Although it’s been awhile, I again, find myself in agreement with the sentiments expressed by my community colleague, Mr. Knox. I too recently just saw Shazam: Fury of the Gods (likewise on Max) and wanted to add my two cents to the conversation, for what it’s worth. His observations on the film leave room for me to express other things.
Not sure why SFOTG failed to catch fire at the box-office. Although all the criticims from critics and fans alike must be taken seriously, given the drop off in ticket sales, so quickly after opening weekend. But, having said that, personally, I enjoyed the heck out of it! Even if certain scenes did activate quirky memories of mine. Like the Harpies bringing back Jason & the Argonauts (one of the best fantasy films ever made), And the Dragon reminded me of a certain DC hc/gn by Christopher Moeller from 2000. One or two other things also took me out of the moment. But only for a moment. I’d hardly call them distractions.
I thought the story held up pretty well. Much better than Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman 1984. Calling Billy out for apparently lacking the wisdom of Solomon, was a nice bit. Something Cap almost always failed to use in the comics. Until the writer remembers that power is there. Likewise, observing the Zeus connection between “Captain Everything” and Wonder Woman, was well handled. And speaking of Billy’s lack of a super-hero name, I couldn’t agree more. Never liked him being called Shazam. And I still don’t. Along with copyrighting the Shazam title, it seems DC could also have done the same with a new name for Billy’s adult self. Something like, oh I don’t know, Captain Thunder maybe? Just for old times sake! Sorry, that’s just me venting, on what could’ve been.
The Shazamily in action, was and is, a bunch of untrained super-powered children. Which indeed they are. The bridge sequence was designed to show this. The “after-class” aftermath at the Rock of Eternity made that even more obvious. Billy was right to bring it up and get them to try and work on better teamwork. We saw how that all worked out. The foster family interactions of the first film were (i thought) built upon rather well in this sequel.
And just as in the first WW film, the mythology of the Greek Gods (like the Daughters of Atlas), were shown to be very real in the modern world. Yes, overall, I found the film most enjoyable. And the end credit scene would seem to indicate, that Shazam may still have a future in the larger cinematic world being developed by Mr. Gunn. We can only hope.
Well, like I said, it’s only my two cents. And this late in the game, probably doesn’t count for much.
Stay safe, and be well.
