Shazam! Fury of the Gods (12A) |Home Ents Review
Cast: Asher Ange, Zachary Levy, Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, Jack Dylan Frazer, Rachel Zegler, Djimon Hounsou
Review by Carol Allen
Not that I think this franchise is aimed at mature cinemagoers, as the protagonists are teenager Billly Batson (Asher Angel) and his gang of foster siblings, who on shouting the magic word “Shazam” are transformed into super heroes.
But inside they are still teenagers – and is there any species in the cinematic world more annoying than the American high school teenager? Which means, unlike Tom Hanks who managed to give his child in a man’s body character in Big a certain charm, Zachary Levy as Shazam has to be the most irritating and dumb super hero ever created.
However there is a touch of class in this second Shazam film in the creation and casting of the latest threat to earth – or at least Philadelphia, where it is set. In a couple of spectacular opening sequences we see the Shazam team saving a lot of ordinary folks from the collapsing Benjamin Frankllin suspension bridge but even more interesting we visit a museum in Athens where two goddesses from ancient times, Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu) turn up to reclaim a lost artefact wherein lies their power.
And boy, do they up the IQ of the piece. To see Mirren take boy-man Shazam down a peg or two with some withering looks and lines plus a few special effects is a bit of a joy. While Liu hots the action up when she summons up a whole zoo full of mythical creatures, including her favourite dragon steed, in order to destroy the world – well at least Philadelphia, which by now is imprisoned under an invisible dome, created by the goddesses. And why incidentally is the film not subtitled Fury of the Goddesses?
There’s also a third goddess involved, Anthea (Rachel Zegler), who for some reason doesn’t arrive on earth with her sisters but turns up at the siblings’ high school in the guise of a pretty student called Anne, who takes a shine to Shazam member Freddy (Jack Dylan Frazer) He’s the good looking but disabled one who uses a crutch. He doesn’t get to fly around much in his super hero guise this time but spends it instead falling for Anthea, who is thousands of years older than him but has kept her good looks. He’s also kept busy as an ordinary moral fighting the goddesses with help of the wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou).
Apart from Mirren and Liu though the real stars of the film are those special effects wizards, whose efforts must have cost the film makers a lot more than all the actors’ salaries put together. The story is the usual load of old tosh that you expect from a comic book movie, but the mythical creatures in particular are amazing.
I do though have this interesting picture in my mind of Lucy Liu perched on a high chair against a green screen whipping up her invisible dragon steed to ever more destruction and mayhem. Was she perhaps thinking: “I hope they’re right when they say it’ll all look great when we put the effects in. Otherwise I’m going to look a right wally.”?
Available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD from 5th June
DIGITAL, 4K, BLU-RAY & DVD ELEMENTS
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” 4K disc contains the following special feature:
- Director’s Audio Commentary with David F. Sandberg
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” Blu-ray disc contains the following special features:
- SHAZAM! Let’s Make a Sequel – featurette
- The Rock of Eternity: Decked Out – featurette
- Shazamily Reunion – featurette
- The Zac Effect – featurette
- Sisterhood of Villains – featurette
- Shazam! Scene Deconstruction
- The Mythology of Shazam! – featurette
- Director’s Audio Commentary with David F. Sandberg
- Deleted Scenes, Alternate & Extended Scenes
BASICS
4K, Blu-ray and DVD Street Date: June 5, 2023
DVD Languages: English, English with UK Audio Description, Castilian Spanish
BD Languages: English, English with UK Audio Description, Italian, Castilian Spanish
4K Languages: English, English with UK and US Audio Description, Canadian French, Latin Spanish
DVD Subtitles: English SDH, Castilian Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish
BD Subtitles: English SDH, Italian SDH, Castilian Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish
4K Subtitles: English SDH, French, Latin Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish
Running Time: 130 minutes approx. (4K and Blu-ray); 125 mins approx. (DVD)
Rating: Rated 12 (UK and ROI) for moderate fantasy violence, threat, sex references, implied strong language (BBFC)
DVD: Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, Spanish); Dolby Digital 2.0 (English ADS)
Blu-ray: Dolby Atmos TrueHD (English); DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (Italian); Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, Castilian Spanish); Dolby Digital 2.0 (English ADS)
4K: Dolby Atmos TrueHD (English); Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, Canadian French, Latin Spanish, English with US ADS); Dolby Digital 2.0 (English with UK ADS)
