With its confusing and intertwined storylines, Marvel has started losing its audience. It’s like the Lost effect. The viewers have had enough of superheroes, and Marvel has yet to deliver what was expected with its new multiverse story. Unfortunately, in a world where even Marvel is struggling, DC’s survival is not possible. I wrote about Black Adam, which was nothing more than an Indian film made by Americans. Shazam is also not a movie that can save the struggling DC and Warner Bros. Although Shazam: Fury of the Gods doesn’t lower the standards as much as Black Adam, it is far behind and left behind in the film industry where levels are clear.
Let’s briefly discuss the plot… Billy Batson, or his superhero persona Shazam, had broken the staff and thrown it away at the end of the first movie. However, those who found the pieces of the staff made a mistake by putting it in a museum. Atlas’s daughters find the staff, which is in plain sight, and use it to bring back their lost worlds. This means a whole new chaos in the city. While Atlas’s daughters are trying to find the golden apple that will bring their worlds back, a new villain emerges to be stopped by Billy and his superfamily.
First of all, I want to talk about the DC universe. We only have Flash left. We know that DC is in a terrible state. They entered into a long-term structure with James Gunn to save it. I hope, James Gunn will make serious changes because if I had the right to get my money back when I left the cinema after the last two films, I would have taken it. The situation is that bad. I don’t expect them to build a universe like Marvel, but my only hope is to enjoy some of the occasional movies they release.
Personally, the frivolity in the movies bothers me. Okay, we know that some characters make jokes. That’s their personality. However, this movie has overdone the joke dosage. I had difficulty focusing on the film because of Billy’s never-ending childish approach. On top of that, there are also some problems with the acting in the movie. But I think the problem stems from the story, not the actors. Because Shazam: Fury of the Gods also contains very cheap moves like Black Adam.
Endless jokes at the most serious moments, characters standing still and talking like in Turkish TV series, an irrelevant love story, characters hugging and having emotional conversations while people are being killed by mythological creatures on the streets. David F. Sandberg is a good director, but this movie is far from today’s realism. Spending time on emotional conversations from the past while people are being killed on the street does not seem realistic at all. I’m sorry.
As I always say, no matter how good your visual effects are, if your story is weak, it’s worthless. People nowadays, especially gamers, have surrendered themselves to the arms of visuals, but as someone who grew up with 8-bit games, visuals, and effects have no value to me if they are not distilled into a quality story. Believe me, people -also- don’t care anymore. Yes, the action scenes and effects in Shazam 2 are great, but the reason for its box office failure is precisely what I complained about.
In summary… Shazam: Fury of the Gods is an action film full of ridiculous and cringe-worthy scenes, far from the quality of the times. We can say that the film summarizes DC’s general problem due to its choices in the flow of the story, which has absurd moments that can disrupt the audience’s concentration. They cannot catch up with the times. They are far from realism. They need a brand new vision and perspective. Hopefully, they can achieve that perspective with James Gunn because the trend is not good.
Cast & Crew
director: David F. Sandberg
writers: Henry Gayden, Chris Morgan, Bill Parker
starring: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, D.J. Cotrona, Grace Caroline Currey, Meagan Good, Lucy Liu, Helen Mirren
USA | 2023 | 130 MINUTES |