David F. Sandberg’s 2019 contribution to the superhero film, “Shazam,” was a unique outlier in the films that fell under the DC Extended Universe – in that it was quite an enjoyable superhero film.
The 2019 film was a breath of fresh air for the current slate of DC films, with the previous films, “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Justice League,” being quite awful (the latter being now infamous for the horrendous CGI used to digitally remove Henry Cavill’s mustache). The preceding films also feature a dark tone that isn’t justified, with scripts that feature baffling dialogue that is laughably bad (the Martha scene in BvS, anyone?)
Since the release of “Shazam,” DC Studios has undergone some major renovations when it comes to the heads of the studio, with James Gunn and Peter Safran now being the co-CEOs and co-chairmen of the company. As a result of these appointments was the reboot of the DCEU, and the final films of this universe prior to this being released, including “Shazam! Fury of the Gods.”
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” – the follow-up to “Shazam” (2019) – no longer has the unique sense of fun that the first film had, and now has the same bland corporate feeling that most superhero films have, resulting in a disappointing watch.
Taking place a few years after the events of the last film, Billy Bastion/Shazam – now working with his foster family as a group of superheroes – must save his city of Philadelphia once again, from the wrath of two of the Daughters of Atlas: Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu).
In terms of the better aspects of the film is Helen Mirren, who gives a really good performance as Hespera, one of the Daughters of Atlas. There are some great moments with her character, such as in the opening sequence of the film (when she and Kalypso steal the Wizard’s staff from the museum), and her and Liu’s performances (who is also really great) don’t feel worthy of a film like this.
Grace Caroline Currey also gives a good performance as Mary, one of Billy’s foster sisters who also has superpowers. She is the best part of certain scenes where she addresses the clingy attitude of Billy when it comes to him trying to organize meetings, even though said scenes are dragged down, thanks to Zachary Levi’s rather irritating portrayal of Shazam.
While the first film dealt with themes of maturity and the power of responsibility, “Fury of the Gods” tries to tackle the topic of family, but the execution of this idea starts to stagnate towards the second act of the film – not returning until the third act of the film, with scenes in between featuring attempts at humor that end up falling flat. Coupled with this is the rather mediocre CGI, specifically the scenes in the Gods’ Realm feeling way overdone, with the visual effects not complementing the actors very well, especially considering that the film had a budget of $125 million.
Then there’s the usage of product placement.
Product placement has become increasingly commonplace in American cinema in the last few decades – as it was most famously satirized in 1992’s “Wayne’s World.” With “Fury of the Gods,” this aspect is taking to lows not seen in quite a while, with the plethora of appearances from one single product: Skittles.
Skittles are featured throughout the film, to the point that it’s a crucial element in a sequence in the third act, along with a line of dialogue in the same scene utilizing the tagline, Taste the Rainbow. It makes the viewer ponder the question: How much of the film was financed by the candy confectionery? No film should feature this much advertising, yet this film does exactly that.
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” tries to accomplish making an excellent followup to one of the two actual good films that came out of the DCEU, but instead deviates into familiar and overdone tropes in most films of this genre, along with having an absurd amount of product placement not often seen in films. A rather awful film, to say the least.
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