Review

Shazam! Fury of the Gods: another superhero movie? Hell yeah!

15.3.2023

Translation: Katherine Martin

The world is starting to tire of superheroes. In his second film, Billy Batson aka Shazam thinks as much. If you’ve seen the first movie, you’ll be rewarded this time around with the same wit and charm – and powerful gods and goddesses.

In the golden age of comics around the 1940s, Shazam was even more of a US superhero success than Superman. Since then, he’s gone through a fair few transformations, even having to cede his original title – Captain Marvel – to another comic book universe. Despite its ups and downs, a Shazam! sequel has now made it into to cinemas – and rightfully so.

Strong superhero presence in the second instalment of Shazam!
Source: Warner Bros.

First things first, when I say I won’t be revealing any spoilers as I’m only taking information from the trailers, it’s not entirely true. Unfortunately, the second official trailer has given away one big surprise too many. Even the film’s director, David F. Sandberg thinks so. With this in mind, I’ve decided to leave this information out and focus on the content of the first trailer.

How it all started: a quick recap

In part one teenager Billy Batson (Asher Angel) has finally found a foster family he won’t run away from. By uttering the word «shazam», he activates his superpowers, which he received from a wizard of the same name. This transforms him into an adult superhero. In his foster siblings, Billy has found his comrades-in-arms, who’ll join him in using their new powers to save the world. Or at least his own. The villain of the story, Dr Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), was last seen behind bars, waiting to be released.

Time for some Greek mythology

Billy Batson (again played by Asher Angel) and his adopted siblings are trying to juggle school life with superhero life. Billy
now believes he doesn’t deserve his powers. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, he tries to face the next calamity with as many of the crew as possible. Even though his brother Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer) sees things a little differently. Their latest enemies, however, are of the supernatural variety – and they leave the young family at a loss. They’re the daughters of Atlas, and they want their divine powers back. It’s a fitting genre. After all, the name Shazam is at least partially composed of the names of Greek gods and heroes – Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury.

Billy and his siblings are desperate and in fear of their lives. How can they stand a chance against this kind of ancient power? Billy has the idea of going down the diplomatic route, attempting to talk it all out while wearing his adult hero gear (played by Zachary Levi). As can be seen from the trailer, his political manoeuvre isn’t exactly a success, and chaos is inevitable.

Talking doesn’t always work.
Source: Warner Bros.

The recipe: a colourful mixture for a colourful crew

Take a portion of Greek mythology with a handful of unicorns, a pinch of Quidditch, dollops of childlike superpowers and top it off with a creepy doll called Annabelle. Annabelle? The doll has already been spotted in the background of Aquaman as well as the first instalment of Shazam! Now, it’s also made it into the second, although it gets more of a passing mention.

The film contains a number of subtle references, including the Annabelle doll.
Source: Warner Bros.

The band of superheroes in Shazam! Fury of the Gods is confronted with the full force of the gods’ wrath and ancient powers. Two of the deities, Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Calypso (Lucy Liu), have a powerful presence right from the get-go, bringing Greek mythology into focus.

The Greek goddesses make a powerful impression in their battle armour.
Source: Warner Bros.

Generally speaking, it’s refreshing to see which elements have been brought centre stage. On one hand, there’s the power balance weighted in favour of women – a legitimate move in the otherwise heavily male-dominated universe of superheroes and villains.
On the other, there’s the central theme of family life, accompanied by amusing references to other superheroes. Superhero flicks often see a lone protagonist fighting to save the world on their own. Things are a little different in Shazam! – a contrast already apparent in the first movie. In the sequel, the element of togetherness in battle is emphasised to an even more pronounced and heartbreaking extent. Sure, the family of superheroes saves the world, but they sacrifice their childhood to do so. It’s a crucial issue in the film. And aside from the whole superhero double life, one thing is even more important: the real heroes are the ones without supernatural powers.

Another refreshing aspect is the blend of Greek mythology with superhero lore – something that hasn’t just come out of nowhere. As well as the Shazam acronym, the DC universe has Wonder Woman, a cross between a deity and a superhero. Both Wonder Woman movies explore her origin story and childhood in detail. The characters in Shazam!, however, leave you pondering which backstory they belong to. Sometimes it’s addressed, sometimes it isn’t. You find out, for instance, that the goddesses are Atlas’ daughters and that something must have gone awry with their dad. It isn’t revealed what exactly that was.

As well as the Greek mythology and superhero genres, Norse mythology enters the mix with the appearance of a dragon. With the wizard and other elements, the film has magic too. This merging of so many genres makes it seem like they couldn’t agree on one, so threw as many fantastical things into the ring as possible. Despite this, in the heat of the moment, i.e. during the fast-paced action, it doesn’t feel overloaded or artificial because it’s not all packed into one scene.

The film brings characters from numerous genres together. But are there too many?
Source: Warner Bros.

In the first film, there were almost too many references to Billy and Freddy’s childishness. In this one, it doesn’t verge on annoying. Like in the first instalment, however, the two boys play the most important of the six siblings’ roles. Things would obviously get messy if all of the kids got as much airtime. The film solves this by giving each character their own moment of glory. In doing so, it actually demonstrates the importance of teamwork – especially when said team is made up of a bunch of disorganised kids.

Every character has their moment of glory.
Source: Warner Bros.

Verdict: drawn into the thick of the action

Shazam! Fury of the Gods plays the trump cards it was holding during the first instalment: sparkling humour and characters that’ve already found their way into our hearts. A lot of things work out even better in the sequel. For example, I have a little more sympathy for Freddy when he’s being teased. Plus, the fact that everyone still has something to learn makes the characters even more likeable. The cohesion of the family, which was only really alluded to in the first part, is also put to the test in part two.

Women skilfully play an equal role in this superhero flick, but the story of Atlas’ daughters is treated in more of a superficial way. Villains in DC flicks often suffer the same fate (including Dr Sivana from part one). Still, at least there’s some element of characterisation. After all, Greek mythology has plenty material to offer. I personally would’ve liked to see even more of the mythology behind the pantheon of gods.

If you liked part one, you’ll like part two even more. What seems like a popcorn flick with loads of likeable characters at first glance turns out to have a deep message about the worth of individuals – even those without a cape or a tight suit. A superhero film that dares to briefly veer off in a new direction – with plenty of thunder and lightning.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods hits theatres on 15 March 2022. Runtime: 130 minutes. Age rating: 12+.

Header image: Warner Bros.

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Michelle Brändle

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Michelle.Braendle@digitecgalaxus.ch

In my world, Super Mario chases Stormtroopers with a unicorn and Harley Quinn mixes cocktails for Eddie and Peter at the beach bar. Wherever I can live out my creativity, my fingers tingle. Or maybe it's because nothing flows through my veins but chocolate, glitter and coffee.

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Shazam! Fury of the Gods: another superhero movie? Hell yeah!

How it all started: a quick recap

Time for some Greek mythology

The recipe: a colourful mixture for a colourful crew

Verdict: drawn into the thick of the action

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