When Shazam first came out, I only went to see it because it was a new superhero flick, and hey, who doesn’t love superheroes? But I remember coming out of the theater with Shazam as one of my top five movies of that year. Why? Simple. One, Shazam was a breath of fresh air from the usual dark, gritty DC films. Two, it had a lot of heart, something that I felt was missing from superhero movies for a while.
It reminded me of old-school Marvel, and filled me with the same wonder that the first Captain America, or even the original Spider-Man with Tobey Maguire did. I know, I know — huge comparisons to make. But all three films had something that newer superhero movies keep moving farther away from: simplicity.
It was cheesy, fun, and had enough good jokes sprinkled in to make for a very enjoyable experience.
Now, as you can tell, I loved the first movie. But today we’re not going to talk about that; we’re going to talk about the sequel.
Spoiler alert: It was … just okay.
Shazam! Fury of The Gods picks up the story where Shazam left off, and all of Billy’s siblings now have superpowers and their own lives. The movie tries to be heartwarming, much like its predecessor. Billy struggles with major abandonment issues, and he’s desperate to keep the team (and family) together. This is the first time he’s felt a sense of belonging, and he wants to make it last.
I feel like this story could have been told better if it wasn’t so on the nose. And this lack of subtlety is a consistent problem throughout the movie (at one point the film turns into a blatant Skittles advertisement).
Very early in the movie, the oldest sibling, Mary, explains to Billy in detail how he is afraid to let go because of the trauma of being abandoned by his mother. This is something that I believe should’ve been left to the audience to figure out, or hinted at throughout the film, instead of explained in a lecture.
Then, the villains. They have the same flaw as every other superhero movie villain: not enough time is spent on them to actually flesh out their motivations. The original Spider-Man movies are rare examples of films that do this well – you end up almost empathizing with the villains. While the villain in the first Shazam! seemed weak, the villains in the second feel like filler characters. But hey, at least their powers were cool – when they remembered to use them.
The movie hyper focuses on what the first installment got right, and almost runs it into the ground. It dumbs down characters that were fairly smart in the first movie and plays everything off as a joke.
A major criticism of the first movie was that Shazam Billy was much more goofier and immature than young Billy, and this movie doubles down on it.
It almost completely gets rid of younger Billy, whose struggles the audience actually connected with. After a while it gets frustrating to see the plot go nowhere due to Shazam’s silly mistakes. And no, he doesn’t really learn from them.
Again, with so many characters and so little plot, it feels like a lot of potential is wasted by either making characters repeat their mistakes, or by just not letting them do much at all.
Having such a large cast of characters is a strength of the first movie because there was always someone you were looking forward to seeing on screen. Now, everyone feels like an extra; well, except maybe Freddy.
Lastly, I feel like the shock and sadness of the ending would matter more if it was allowed to last for more than one minute. The immediate resolution of any sort of consequence of the climax almost undoes all of the movie’s impact — and the story becomes almost like a filler arc. It ends up diluting the meaning of Billy’s heroic sacrifice, and robs the other characters of a chance to grow without him.
Don’t get me wrong – I came out of that theater very entertained.
I don’t think Shazam! is a movie to think very critically about. If you go to watch Shazam! expecting a masterpiece, you’re doing yourself and the film a disservice. Shazam!: Fury of the Gods is flawed, yes. It still does what it promises to do – give the audience a good time. It’s a fun and lighthearted movie. Most of its jokes land, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It was also nice to see a movie utilize cliché humor to try and actually be funny, instead of just using shock humor for laughs.
Revisiting the characters I wanted to watch more of since the first movie, was exciting. By the end of the movie, I was simply happy.
While it’s still sad to see what started out as a fun coming-of-age story with a side of superheroes become just another cog in the superhero machine, I still had a good time. I think Shazam!: Fury of the Gods should’ve been a series following the adventures of all the characters, instead of a movie. While still entertaining, I don’t think I’ll rewatch it; which for the first movie, I have done twice so far.
