शज़ैम! फ्युरी ऑफ द गॉड्स

Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) is a movie that my wife and I saw in theatres last night. The storyline picks up where we left off from the first film with Billy and his orphaned friends being super heroes and secretly, regularly saving people from unfortunate events. When three sisters retrieve the broken staff from the first film and look to open a portal from Olympus to Earth to take over civilization, Billy and friends are the only ones that can stop them.

This movie is directed by David F. Sandberg (Lights Out) and stars Zachary Levi (The Mauritanian), Grace Caroline Currey (Fall), Helen Mirren (The Queen), Lucy Liu (Kill Bill), Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond) and Meagan Good (Think Like A Man).

This movie kicks up the action scenes and special effects but the storyline lacks the heart and charm of the first film. I did love the incorporation of the mythological creatures, especially the villain's creatures and the unicorns. I will say the dragon was uneven with some sequences that were awesome and some that were too much. Once again Djimon Hounsou was excellent as the wizard and Liu and Mirren were great villains. The comedy was hit or miss with some good laughs here and there and some cheese also. Meagan Good looked amazing as always and I loved the cameo at the end. The ending credits sequence wasn't good.

Overall, this is an average addition to the super hero genre that's worth seeing once. I would score this a 5/10.

I mean the best thing I can give this film is that if you loved the first film, then you will love the second film. If you hated the first film, then don't bother with this one. This film literally captures EVERYTHING from the first and somewhat does it again. But for some reason, I think it did it better. The bad guys despite the horrible trailer, are actually not to bad. There perfectly fine one time villains. The action is about the same, visuals mediocre but compared to the MCU great and the comedy hits better. The film is less cringey and actually more funny than the first. Overall, I personally found this film the better version of the first film.

I did not know much about the daughters of Atlas before the film and I know only a little bit more now. Most of the movie was spent on the emotional state of the protagonist and his sidekick and tried to focus on comedy, rather than the story. Worse than the original and not as fun.

I do not know if Billy Batson is going to continue to play a part in the DCEU, but judging from this film, he will not be missed.

Sadly, the best part of the whole experience is the spoiled, uncredited appearance of a certain character.

Stick around for the credits scene, if you decide to watch it, but there is not much need for the one after credits.

Gonna be honest this was never a movie I was really hyped for, just like the first one and the final result it's kinda the same. It's an "okay" B grade movie. No disrespect, there must be movies like this too.

The story it's pretty basic and if you watch the trailers you can pick up the pieces quite fast.

Nothing really special, nothing intriguing, it is more predictable actually. The kids are now grown up and I wanted to see more of their chemistry, but instead we got more action, which is not bad on paper, but in reality it's kinda blunt and forgettable for the whole movie.

Talking about forgettable things...the villains fit pretty well in this category. I mean Helen Mirren is outstanding actress, but it's "just another villain" scenario.

The effects at some times look underwhelming...actually the trailers hinted at that.

If you liked the first movie, I guess you gonna like this one too. I don't have many problems with it, it was just boring in my eyes. The humor is okay for younger audience, but there are some good jokes for more matured audience too.

Overall it's "okay", but it's not gonna be one of the more rewatchable movies in the DC catalog...I guess.

This film does not do any one thing great, but it was still a pretty decent watch. The plot is average-nothing 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 abilities was amazing. I think superhero films have dropped the ball by not showing heroes rescuing everyday people. The stakes have gotten so high outside of the everyday troubles that this art is lost. I really enjoyed that aspect of the film, but unfortunately, after the first act, this story becomes inflated to a point where it is indistinguishable from many other superhero blockbusters.

The final act is overly long and bloated with a plethora of CGI monsters for our heroes to defeat. I think the CGI actually looked pretty good, but it just was not an engaging conclusion for me. The stakes were high, but not built up properly for me to be genuinely interested. The action is pretty decent, but I couldn't care less. The finale did have emotional beats in terms of the family connection, which worked surprisingly well. That is when this franchise works best. When the focus is on family and not on god's attempts to destroy Earth,

The performances overall were pretty good. Zachary Levi is fantastic as Shazam; he has mastered the art of playing a child in a man's body. Jack Dylan Grazer is hilarious; his comedic timing is brilliant. Grace Caroline Currey is a queen. Rachel Zegler is a standout, and her chemistry with Grazer is top notch. The rest of the Shazamly do a great job as well. I think Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu are fine as antagonists but were wasted with a lack of screen time and development.

Overall, this might not be good, but it is entertaining. That is a lot more than can be said for some of the recently released superhero films (Black Adam and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania).

Score: 65% Verdict: Decent.