Shazam! Fury of the Gods
[4K/Blu-Ray combo]
Every now and then a movie comes along that really bums me out. I hope this bummer ends with Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Normally, I would avoid these kinds of movies, but the first one was kinda good, you know? How in God(s)’(s) name could they mess up the sequel to such an extent?
Let’s just get down to business, OK? Shazam! Fury of the Gods falls short in just about every aspect, whether you compare it to the original movie or not. Mostly, because this sequel leans heavily towards kids, and kid logic, and therefore is a complete mess. Or maybe that’s the excuse we want to use because it’s just poorly written in general. The saving grace is Zachary Levi who can still portray the character of Shazam! (did we really not establish that’s his name?) with charisma and child-like awe. But therein also lies a problem, because there are now 4 more Shazams and they’re all dull and interchangeable and just make this movie more bloated than it has to be. Also, the adult versions are trying to kid-act so hard that it’s truly uncomfortable to watch, except, confusingly, for Grace Caroline Currey who plays both adult and kid versions. The whole gang lives together in their kid form (whenever they are not being hated by the entire city of Philadelphia), have no plan, no chemistry together, and are adopted by highly negligent foster parents who have no idea where their kids are or what they’re doing. Shazam! Fury of the Gods is also supposed to be a comedy, but it is devoid of any funny lines or funny moments in the movie, unless you consider Jack Dylan Glazer (the obvious comic relief) constant stammering through every single line of dialogue, unicorns, and skittles to be funny.
What about the villains? They are a triple threat of clunky lines, ridiculous costumes and mediocrity. Just take a look at Hellen Mirren and try and take her seriously.
After about 45 minutes of this ridiculous, boring, unfunny, cliched, bloated, pointless, unfocused, mundane movie, the pain sets in and the urge for it to be over becomes overwhelming. But no, the makers of this movie insist that it’s the brass and lack of promotion that killed this movie. Sometimes a movie doesn’t bomb due to a secret unprovable conspiracy against it. It bombs because it’s just plain BAD.
