While I enjoyed the first Shazam movie, Shazam! Fury of the Gods was a movie that I thought looked fun, but I was not super interested in it. The reason for this is the current state of the DC cinematic universe. Shazam! Fury of the Gods felt like a throwaway kind of movie that had no point to anything going forward. Still, with that being said, I am so glad I still went to see this in the theatre as it was a blast!
How to Download Shazam! Fury of the Gods
You can expect to be able to download or stream the film from HBO Max roughly 45 days after its theatrical release which happened on 17 March 2023. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and check the current availability.
The Movie Review
Billy Batson is close to becoming 18 and he is having some real anxiety about “aging out” of the foster system and he is worried about losing the family he has grown to have. Seeing Billy as Shazam talk to a child therapist is hilarious stuff and family does play a big role in the themes of this movie.
The rest of his brothers and sisters are still using their powers for good, with Billy trying to be the leader. However, the rest of the family also want to do their own thing and this ties into Billy’s worries about being left alone. One thing I loved about Shazam! Fury of the Gods was the development of Freddy. Freddy was such a fun character in the first movie and he gets even more screen time this time around.
Remember the staff that Billy/Shazam gave his brothers and sisters powers with at the end of the first Shazam and then snapped in half? Well, turns out that this staff is very important and two new characters, Hespera and Kalypso break into a museum where the broken staff is and take it back.
They along with another character (no spoilers here) are the daughters of the god, Atlas and they have been frozen in their own realm for tons of years. Now that they have the staff, they can rebuild their realm and once again walk in the realm of humans and stand above them as powerful gods.
There is a lot more “fantasy” in Shazam! Fury of the Gods than there was in the first movie and I think that is a huge part of what I enjoyed about this. There is a big dragon, the daughters of Atlas have their own magic powers and there is just a more fantasy feel about things here.
The special effects here, especially in the action scenes are some of the best of any DC movie to date. I am actually surprised that people are not praising the movie more for how incredible it all looks. It is just a really fun superhero movie that has a lot of silliness in it which I know some people find annoying, but I felt that the “family theme” of things gave it a lot of heart too.
I know for many people going to see this seems like a waste of time, but trust me, this is a blast on the big screen. Looking back, the big mistake DC made I think was trying to emulate the Marvel model and keep everything connected. Had they just had their superheroes standing on their own instead of trying to force a shared universe, maybe things would have turned out differently.
