Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the umpteenth DC Comics movie before James Gunn does his thing with the reboot of what has been called DC Studios, hits theaters today. Along with other films like Black Adam and the upcoming The Flash and Aquaman 2, it’s one of the farewells to the DC universe in recent years. But is it a farewell to live up to?
The first Shazam! movie surprised on its 2019 release. Although it was the year of Avengers: Endgame, it surprised many superhero fans thanks to its good white humor, teenage perspective on the story, and epic action parts. However, this movie doesn’t seem to live up to its predecessor.
First reviews of Shazam! 2
With 55% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and 84% favorability, you can’t say the film didn’t work. However, the public favor of the first one was as high as 90%, so it is clearly far from the previous numbers. But to what is the reason for this setback? Let’s look at some of the critics’ comments.
It’s fun to watch, but has a lot of clutter and too much CGI that overwhelms the plot and leaves the tenderness of the previous film behind. – Moviemom
Even the all-star cast of supervillains can’t save this awkward sequel. – Metro
While the first Shazam! felt like a refreshing throwback to the kids’ adventures of the 1980s and the superhero movies of the early 2000s, Shazam! The Rage of the Gods feels like a creaky remnant of the mid-2010s – Inverse
The experience of watching this new installment of Shazam! is like watching a rich but somewhat sweet and innocent kid smash his toys for 130 minutes – The Globe and Mail
The best parts of this movie are drowned out by mindless CGI monsters and tedious action sequences – The Wrap
Messy and sad, it resonates as the death knell for the current iteration of this interconnected film company – The Daily Beast
In short, it is clear that the critics have not liked the film too much, and not even the bombastic charisma of Zachary Levi, who already did his best in the original, manages to save it from shipwreck. We will see if, during its theatrical run, it manages to win over the public or if the disastrous trend is confirmed.
