‘Shazam’ Sequel A Fun, Enjoyable Follow Up

In 2019, movie audiences and comic book fans had the chance to see the cinematic debut of the DC hero Shazam. This DC Comics movie earned decent reviews and became a box office success.

After a few years' wait, the hero and his hero family are back to take care of business - this time with a few gods in the sequel ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods.’

Bestowed with the powers of the gods, Billy Batson and his fellow foster kids are still learning how to juggle teenage life with their adult superhero alter egos.

When a trio of ancient gods arrive on Earth in search of the magic stolen from them long ago, Shazam and his allies get thrust into a battle for their superpowers, their lives and the fate of the world.

When I reviewed the 2019 ‘Shazam,’ I thought it was a lot of fun, really humorous and recently gave it another watch on HBO Max. The sequel still has the fun and humor that the first movie delivered.

‘Fury of the Gods’ features some awesome action sequences that are visually incredible and will really leave you entertained. The opening sequence, which introduces us to the Daughters of Atlas, is an incredible way to introduce the villains and gives you a little taste of what they’re capable of doing. Helen Mirren is also great as Hespera, one of the Daughters of Atlas. The talented actress is amazing as one of the villains and absolutely steals the show. I never have thought that we would see this amazing actress in a comic book movie ever.

The superhero family scenes are also highly entertaining to watch. A good portion of the sequel focuses on a few of the heroes wanting to do their own thing. All of the characters are enjoyable and some of the scenes featuring Shazam are extremely hilarious and are some of the movie’s highlights.

‘Fury of the Gods’ also delivers amazing looking visuals, especially when it gets to the third act. The creatures and dragon that are featured are astonishing and are some of the best visual effects in a superhero movie in a while. The sequel can also be slightly emotional at times, since a bit of the movie explores the importance of family.

Overall, this is a worthy follow-up to the 2019 movie. The action moments are great and there is a good amount of humor scattered throughout that will have you laughing. There is also a special appearance of a DC character towards the end that was meant to likely be a surprise, yet it was spoiled in the marketing for some reason. There are also a couple end credit scenes that are fun to watch and since the DC Universe is getting a soft reboot, the end credit scenes may or may not stay canon.

The cast: Zachary Levi as Shazaml Asher Angel as Billy Batson; Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy Freeman; Rachel Zegler as Anthea; Adam Brody as Super Hero Freddy; Ross Butler as Super Hero Eugene; D.J. Cotrana as Super Hero Pedro; Meagan Good as Super Hero Darla; Grace Caroline Currey as Super Hero Mary; Djimon Hounsou as Wizard; Lucu Liu as Kalpyso and Helen Mirren as Hespera.

‘Shazam 2’ is written by Henry Gayden (Shazam; Netflix’s There’s Someone Inside Your House) and Chris Morgan (Hobbs & Shaw) and directed by David F. Sandberg (Shazam; Annabelle: Creation).

‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ is rated PG-13 for sequences of action and violence, and language and has a running time of 130 minutes.

Let me know on my Wyoming County Press Examiner reviews page on Facebook what you thought of the latest DC Comics movie and keep checking to see what I will be reviewing next! ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ and ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ coming up!