Recently James Gunn has created a new plan for the newly established DCU. After the several flops of the previous DCEU, it seems that Gunn is bringing the franchise in the right direction, focusing more on individual interesting stories and not as much on the vast interconnected universe. Though ever since the change, a couple of movies are still left from the former DCEU. Shazam! Fury of the Gods is one of those movies, and it is a perfect example that James Gunn is doing the right thing by scrapping the old universe. 

The main story sees Shazam, AKA Billy Batson struggling to keep the Shazam Family together. Everyone he once granted powers wants to do their own thing. Like going to college, getting a girlfriend, or just living a normal life. Billy has struggled with being rejected before so he wants to hold on to his family as tight as he can and not be left with nothing in his life.

The characters in this movie are incredibly confusing. The audience is just shoved into this strange world with superhero kids with no explanation. The only information and characterization we get from any of the characters is the synopsis of this movie with context from the previous Shazam! movie.

Billy Batson, for example, just jokes around most of the movie but also gives emotional moments at some points. Zachary Levi plays Shazam and Asher Angel plays Billy, and I think the reason behind the awkward acting is due to the two playing completely different roles instead of one. Zachary plays Shazam as a child, and yes Billy is on the younger side but he is eighteen. Billy should be acting closer to an adult because his story is about growing up and Shazam should follow suit. Instead Shazam acts like a seven-year-old. They play different vastly different roles but they are one person. 

Billy aside, every other side character in the movie is really forgettable. The Shazam Family does not feel special. The actors and characters have very little chemistry and it seems like they don’t even care. And if the actors don’t care, why should the audience? They also lack any depth you’d expect from a real person. They all have one or two quirks and that is about it for their character. They don’t change as a person and they don’t experience any emotion. 

All the side characters, and even the main characters, only serve as lackluster comic reliefs that can never make you crack a smile. They will offer some of the most awkward dialogue and most uncomfortable high school romance of any movie you’ve seen.

The CGI and sets are just fine overall. Shazam’s lightning and other superpowers are all really cool and the mind-twisting powers of the Gods create good set pieces and offer great challenges to the main hero. Though nothing is really done to make this movie stand out. Take a somewhat recent DC movie, The Batman for example.

Batman is a darker character and his stories focus more on Bruce Wayne as a character. So Matt Revees, the director of the movie, knew this and portrayed it in his final product. There is very little lighting and the story focuses on a serial killer, a great fit for Batman. He also uses a bunch of close-up shots and intertwines the Wayne family in the story to focus on Bruce’s character. 

Shazam is almost the complete opposite. He’s a kid, and sometimes he is childish and makes rash decisions. The focus is on this kid growing up and dealing with powers though the film doesn’t show it. All the lighting is flat and the story merely touches on the main theme of growing up. This leads to the movie seeming extremely uninspired and boring visually.

This is not one of the worst movies out there, but it is definitely not the best. The directors did not focus on crafting a story that would enjoy audiences or creating an intense visual experience. The only thing this movie aims for is the laughs, and it fails miserably at it. Other than a few mediocre moments in the movie it is nothing special. Feel free to watch this movie when it comes to streaming, at best it is great at being background noise in your house.