It’s a strange time for DC fans, but to ease a little of the uncertainty, here’s our Shazam 2 review with no spoilers in sight. The sequel brings back the same team from the first movie for the most part with David Sandberg directing again and while it’s not perfect it doesn’t disappoint.
If you’re weighing up your options between the big screen, home rental and physical formats like DVD and Blu-ray, it’s definitely worth seeing in cinemas. The dragon fight alone is up there with Avatar 2 in terms of momentous moments and overall the film stands way above the last MCU film, Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania.
AdvertisementNot all of the CGI and special effects are as good as the dragon, so it’s possible that the production just had to prioritise budget and it pays off with some seriously impactful scenes. You might be a bit critical of the visuals for some of the early sequences like the bridge “rescue”, but if it was what Sandberg had to do to land the dragon in style then it was all worth it in the end.
It would be unwise to expect too much in terms of acting from films like Shazam 2, but for the most part the cast hold their own. Lucy Liu steals the show, but Helen Mirren and Rachel Zegler are great additions to the cast and it’s definitely better with them than going back to Thaddeus (sorry Mark Strong).
There are some fun surprises along the way and the gags are pretty funny at times, making this an enjoyable comic superhero action flick. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, so if you’re looking for a little cheer in a pretty bleak world right now there was only really one option over the release weekend.
The post credits scenes for Shazam Fury of the Gods are witty in light of the upcoming transition to the DC Universe from the current DCEU. However, the film misses some of the connection to the characters that we had in the first film with Billy being sadly in the background with too much focus on his alter ego.
AdvertisementIt doesn’t look very likely that we’ll be getting a sequel to Shazam 2, so if you enjoyed the first film and want more of the same, you’ve got it in GOTG. The glimmer of hope is that it was produced by Peter Safran, one half of the new CEO team at DC Studios alongside James Gunn.
All of that aside, Zachary Levy is every bit the right man for the job and Jack Grazer steps up from the first film to be even more important this time around. It’s great to see a film with so much heart delivering on at least some of its promise.
There are plenty of cheesy lines, corny deliveries and convenient deus ex machina plot moves, but it’s all in the title before you head out to see Shazam 2 in cinemas. They’re meant to be cheesy, the deliveries have corn on the shopping list and if a film called Fury of the Gods can’t throw in a little godly salvation then it’s hard to know what can.
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Home media review
AdvertisementAs mentioned, if you’re a superhero fan, Shazam 2 is one to see in theatres and the added impact of Super Screens or IMAX are recommended for even more seat rumbling impact during the dragon sequences. If that isn’t enough of a review recommendation, you can add in the fact that it comes with one of the funniest product placements we’ve ever seen.
You can see in the title that this is a no spoilers review of the film, so we won’t give the game away. Once you’ve seen the film on the big screen you’ll know exactly what we’re talking, and the only dial-up would have been a monochrome to mutlicolor conversion, but hey you can’t have everything.
The film will still be good to rent online when it lands later in the year, or with the DVD and Blu-ray release, but like Avatar 2 you might regret missing it on the big screen. That’s not to say that you should head in with ridiculously high expectations, but if you’re looking for a fun flick then you’ll find it in Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
We’re looking forward to seeing how good the special features and extras are for the Blu-ray, 4K and possibly digital release. With the huge dragon fight there’s definitely scope for CGI focused bonus content and it would be good to see more of Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler on set, which would boost our overall review score below.
Shazam 2 no spoiler review: 4/5
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