The film continues the story of teenage Billy Batson, who, upon reciting the magic word “SHAZAM!” is transformed into his adult Super Hero alter ego, Shazam.
When “Shazam!” came out in 2019, it earned over $367 million worldwide and received positive reviews from critics, including this one. Until then, most DC movies were dark, pessimistic, and gloom-ridden, especially Zack Snyder’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” While I was probably one of the few critics who enjoyed the theatrical release of “Justice League,” it wasn’t until “Shazam!” came along that it became apparent that DC actually had a playful side and a sense of humor.
Zachary Levi infuses his Shazam character with much-needed fun and, at times, playfulness, considering that he is technically still a 16-year-old teenager in a grown-up body, but when things get serious, he rolls with the punches, sometimes literally, learning to balance his emotions along the way.
Two years after Billy (Asher Angel) and his foster siblings defeated the villainous Thaddeus Sivana, the group has moved on. Many are tired of being the city’s saviors and want to lead everyday, teenage, angst-ridden lives. When two of the daughters of the Titan Atlas, Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu), break into the Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece, they steal the Wizard (Djimon Hounsou) ’s broken staff with the intent of bringing it to him where he is imprisoned in the Gods’ Realm so he can fix the staff and revitalize its powers.
Unbeknownst to them, a third sister, Anthea (Rachel Zegler), befriends one of the group, Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer), and they quickly fall for each other, but their romance is short-lived when it comes to light that Kalypso has betrayed her sisters and wants to release a dragon over the city, planning to conquer the Earth by herself, and defeat Shazam and his Shazamily of superheroes. Now Billy and his foster siblings must team up to stop her, before it’s too late.
While much of what worked in the first movie is still on display here, it misses the mark more frequently, resulting in fewer laughs and less action. The first time around, the film centered on our young superheroes trying to control their powers but two years have passed since then, so the awkwardness and humorous antics of grappling with being a superhero feel more contrived. The entire cast works well together, but the story elements, or lack thereof, fail to deliver anything remotely scary or formidable. The fact that our protagonists are still technically teenagers is probably why, but had the powers-that-be pitted them against a villain such as Doomsday or Darkseid, or a bad guy of that caliber, the stakes would have been much higher, and our superheroes would have had more to lose.
Now that James Gunn and Peter Safran have assumed control of DC Studios, they are moving in a completely new direction, and I personally doubt we’ll be seeing more of Shazam. Maybe down the road, the character might be resurrected, but with the teenage high-jinks and, at times, childish shenanigans accompanying the character, I feel that Gunn and Safran will have a new trajectory where their films will be more serious in tone, but hopefully not as bleak as “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
Now available on Digital HD, and on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™, and DVD May 23rd
