It’s been a long wait, but we finally return to the magical world of ‘Shazam!’ in ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’. This sequel to the popular first film, which first hit cinemas in 2019, is once again directed by David F. Sandberg. He brings a great warmth and relatability to this DC property, easily making ‘Shazam!’ the most accessible and entertaining DC character in their current cinematic universe.
Billy Batson (Asher Angel) has his work cut out for him keeping his foster siblings together as juggling a school and life balance gets in the way of them all spending much time together. That’s not to say that he doesn’t transform into Shazam! (Zachary Levi) at every opportunity he gets, but it’s getting harder to keep his family close by. Crime doesn’t care though, and a mystical trio of Gods named the Daughters of Atlas (including Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu) have arrived on earth, hell bent on reclaiming their mystical powers from Shazam! and his family.
Zachary Levi is excellent as Shazam! and captivates whenever he’s onscreen. The ‘Chuck’ star has such a nice manner about him that he is always a joy to watch onscreen. Lucy Liu channels her inner ‘Rita Repulsa’ as the most tempestuous of Atlas’ daughters Kalypso. Helen Mirren looks to be having lots of fun as Hespera, the head of the ‘Daughters’, while Djimon Hounsou is thankfully used much more this time around as the Wizard. His also shares some great back-and-forth with Freddy.
The kids are starting to look much older, as you’d expect, so it was somewhat inevitable that Mary (Grace Caroline Currey) graduates as not only the college-aged Mary, but her superhero counterpart Mary too (which was played by ‘Hawaii Five-O’ star Michelle Borth previously). Currey is excellent and gives the film a lot of heart and soul. Asher Angel also does well and leads his scenes with authority and charisma. But it’s Jack Dylan Grazer who once again effortlessly steals all of his scenes as Freddy. He has some fantastic moments, especially alongside a mysterious new student who has a crush on him, played by ‘West Side Story’ star Rachel Zegler.
The rest of the supporting cast are solid, with D.J. Cotrona, Meagan Good, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, Faithe Herman, Jovan Armand, Ian Chen and Diedrich Bader all delivering nice turns. I’d pay good money to see a sitcom series based on Marta Milans and Cooper Andrews as foster parents Rosa and Victor Vasquez. They hold the cast together with memorable performances and work so well together with the kids. There are also two pretty good cameos from big franchise stars – one with a pivotal role in the finale too – so make sure you stick around for two post credit sequences.
With a brilliant cast and lots of laughs, ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ is a great family blockbuster. With so many superhero movies out there today, it’s refreshing to find one that doesn’t take itself too seriously and that has plentiful laughs running throughout. Ultimately, it’s the ensemble that wins you over and because you genuinely care about these characters, so it’s easy to get fully invested into this story. It will be a shame if this is our last foray with Shazam!, but with DC moving in a whole new direction headed up by James Gunn, it would seem that ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ might just be the swansong for this beloved and very entertaining character. If so, thanks for two wonderfully fun blockbuster movies. It’s a shame – it would have been great to see ‘Shazam!’ take on ‘Black Adam’ himself, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in the future.
Cast: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, Grace Caroline Currey, Rachel Zegler, Djimon Hounsou, D.J. Cotrona, Meagan Good, Adam Brody, Marta Milans, Cooper Andrews, Ross Butler, Faithe Herman, Jovan Armand, Ian Chen, Diedrich Bader, Gal Gadot Director: David F. Sandberg Writer: Henry Gayden, Chris Morgan Certificate: 12A Duration: 130 mins Released by: Warner Bros Release date: 17th March 2023
