Shazam: Fury of the Gods

When it comes to their movies, DC has a god problem. Not God, the Almighty. Though, that's definitely something that could be debated at a later date. What I'm referring to are the gods that occupy the pages of DC Comics and the visual media adapted from them. With exception of Wonder Woman, her people of the island of Themyscira and her eternal foe, Ares the god of war, DC's heavenly hosts just don't manage to capture the imagination of theater goers like Thor, Loki and such do. 

What about the New Gods? They're pretty popular among fans! True. But the average person doesn't know the difference between Steppenwolf the character and Steppenwolf the band who brought us the hit song 'Born to Be Wild'. I argue that a lack of familiarity with the villains in Scott Snyder's Justice League doomed the film way more than Joss Whedon's interference with the final cut. And that's also what doomed Shazam: Fury of the Gods!

When 2019's Shazam concluded, we were teased with a potential team up between Doctor Sivana and that domineering worm, Mr. Mind. I was so pumped for the sequel. Even with the poor showing of The Rock's Black Adam movie, I was expecting the Big Red Cheese and his Shazam family to take on Sivana, Mind and Black Adam in this sequel. And if Adam wasn't in the picture, maybe we'd get that evil brute Ibac! Instead, we got 3 daughters of Atlas who I've never heard of before in my life!

The daughters are played by Helen Mirren, Lucy Lui and the controversial actress Rachel Zegler. Lucy Lui was pretty good as the menacing Kalypso. She played a really good psychopath. Zegler was okay. But her romance with Freddy Freeman made her predictable. And I think Helen Mirren is one heck of an actress. But I just don't see her playing the role of a titan/goddess out to punish humanity because they turned their backs on the old gods. In her prime, Mirren is just too nurturing. Throw in a magical apple, some tree of life that actually does just the opposite and a bunch of mythical creatures that are more bark than bite and I was seriously bored with a lot of this movie.

The beginning when the 'Shazamily' saves a crumbling bridge full of car riders to the tune of Bonnie Tyler's 'Holding Out For A Hero', had promise. The unexpected return to Djimon Hounsou as the supposedly dead wizard Shazam was warranted. I loved the banter between him and Freddy. And the ending with that very much needed cameo and the whole family enjoying the spoils of victory was a great way to end the film. But the middle was so complicated and I found myself fiddling around on my phone instead of paying attention to the movie. In fact: I recorded this film on my DVR in March, where I made it through the first 45 minutes. It wasn't until now in July that I finally got up the nerve (and care) to complete it. In all honesty, I just finished it so that I could review it and get the 2 hours back on my recorder.

Some are going to argue that the 2023 film bombed because of the pro-Trump platform of lead actor, Zachary Levi. It probably didn't help. But it didn't deter me from watching it in theaters. Out of this world ticket prices led me to wait for it to come on TV. (For those of you wanting to blame the pro-Palestinian comments of actress Rachel Zegler for this movie tanking, her comments came AFTER Fury of the Gods left both the silver screen and Pay-Per-View.) Really, what killed this movie was that it was smited by the gods. The deities of Egypt in Black Adam couldn't illicit an opening segue into more interest for the second Shazam picture. Using obscure Greek gods stuck a knife through its heart. As a result, James Gunn, with his new vision for the DC cinematic universe, buried any hopes of a third movie with what I suspect will be a blockbuster with the new Superman coming out tonight!

Not Worth Consuming!

Rating: 3 out of 10 stars.

Shazam! (2019)

Finally, the REAL Captain Marvel made his modern day debut on the big screen.

Asher Angel portrays orphan teen Billy Batson. While fleeing from some bullies, Batson seeks refuge in a subway car that transports the lad to the Rock of Eternity. There, Billy meets an ancient wizard who imbues the teen with 6 wondrous powers

whenever Billy exclaims 'Shazam!’

With a bolt of lightning, Billy Batson turns into Captain Marvel, played by Zachary Levy

(Chuck). (Due to some clever wordplay, the hero is never called by this name so to not

be hit with a lawsuit by Marvel Comics. But he is listed as C.M. in the credits.) For about

an hour, Shazam is a superhero twist on the Tom Hanks classic, Big.The Big Red Cheese explores his powers with fellow foster kid, Freddy Freeman (It'sJack Dylan Glazer) in hilarious fashion. But this all changes around the Midway point of this just over 2 hour long film.

The change in the film's tone from comedy to mystical thriller occurs when Dr. Silvana makes his presence known to Batson and Freddy. Sherlock Holmes'Mark Strong portrays the normally simpering mad scientist as a total heel. Evil through and through with powers to boot, I think Warner Bros. added some aspects to Dr. Silvana normally seen in fellow Captain Marvel baddie, Black Adam.

After seeing Shazam!, I think it's clear that the Black Adamfilm can be done and done well. But instead of trying to get Henry Cavill to appear in the film as Superman, make Levy's character be the film's protagonist. WB and DC has proven that their Captain Marvel can lead the DC Universe as well as be more socially appetizing for movie goers.

Critics hailed the House of Ideas’ Captain Marvelstarring Brie Larson, as the diversity driven superhero film of 2019. But in reality that honor needs to go to Shazam!People of color, women, the disabled and most importantly, the microcosm that is the foster child program are championed in this film. I strongly made the diversity connection in this film without having to be preached at by the cast of Marvel's Agents

of SHIELD

I really want to get back to the foster family aspect for a moment. Family is the key theme in Shazam!and the roles of Billy Batson and Dr. Silvana show some interesting contrasts. Silvana comes from a upbringing with a father and brother. Yet, he couldn’t be more distant from his

relatives in he was on Mars and they on Earth. Batson, while an orphan, is brought

into a loving foster home complete with 5 foster siblings willing to accept and love him right off the bat.

It’s not often you get to see social services or foster families in a positive light. My wife and I are avid watchers of NBC’s Chicago trilogy of shows and it seems that creator Dick Wolf reallyhas some sort of beef against social workers. If you work in social services or as a foster parent, you really need to get a group of fellow colleagues together and watch this movie. It

will make you feel good about the thankless service you give to your community!

Man, I only seem to be giving this film praise. That’s not to say that I didn’t have some problems with the film. The biggest issue I had was the release date. The film takes places

right around Christmas. Finally, superhero fans have a holiday movie! So why didn’t DC and

Warner Brothers release this in November or December? Were there production delays? Shazam! did around $55 million in the US on opening weekend. But had they released this at Christmas time, I guarantee it would have broke $70!

The other thing I did not like about this movie is something I have had problems with ever since Man of Steel. What is up with the super-slomo action scenes??? Justice Leagueand Wonder Womanwere riddled with these snail’s pace fight scenes. I really had thought Shazam! had risen above that but somebody decided during the film’s climax to slow the pace down by 40%.

And it annoyed the hell outta me!

I was all set to give Shazam!a solid 9 until the very last scene before the credits. I will not give away the spoiler. But it completely redeemed the movie. Let’s just say it was sup-, uh-Marvelous!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.