Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)

March 21, 2023 10:08 AM

The film continues the story of teenage Billy Batson who, upon reciting the magic word "SHAZAM!" is transformed into his adult Super Hero alter ego, Shazam.
posted by m@f (7 comments total)

My quibble is the same as I had with the first movie: the personalities of Billy Batson and Shazam are so different from one another that it pulls me out of the fiction. Maybe you can argue that Shazam amplifies everything about Billy, including his emotions and gregariousness. But I don’t see the resemblance between the two.

When he is supposed to be the emotional heart of the film, there should be more connective tissue there. Instead, we are left to connect more with Freddy Freeman. Not a bad thing! He had a lot to work with this go around.
posted by m@f at 10:13 AM on March 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

I suppose that you could say that Shazam is more cheerful because it's just better to be him than to be an orphan kid. This is something that Alan Moore made really clear in Marvelman (for those not familiar, an updating of a Captain Marvel knockoff that became a sort of meditation on superheroes in general in typical Moore style); being superhuman was simply better than being human in almost every way. It's been a while since I saw the first movie and I haven't seen this one yet, so I'm not sure if they give a reason why he'd ever want to turn back into Billy.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:57 AM on March 21, 2023 [2 favorites]

This is something that Alan Moore made really clear in Marvelman

Anyone new seeking it out — and it is fantastic — should keep in mind that because of lawyeristic stuff, it has also been published as Miracleman in the bound volumes.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:07 AM on March 21, 2023 [3 favorites]

My quibble is the same as I had with the first movie: the personalities of Billy Batson and Shazam are so different from one another that it pulls me out of the fiction.

That has always been part of the essential mystique of the character, I think. Billy Batson doesn't just become an adult when he transforms, he's really a different person. He has the same memories, but there's still something different about his personality.
posted by JHarris at 1:08 AM on March 22, 2023

I took Fleebnork Jr. to see this. He liked it well enough, but I thought it was just ok.

It lacked the charm of the first film. There were good moments, but much of it was just so much action and noise we've seen in a dozen superhero movies.
posted by Fleebnork at 5:27 AM on March 22, 2023

A friend of mine wanted to see this, so I watched the first one on a train to catch up. I ended up enjoying the first one quite a bit, and I think the sequel retains a lot of its gonzo charm. I found the divergent motivations of the three sisters to be well done, and I felt like we got to spend a bit of time with all of the characters. I also quite like Djimon Hounsou, even though he's often relegated to being a guttural presence, and I like that he was giving a lot more to do in Fury of the Gods.

I'm almost a little sad to read about the lukewarm response to this one, because they're pretty weird movies, and I like that movies like this get made. Not sure we need a third one though, so maybe it's all for the best.
posted by Alex404 at 11:17 AM on March 22, 2023 [2 favorites]

These are huge tentpole blockbusters, and those have to please everyone. Bigfilm can't afford to be weird, and the DC Universe, because of its status as a major property, can only generate bigfilm. It's really sad, and it's even sadder when I see people on websites who have internalized it, who slag a big and expensive movie that had the nerve to have a personality. (I want to be clear, I'm not saying that's any of you. People in other places. Social media most often.)
posted by JHarris at 12:12 PM on March 22, 2023 [1 favorite]