It is well known how I can be very guarded when it comes to sequels. If a sequel comes out less than a year and a half after the film before it, that tends to be a bad sign, but longer than that actually gives me hope. In the case of Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the timespan since the first film is just about four years, so I at least had a bit of good expectations going in.
Once again directed by David F Sandberg, Zachary Levi returns as the superhero version of Billy Batson in a story that takes place a few years after the events of the first film with his foster family/superhero teammates doing good deeds but are still struggling with getting everything right. As they are trying to get it right, the Daughters of Atlas in Hespra (Helen Miren) and Kalypsao (Lucy Liu) have retrieved a magic staff that can give and take powers away as they embark on a quest for vengeance in the name of their father. It’s up to Batson and his family to stop them from destroying everything we know in our world.
This is your basic superhero movie with great special effects from a well-known studio, so I have no complaints there. The cast both old and new here do a pretty good job, but my shout-out here goes to Rachel Zegler (who you might remember as Maria in the remake of West Side Story) who really brought the emotion in this film.
This film has a lot going for it on paper as the story of six young superheroes trying to save the world, but that is about as far as I will give it. The first film brought some fresh perspectives, but that tends to fizzle out here as a combination of action, attempted comedy, and relationship issues. It tries being funny and riding the coattails of the first fmil, but some of it felt pointless. I did not hate Shazam! Fury of the Gods on the level that I did with Ghostbusters II, but I did not love it so I would recommend it as watching it on a home streaming service.