‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ — come along for a fun ride
A little humor goes a long way when you’re saving the world as shown in “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” a fun (and merely 2 hours and 10 minuteslong) outing that starts with Helen Mirren and Lucy
Liu as two daughters of Atlas, not very comically stealing the Staff of Life from a museum, transforming innocent museum-goers into zombies and then turning them all to stone.
Cut to Philadelphia where Billy Batson (once again, Asher Angel) aka Shazam (again, Zachery Levi) and his superheroic siblings live with their foster parents Rosa (Marta Milans) and Victor Vasquez (Cooper Andrews). Shazam, who does not know his superhero name, and his superhero siblings are known as the Philly Fiascos by the Philadelphia Tribune because of their supposed inability to do superhero things right. After the James Bond-like opening sequence at the museum, the film begins in earnest when Shazam and his brothers and sisters save dozens of drivers from the collapsing Ben Franklin Bridge, a very nice piece of CG action. As comic book aficionados know, Shazam was originally known as Captain Marvel. He was a child named Billy Batson who became an adult superhero when he spoke the word, “Shazam,” an acronym of the names of heroes from Greek myth.
In opening scenes of the new film, the adult Shazam is lying on his back and spilling his guts about his troubled childhood to a pediatrician (P.J. Byrne). “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” reunites the characters from “Shazam!” (2019), including “cranky wizard” inconveniently also known as Shazam (Djimon Honsou) for this second go-round, and like most superhero movies, it forces you to do your best just to keep the characters straight. Mirren,
Liu and Rachel Zegler (“West Side Story”) are Hespera, Kalypso and Anthea, respectively, the aforementioned daughters of Atlas, whose realm was destroyed and are eager to wreak their vengeance on Philadelphia. To do so, they encapsulate the city in a giant, impenetrable dome (paging Stephen King). At high school, young Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), the mortal version of Super Hero Freddy (Adam Brody), is bullied by classmates. He also meets the beautiful new student Ann, who shows what he believes is an interest in him. Hmm.
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is refreshingly lowtech. There are no computers, although there is a “Harry Potter”-evoking magic pen named Steve (don’t ask) that writes what it is told and can send a letter on paper that folds itself into bird-like origami shape and flies to its recipient, a cleverly analog form of e-mail. Thus, Shazam arranges a meeting with Hespera to negotiate a truce. Meanwhile, the even more evil Kalypso summons a dragon resembling one from “Game of Thrones,” which she rides wielding the staff of life. A blast from the staff can remove a hero’s superpowers. After explaining how he is personally inspired by “Fast and Furious” films (co-writer Chris Morgan has penned several films in the franchise), Shazam swears to defeat the witch-like sisters and save Philadelphia from such threats as the winged monstrosities hatched by a gigantic, diseased tree.
The final showdown will take place at the heavilydamaged home of the Philadelphia Phillies. In his battle with dragon-riding Kalypso, Shazam refers to her as “Khaleesi.” In this regard, these “Shazam!” films resemble the “Shrek” movies in their fondness for pop culture. In the title role, Levi is completely likable. Mirren brings her beauty and gravitas. Liu makes a surprisingly evil villain. Zegler is amazingly magnetic. Swedish filmmaker David F. Sandberg, returning for a second “Shazam!,” has a background in horror films and does a fine job of putting his large, talented cast out front. Look for a shout-out to “Carrie.”
(“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” contains action, violence and off-color language)