In the sequel to the 2019 breakout hit Shazam! we see the Billy Batson-turned-Shazam hero (Zachary Levi) struggling with his relatively new-found powers and the scattering of his family due to age and changing priorities. He longs to retain his childhood but also explore freedom as a semi-adult. When two daughters of Titan, Hespera and Kalypso (Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu), reassemble the Wizard’s staff, Shazam has bigger problems to deal with than growing up or figuring out what to do next. The answers have suddenly become super clear.
The sequel still remains some of the Big charm of a kid in an adult’s body but it’s a sequel and suffers a bit because of it. It’s still bright (mostly) and colorful, and with the idea of family being blended by adoption and different backgrounds within the foster system, there’s certainly something uplifting about it. While other films like Instant Family or Blended have tackled adoption or mixed families (there’s even Cheaper by the Dozen), this is the first series to really make it work while being “super” at the same time.
Special features include director David Sandberg’s commentary plus “Mythology of Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” “Shazam! Scene Deconstruction,” and “Sisterhood of Villains.” (There are also thirty extra minutes of deleted scenes.)
The bright-eyed optimism of Levi’s Shazam is certainly one that proves to be intriguing for families, while the development of the characters in terms of their “coming of age” has a depth that supersedes the simple “we’ve got powers” deal. I don’t know whether Sandberg and Levi will dip into the pool again after this, but it’s been an entertaining ride for as long as it lasts.
