The first Shazam (2019) movie didn’t entirely click with me, but it cruised mostly on the easy charm of its star, Zachary Levi. Much of this sequel flows in pretty much the same way with Levi carrying much of the weight, even if he is ably supported by the rest of the – rather massive – cast of supporting characters.
For one, Jack Dylan Grazer has lots to do as Freddy Freeman being the core of the B-plot that eventually folds into the A-story. The main character story has Billy (Asher Angel) having a little imposter-syndrome crisis (as Shazam) as he’s trying to keep his core family together as he’s about to age out of the foster system. Meanwhile, Freddy wants to strike out on his own as a super-hero (Adam Brody) while sister Mary (Grace Caroline Currey) also wants to leave the nest in order to go to university.
Complicating matters is the consequences of breaking the staff Sivana (Mark Strong) used in the first movie (I honestly could not remember that until the flashback was shown). It may have taken a few years but the result of that bring the Daughters of Atlas – Hespera (Helen Mirren), Kalypso (Lucy Liu), and Anthea (Rachel Zegler) who strikes up a friendship with Freddy at first – seeking the staff in order to reclaim their power and restore their godly realm. So now, we have two families (of sorts) with their own issues to deal with.
Triple the protagonists also increases the mayhem and, almost typical of a DCU movie, the destruction goes wild: fun in parts, occasionally and boringly stretched out. Maybe it was DCU policy at the time, and we have the news that things are a-changin’. That makes a cool scene almost irrelevant, as would be the post-credits tag. Although, the post-titles scene does seem promising for a future adventure or at least Levi returning as Shazam.
Returning director David Sandberg does step up to the escalating shenanigans, but there are also a lot of promising stuff that are not entirely addressed as one might hope because they are so peripheral to the ongoing core story. I know the family story is a thing that has to be there, but it is still not as enticing (and I was wishing for a fast-forward button).
At least they addressed the whole “Wisdom of Solomon” aspect of the powers this time, but no real explanation of why it’s still missing. It’s still too long, but Levi still charms.
Rating: ⚡️⚡️1/2 /5
Directed by David F Sandberg
Written by Henry Gayden & Chris Morgan
Stars Zachary Levi, Ansel Angel, Adam Brody, Jack Dylan Grazer, Grace Caroline Currey, DJ Cotrona, Meagan Good, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Marta Milans, with Djimon Hounsou, Rachel Zegler, Lucy Liu, and Helen Mirren
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Berning Away 
[…] likely to maintain the tone that had been set by the Zack Snyder films. Even the break-aways like Shazam that are taking a lighter tack still feel like they are part of that same dour […]
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