Formula: Shazam! * Black Adam
The nice thing about the mess DC has made of their extended universe building over the last decade is that a lot of fun movies have snuck through. Sure, the core movies like Batman v. Superman and Justice League have been underwhelming to all but the Snyder-stans. There have been great successes too, often on the margins. Wonder Woman fixed her underwhelming entrance in Dawn of Justice. Aquaman was a really entertaining ride. The two smaller Suicide Squad follow-ups (2020's Birds of Prey and 2021's The Suicide Squad) were a lot of fun without the weight of a masterplan to adhere to. Perhaps the best of them all was Shazam!, which found a lot of charm in its “Big with a superhero”, premise.
The sequel to Shazam! was always going to struggle some. It's harder to lean on the child in an adult body premise when the character is less new to it. And there's a sizeable difference between a 14–15-year-old and a 17–18-year-old in an adult body. Fury of the Gods does well by being able to show off how Billy's (Asher Angel) other siblings have adjusted to their powers. Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) is even more front-and-center this time too. And, as you'd expect from a bunch of kids suddenly gifted with superhero powers, their hero group has a reputation around the city as nuisances; likely to match every heroic deed with a colossal screw up. Anyway, they now have to take on a trio of goddess sisters played by Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, and Rachel Zegler looking to restore the power taken from them and given to Shazam! The sisters don't all have the same idea of what to do with the powers once they get them back, but you better believe at least one wants to use them to destroy humanity.
This movie is packed with good performances and casting choices. I love the matching of Adam Brody as Jack Dylan Grazer's superhero form and there's plenty of both of them in here. Zachary Levi's brand of enthusiasm is perfect for a kid in a man's body performance. So much so that the movie does everything it can to sideline Asher Angel as Billy. Djimon Hounsou is really good at using his gravitas for silliness. I really liked seeing Rachel Zegler finally in something else after West Side Story. This isn't the greatest use of her, but it's better than nothing.
Unfortunately, this movie just isn't as fun as the first Shazam! He's not really an "end of the world" kind of hero. There are a few too many characters to balance, especially with three villains to differentiate. There's a running gag with Skittles that either works for you or it doesn't. And for me it really didn't. I don't want to bash the movie, because it's really no worse than a lot of the middling superhero movies that have come out lately. Like Quantumania though, it's unfortunate to watch a movie that lost track of what worked best about the previous movie.
Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend
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