I went to see Shazam! Fury of the Gods yesterday afternoon and it seems like I enjoyed it a lot more than most people. The daughters of Atlas, Hespera (Helen Mirren), Kalypso (Lucy Liu), and Anthea (Rachel Zegler), steal the broken staff that once belonged to the Wizard (Djimon Hounsou) from a museum in Athens and compel him to repair it in order to reclaim the power stolen from their father. They come into contact with the Wizard's champions, including Billy (Asher Angel and Zachary Levi), Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer and Adam Brody), Eugene (Ian Chen and Ross Butler), Pedro (Jovan Armand and D.J. Cotrona), Mary (Grace Caroline Currey), and Darla (Faithe Herman and Meagan Good), because their powers are derived from the staff. Mayhem ensues. What I enjoyed most about this movie is the emphasis on the importance of family and the storyline where Billy worries about aging out of foster care is incredibly poignant. I also really liked the fact all of the siblings end up being more powerful as themselves rather than their superhero alter egos and I think that is a great message. I do think that the Billy character is supplanted a bit by the Shazam character but Levi's goofy performance as someone suffering from impostor syndrome who learns how to be a leader is a lot of fun. Even though the villains are not very memorable (I would have preferred a face-off between Shazam and Black Adam) I still loved seeing Mirren in this role, especially her interactions with Levi. The action sequences are great, particularly the final battle, with VFX that definitely look a lot better than other recent CBMs. I am actually baffled by the critical response because, despite a cameo (that I actually enjoyed) and some mid- and post-credits scenes that don't really make sense any more with all of the changes made in the DCEU as well as one of the most egregious uses of product placement I've ever seen, this is very entertaining with a lot of heart and I would definitely recommend it.
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