In ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods,’ the Philly skyline gets a makeover. But is this new film worth seeing?
Other new movies this week: "Moving On" with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, the animated "The Magician's Elephant," "Noise," "In His Shadow," and Willem Dafoe in "Inside."
The Philadelphia Phillies ground crew better get busy. Opening day is only a few weeks away and Citizens Bank Park is destroyed in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. So is most of Center City. If you think vandalism is bad now, just wait until an angry god, a dragon, and a tree that wraps around buildings like a boa constrictor come to town.
As for whether this new Shazam is worth seeing, first a confession: I have read a lot of comic books throughout the years. Thousands. I was mostly a Marvel guy, but I liked DC, Archie, even some of the smaller brands. Never read Shazam. When Saturday morning TV had a Shazam/Isis Hour, I was partial to Isis. I know the basics of the hero — I wasn’t born under an eternal rock — but I never saw the first Zachary Levi Shazam! movie in 2019, so I went into this sequel cold.
I also left cold. But with ringing ears.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods has a few cool special effects and fewer funny quips, but the movie is another case of nonsense-ory overload. It’s loud, silly, and a bit like a professional wrestling match with lightning bolts — Lucy Liu plays the heel. The story has Billy Batson and his family of foster children once again turning into heroes, but this time they’re up against a trio of the god Atlas’ daughters (Liu, Rachel Zegler, and Dame Helen Mirren, who must have been paid godlike money). The gods seek to gain hold of some magic stick, which will give them the power to bring back their fallen kingdom. If they have to wipe out Earth in the process, so be it. “You can’t trust humans.”
Superhero movies often have lapses of internal logic, but there are some giant ones here, as the plot jumps from the realm of the gods to Earth and back. I didn’t have enough invested in these teenagers-turned-superheroes, and sometimes wasn’t sure who was who.
Some Shazam fan is free to explain to me why unicorns are in the movie, and where they come from. In a superhero film, you don’t bring in some other beings in the final act to help save the day.
The human (and goddess) performances are all solid and watching the Philadelphia skyline get a makeover is a bit of a kick; an early scene destroying the Ben Franklin Bridge looks realistic enough that I’ll probably take the Betsy Ross for a while.
Even when I was a child, Shazam seemed a superhero meant for younger children. A lot of the “fury” seems pitched at 10-year-olds, except for the excessive noise and violence, and some of it comes across like a CW DC Comics TV show with a massive CGI budget.
It’s also a little complicated. An adult will likely have to explain parts of the plot to a child. But there’s plenty the child is going to have to explain to the adult. David F. Sandberg, director of the original, did so again. (Rated PG-13. Premieres Friday, March 17 in theaters.)
‘Inside’
In a different type of locked room mystery, Willem Dafoe plays an art thief who gets trapped inside a penthouse apartment — and must figure a way to break out. Directed by Vasilis Katsoupis. (Rated R. Premieres Friday, March 17 in theaters.)
‘Moving On’
Weeks after 80 for Brady, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda are back in a black comedy with Malcolm McDowell as the man Fonda’s character believes wronged her when they were younger. Now that he’s a widower, she wants to kill him. Written and directed by Paul Weitz (About a Boy, Grandma). (Rated R. Premieres Friday, March 17 in theaters.)
‘The Magician’s Elephant
Animated film about an orphan who teams with an elephant to find his lost sister. Directed by Wendy Rogers. Based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo. (Rated PG. Premieres Friday, March 17 on Netflix.)
‘Noise’
Dark Dutch psychological thriller about an accident investigation that uncovers family secrets. Cowritten and directed by Steffen Geypens. (Not rated. Premieres Friday, March 17 on Netflix.)
‘In His Shadow’
French film about two half-brothers at odds after the death of their father. Written and directed by Marc Fouchard. (Not rated. Premieres Friday, March 17 on Netflix.)