By John Corrado

★★ (out of 4)

A followup to the 2019 DCEU superhero film Shazam!, Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a prime example of a sequel that feels bigger and broader in scope, while also offering greatly diminished returns.

David F. Sandberg returns to direct this sequel, but a lot of the genuine charm of the first film is gone, and has been replaced by something that feels more bombastic and at times mean-spirited.

This sequel finds teenager Billy Batson (Asher Angel), who was granted the power to morph into an adult superhero (played by Zachary Levi), struggling to keep the rest of his foster family of kids turned superheroes together.

Billy’s best friend Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer) keeps sneaking off on his own to fight crime, seeking the validation that he feels when adopting his own superhero alter-ego, which he has named Captain Every Power (played by Adam Brody). But the foster siblings must work together to save Philadelphia from the Daughters of Atlas; Hespera (Helen Mirren), Kalypso (Lucy Liu) and Anthea (Rachel Zegler). The three sisters have come to Earth and stolen the staff belonging to the Wizard (Djimon Hounsou) who granted Billy his powers, and want to use it for world domination.

This is a busier and much goofier film, lacking a lot of the heart and more focused storytelling of the first one, with the constant jokes undercutting character moments and more dramatic beats. Despite being a few years older, the characters also feel like they have regressed. Billy comes across as more immature this time around, with Levi’s constant kid-in-an-adult-body banter growing somewhat tiresome. There is also a running gag about him having a crush on Wonder Woman that feels slightly creepy.

Grazer and Zegler, a welcome addition to the cast, do have some fun chemistry together, and are the MVPs of this sequel. But it devolves into the usual sort of bloated and predictable city-destroying CGI battle involving fantastical creatures from another realm (only stopping briefly to become the weirdest Skittles commercial ever) in the second half, and I found it somewhat hard to remain interested.

Maybe it’s just superhero fatigue, but Shazam! Fury of the Gods becomes a bit of a slog to get through as it goes along (and I say this as someone who quite enjoyed the first one). The 4K disc offers exceptional image quality though, with strong detailing on suits and colours that pop. At least fans of the film won’t be disappointed in this regard.

Bonus Features (4K Ultra HD):

The 4K disc contains a director’s commentary track, a the set comes with a regular Blu-ray, where the rest of the bonus features are held. A code for a digital copy is also included in the package, which ships with a slipcover.

4K and Blu-ray:

• Director’s Commentary by David F. Sandberg

Blu-ray Only:

• Shazam! Let’s Make a Sequel (24 minutes, 49 seconds): A wide-ranging behind the scenes look, from the cast to the visual effects, and the challenges of shooting in Georgia in the summer instead of Toronto (where the first film was shot) in the winter.

• The Rock of Eternity: Decked Out (5 minutes, 42 seconds): A look at how they upgraded the set for the Rock of Eternity, turning it into a youthful lair for the kids to hang out it.

• Shazam! The Zac Effect (4 minutes, 20 seconds): Levi talks about playing a kid trapped in an adult’s body, as cast and crew gush over how much fun he is to work with.

• Sisterhood of Villains (7 minutes, 54 seconds): Mirren, Liu and Zegler discuss playing the trio of female villains in the film.

• Shazam! Scene Deconstruction (10 minutes, 6 seconds): Sandberg breaks down the visual effects behind five key scenes.

• Mythology of Shazam! Fury of the Gods (4 minutes, 59 seconds): A look at the influences of Greek mythology and the designs of the creatures.

• Shazamily Reunion (5 minutes, 1 second): The cast members talk about reuniting for the sequel, and how much fun they all had together on and off set.

• Deleted Scenes (31 minutes, 6 seconds): A healthy selection of deleted and extended scenes, which were mostly trimmed for length.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a Warner Bros. Home Entertainment release. It’s 130 minutes and rated PG.

Street Date: May 23rd, 2023