Shazam! Fury Of The Gods 4K UHD Review
“Shazam! Fury Of The Gods” is a forgettable sequel.
Shazam/Billy Batson certainly has his hands full in “Shazam! Fury Of The Gods.” He has to face off against the 3 daughters of Atlas (Hespera, Kalypso and Anthea) that seek the Wizard’s staff and a golden apple which would sprout a new realm. Oh, and Kalypso also has a dragon. Billy also learns that The Wizard and his best friend Freddie have been imprisoned in the God realm. On top of that, he finds the Shazam family of heroes is drifting apart from one another and he fears what his life will be like when he’s outside of the foster system.
“Shazam!” was easily one of the best films of the DCEU, but unfortunately, the sequel falls flat. One would think that talented director David F. Sandberg having a bigger budget and bigger stars (Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler) would result in a better movie, but the script by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan lets him down. The tone is cartoonishly comedic (the Unicorn skittles sequence had me audibly groaning), there’s an over reliance on explosive and destructive set pieces (which your eyes just may glaze over at a certain point), and the worst sin of all is that Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu are utterly wasted in their roles. To be fair, the writers were ultimately hamstrung by the one thing that really undercut this entire franchise- The Black Adam debacle.
Ever since it was announced that Shazam and Black Adam wouldn’t be sharing the screen, it was clear that decision would backfire big time. And it did. Separating Black Adam and Shazam doesn’t make sense period. The two DC characters go hand in hand. It would be one thing to give Black Adam his own movie down the line, but not before he was in a movie with Shazam. Another issue is the wrong story is being told for this sequel given the set-up that occurred in the first film. Why is Mr. Mind not the main villain? It would have been a weirder and more compelling movie. Yes, the character does appear in the end credits again, but it’s quite likely we will never see him again.
Cast wise, Zachary Levi was rather annoying in this outing. He was more reigned in the first film but in this one he just seems to let loose to a grating degree. As mentioned above, Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu are sadly wasted. Both actresses turn in quality performances though. Rising star Rachel Zegler made a splash in “West Side Story,” but she looks lost and out of place here. Jack Dylan Grazer (Freddy) continues to be one of the best parts of the franchise. Veteran actor Djimon Hounsou has a lot more to do here and even gets some comedy to work with. The rest of the far too big cast (Adam Brody, Asher Angel, Grace Caroline Currey, and so on) are all fine in their respective roles too. Last, but not least there’s a cameo by a certain DC character which was one of the best moments of the film (no spoilers here).
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 2.39:1 2160p. How does it look? Expect a crisp and colorful transfer. You can’t ask for better picture quality.
Audio Track: Dolby Atmos. How does it sound? This is a thundering Atmos track (pun intended) that will no doubt please fans.
Extras:
* Blu-ray copy
* Digital copy
* Commentary by director David F. Sandberg on the 4K and Blu-ray
* A whopping 31 minutes of deleted scenes.
* “Shazam! Let’s Make A Sequel”- A 25 minute behind-the-scenes featurette about making this sequel with set footage, interviews, and discussions about the costumes, new cast additions, etc.
* “Sisterhood Of Villains” is all about the 3 female villain characters.
* “Shazam! The Zaf Effect” is all about Zachary Levi’s comedic personality and antics on set.
* “The Rock Of Eternity: Decked Out”- A look at the set.
* “Shazam! Scene Deconstruction”- A deconstruction of 5 scenes.
* “Mythology Of Shazam! Fury Of The Gods”- A brief featurette about the inclusion of Greek mythology.
* “Shazamily Reunion” covers the foster family characters.
No comments yet.
Share This Blog
Robert Ham
dmanderson
Andrea
nicklyons1
DVD Corner's blog 
Leave a Reply