The Magic Begins to Put on Off – The Hollywood Reporter

2019’s Shazam! delivered an enthralling origin story of the DC Comics character Billy Batson, a teenage boy who meets a wizard who bestows on him the power to change into a grown-up superhero upon uttering the magic phrase. Now, Billy is again, alongside along with his foster siblings, who’ve comparable superhuman alter-egos, within the sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods. However like some youngsters who aren’t so cute anymore after they’ve grown up a bit, this follow-up lacks a lot of the enchantment of its predecessor. Whereas the movie offers the frilly motion set items, colourful villains and save-the-world plot mechanics anticipated of the comedian e book film style, a few of the magic is lacking.    

The story’s villains are the Daughters of Atlas, a trio of historical goddesses who’ve come to Earth to reclaim the magical powers that the wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) took from them. (Why they want them, since they appear to nonetheless have loads of magical powers left over, is one other query.) Naturally, defeating the villains is as much as Billy aka Shazam (Asher Angel/Zachary Levi), alongside along with his prolonged household/fellow superheroes Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer/Adam Brody), Eugene (Ian Chen/Ross Butler), Darla (Faithe Herman/Meagan Good), Pedro (Jovan Armand/D.J. Cotrona) and Mary (Grace Caroline Currey, enjoying each the common and superhero variations of her character with a change of haircut).

The goddesses Hespera, Kalypso and Anthea — performed by Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and, in her first movie since her breakout function in Spielberg’s West Facet Story, Rachel Zegler, respectively — are a formidable lot, with all kinds of mythological creatures at their disposal, together with a large wood dragon that appears prefer it got here from a ‘60s-era Japanese monster film. They’re a difficult bunch, too, with Anthea, the youngest at a mere 6,000 years previous, posing as a brand new lady at college who expresses an curiosity within the harmless Freddy, whose voice cracks each time he speaks to her.

The movie begins with a lavish, well-executed sequence wherein Shazam and his fellow superheroes rescue scores of individuals from a collapsing bridge. Sadly, they fail to save lots of the bridge as properly, ensuing of their being derisively saddled with the nickname the “Philadelphia Fiascoes.” Shazam appears to be wrestling along with his superhero id himself, pouring out his anxieties and self-doubts to his pediatrician (P.J. Byrne). He additionally has a nightmare involving a dinner date with Surprise Lady, who seems to have the wizard’s head on her physique.

These are the types of gags offered by screenwriters Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan, which fall flat as a rule. (There’s additionally a shameless in-joke reference to the Quick & Livid films, a number of of which Morgan wrote and Mirren appeared in). There are nonetheless humorous moments, to make certain, a lot of them offered by Grazer’s amusing if barely over-the-top geekiness and Levi’s fast-paced timing and pleasing mugging. And the scenes depicting the budding relationship between younger Freddy and Anthea, who can’t assist falling for this insecure human regardless of the significance of her mission, are charming.  

However as so typically is the case with these kinds of movies, Shazam! Fury of the Gods turns into tedious with its extreme spectacle relying, on this case, on not-so-spectacular CGI results that make you lengthy for a bit Ray Harryhausen-style stop-motion. By the point a military of unicorns are recruited by younger Darla with a fistful of Skittles, you’re able to throw up your palms. (The Reese’s Items product placement in E.T. was endearing; right here not a lot.) Sure, the Shazam movies are geared to a youthful comedian e book film viewers, however this appears extra like Saturday morning cartoon territory.

To their credit score, or maybe not, Mirren and Liu play their villainous goddess roles completely straight. (You may solely think about how typically they dissolved into giggles throughout takes.) Sadly, their characters are usually not very attention-grabbing apart from their capacity to wave their arms and trigger all kinds of mayhem to occur, with nary a single wittily snide wisecrack between them. Levi is thus compelled to take up the comedian slack, and you may really feel his efforts starting to pressure.

On the plus aspect, Hounsou is given extra to do right here than within the earlier movie, and his pleasure in letting his comedian freak flag fly is infectious. Zegler is as interesting right here as she was as Maria, and the younger performers enjoying Billy’s foster siblings are each actually and figuratively rising into their roles. And DC followers can be handled to a late-in-the-game cameo appearances by a marquee headlining character who will, after all, go unnamed right here.