Shazam! Fury of the Gods - An Entertaining Sequel to the Lighthearted Superhero Movie

As I enjoyed the first movie a lot, I would not want to miss the opportunity to see this sequel when it's playing in cinemas. That's why we immediately purchased the tickets when they were sold in advance last week for this weekend's show. All right then, I'll get right to it.

Brief Story Line

Two years after the event in the first movie, Billy Batson (Asher Angel - Darby and the Dead etc) had been saving Philadelphia from various dangers as his alter ego (played by Zachary Levi - Chuck TV series etc). He was doing it with his foster siblings Freddy (played by Jack Dylan Grazer - Ron's Gone Wrong etc and Adam Brody - Ready or Not etc), Mary (Grace Caroline Currey - Fall etc), Eugene (played by Ian Chen - Fresh off the Boat TV series etc and Ross Butler - 13 Reasons Why TV series etc), Pedro (played by Jovan Armand and D. J. Cotrona - From Dusk Till Dawh: The Series etc) and Darla (played by Faithe Herman and Meagan Good - Harlem TV series etc). All of them were still living in the home of Rosa (Marta Milans) and Victor (Cooper Andrews) who were unaware of their activities. Meanwhile, Freddy got to know a new girl at school named Anne (Rachel Zegler - West Side Story etc) and grew close to her.

However, a new threat in the form of the daughters of Atlas, Hespera (Helen Mirren - Anna, Fast and Furios: Hobbs & Shaw etc) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu - Strange World, Kungfu Panda movies etc) came from their own realm searching for the people who stole their powers. It would soon become clear that Billy was no match for these Gods. 

So what would happen to them and how would the story conclude? You could find them all in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

I was a bit surprised when this movie started with a quite awesome scene that felt pretty intense. But as soon as the kids appeared, the film became lighter especially when we were shown how hard they tried to save the world without any strategy (obviously due to their immaturity as most of them were still quite young although they appeared as adults). It was definitely fun looking at them as there were plenty of humorous moments blended nicely in the intensity.

For me the story was flowing in a smooth way and it never felt overly complicated with many scenes that would make me and my wife laughed out loud. There was one scene in particular involving a letter that was very hilarious. There was a bit of twist in the story which once again my wife had suspected. Btw, I actually felt there were more action in this sequel, probably because the origin story had been told in the first film so no more introduction required. Having more action though meant that the kids version might not appear as much as in the original movie. However the adult versions (Zachary Levi in particular) was very suitable as a person who looked mature but really just a teenager. Other cast were really good too, including Djimon Honsou who reprised his role. 

One thing that I admired in here was the visual effects which was amazing to my opinion. Not overly much CGI used but was sufficient to give the desired effect and the actions were well executed. They might not be the absolutely spectacular type but the emotions were really felt especially during the climax which affected me and my wife. I think the director David F. Sandberg who also directed the first movie already had the perfect vision of how Billy Batson's character should be as the kid and superhero. 

Throughout the whole movie, my wife and I had a lot of laughs and felt the intensity of the action and emotions and we really enjoyed it. The audience in the studio seemed to enjoy it as well with few of them clapping their hands at the end of the film. Oh before the movie ending, there was a really wonderful moment that delighted both of us. And the film also had an interesting mid end credit scene plus a post end credit scene which at the moment I am not sure if it would have any significance in the future. Those scenes probably would be better understood by audience who were familiar with the references. 

Overall I think this movie would be entertaining for people looking for fun in a superhero themed story. Even though critics were not as satisfied as its predecessor, but I personally liked this a lot and would welcome another sequel, hopefully with same cast and director at the helm. My wife and I had a lot of fun due to its action, intensity at certain moments, emotions but mostly its humor. So if you liked the original, I think you would like this one too. 

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars