able to save most, if not all of the people on the bridge. However, even though Shazam assigns the team the task of fixing the bridge, the bridge collapses into the watery depths below.

Fury of the Gods spends most of the runtime focusing on the Shazam family in the superhero personas. However, while the family does get involved, the responsibility falls on Shazam to face off against the daughters of Atlas alone. One of the stories involves whether Shazam should give up his powers to save his family, which is rebuffed by the wizard.

Levy does overdue the teenage hijinks at times. However, when the film shifts into a more serious scene, he’s terrific. Adam Brody and Meagan Good are the other standouts.

Fury of the Gods final thoughts

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a good sequel that falls just a hair short of its predecessor. Focusing on the superhero personas over the teenager issues throws the film out of balance at times. However, the villains are great, the action sequences are interesting and the emotional scenes strike the right chords more often than not.

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