The first “Shazam” was a rather charming superhero flick, which makes it all the more disappointing that its sequel “Fury of the Gods” leaves one frowning.
In this new adventure, Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is still turning into his super powered alter-ego Shazam (Zachary Levi) to help protect the city of Philadelphia with help from his foster siblings. While Billy still enjoys his superhero antics, though, he is growing concerned with a few things.
For one, he’s going to be 18 soon, which means he will age out of the foster system and he worries about losing his family. Additionally, his foster siblings seem to be growing apart. However, the family must come together to face a new threat with plenty of magical firepower.
“Shazam” got some mileage out of its premise of a kid becoming a superhero, but where it really won people over was Billy’s heartfelt story of struggling through his youth. Looking for a mother who turns out didn’t even want him and being accepted by a new family is where the movie became compelling.
In the sequel, though, it feels as if the creative team behind “Fury of the Gods” decided to toss out the more dramatic, emotional aspects and focus nearly entirely on the ‘kids get superpowers’ aspect. There’s just one major issue with that approach, though.
As stated in the summary, Billy is nearly 18, and his siblings are all older now, too. Yet the film doesn’t really treat the characters as such, so basically doing the whole ‘kids become heroes’ thing not only feels like a retread, but also more inauthentic because they should be more mature.
It feels like a real missed opportunity, considering there could have been some engaging story threads related to how Billy is evolving as a hero because he’s getting older and if the vigilante exploits of the siblings are putting a strain on their lives.
Instead, the film barely scratches any of this, and instead falls full into the superhero/fantasy antics. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Even if it doesn’t capture the more heartfelt aspects of the first, there’s nothing wrong with a fun superhero romp.
But in that case, there has to be some passion, energy and life in the picture. It’s all noticeably lacking in “Fury of the Gods,” a movie woefully underwritten and uninspired. The whole second act especially seems like an aimless wander with little substance. Even the action and adventure elements feel like a bore.
The third act isn’t much better, as a bunch of generic plot beats play out before an incredibly weak ending that wants to be powerful but barely elicits a “meh.” There’s just simply not much that hooks a person in.
Perhaps the biggest thing that trips up this “Shazam” sequel is the portrayal of the titular character. “Fury of the Gods” may have been a bit more enjoyable had the main character been done right. However, it’s really botched, as Levi’s older Billy acts almost nothing like the younger version played by Angel.
This was somewhat the case in the first film, too, but it is 10 times more noticeable here, as Levi’s Billy acts seemingly more immature while Angel’s Billy has clearly matured and is almost an adult. As a result, the humor from the older Shazam feels out of place and makes the character seem like an idiot, and the more dramatic moments with the protagonists are hard to take seriously.
One actually feels bad for Angel, too, because he barely has any screen-time compared to Levi. As for the supporting cast, it’s a bit hit and miss. Grace Caroline Currey and Jack Dylan Grazer are fairly good as the main two siblings in the family, but Rachel Zegler’s performance as the mystical character Anthea is rather rough.
“Fury of the Gods” is bland superhero adventure missing the charm that made the first installment enjoyable. The disregard for a more emotional narrative and the fumbling in how the main character was handled end up making this flick a blunder. It has some entertainment value making it at least watchable, although that’s not recommended. 2 out of 5.
Matthew Liedke on Film 
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