Shazam! Fury of the Gods - Mobile Edition

Comics Movie Reviews
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
By Hervé St-Louis
June 23, 2023 - 12:05

Studios: New Line Cinema, DC Studios, The Safran Company
Writer(s): Henry Gayden, Chris Morgan
Starring: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, Meagan Good, Lucy Liu, Djimon Hounsou, Helen Mirren, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Marta Milans, Cooper Andrews
Directed by: David F. Sandberg
Produced by: Peter Safran
Running Time: 130 minutes
Release Date: March 17, 2023
Rating: PG13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned)
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures

The Daughters of Atlas seek revenge of the Wizard who stole powers from the gods and gave them to mortals. Thus, they engage Captain Marvel and his family trying to depower them so that they can grow a new realm here on Earth. Standing in their way is Billy Batson and his family, but they may not be able to vanquish goddesses that can steal their powers.

I felt that there was a casting error in the first Shazam film, and this was exacerbated here with the sequel. Jack Dylan Grazer who plays Freddy Freeman, was given a larger role and became the central character of the film, while Asher Angel’s role as Billy Batson was severely reduced, in favour of more Zachary Levi as Captain Marvel. But while Levi was great in the first Shazam film, his acting was ridiculous here and he seemed more immature than Angel’s Billy Batson. It was weird to see how the younger character appeared more level-headed. The interplay between the characters was the bigger flaw of this movie, which continues to be a good franchise for families.

Some reviewers have focused on not understanding how Captain Marvel fits in a world where there is a Superman, and a Wonder Woman, thinking that he is both at once. They always forget about the family aspect and the whimsical nature of the character that fortunately was seen on screen. I did enjoy this movie, even though it was not groundbreaking. The powers of the members of the Marvel family seem less defined than the last movie where each one seemed to be a specialist, while Captain Marvel was a generalist.

Rating: 7.5/10