Shazam Fury Of The Gods Is DC’s Best Movie Yet?
Special screenings of Shazam 2 have fans claiming it's the best DC movie made so far.
It’s kind of a weird time to be a DC fan. James Gunn is currently at work on an ambitious plan to launch a brand-new DC Universe, but he didn’t get selected as co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios in time to stop certain projects, including the Warner Bros. Discovery sequel film Shazam: Fury of the Gods. And perhaps that’s for the best: according to critics who have seen it, Shazam 2 may just be the best film DC has ever created.
Here, we see Erik Davis not mince any words when it comes to recommending Shazam 2 to audiences. What really gives us hope about his review is that it sounds like the blockbuster film finds a balance between action, humor, and important themes such as choosing who your family is. In an era when just about every superhero film ends in a bad CGI battle on a screen the color of mud, it’s good to know this colorful hero balances heart and action hijinx in equal measure.
Speaking of balance, this review points out that Shazam 2 finds a way to blend the goofiness of its world and title character with “macabre touches” that help each one to stand out more. Eric Goldman also highlights the value of having DC movies that are doing their “own thing” compared to the mainstream. James Gunn apparently agrees, which is why we’ll have Elseworlds films outside the continuity of his DCU.
This reviewer echoes the others in saying that Shazam 2 combines action and heart, but we’re particularly excited by the emphasis on mythology and horror (two areas rarely explored by superhero cinema). Honestly, though, we’re a little skeptical about how important those post-credit scenes can be. For example, the Black Adam post-credits scene implied a future confrontation with Superman, but we now know that neither Henry Cavill nor Dwayne Johnson is returning to the DCU.
In this review, Scott Menzel reassures us that Shazam 2 is sufficiently “bigger” than the movie that came before it, which is something we can’t say about all DC movies (looking at you, Wonder Woman 1984). And we’re excited at the idea of seeing awesome creature designs. DC Comics are filled with countless cool creatures, but they sometimes look awful on film (case in point, Zack Snyder using Batman v. Superman to turn the iconic character Doomsday into a copy/paste orc from The Lord of the Rings movies).
Dorian Parks is one of many critics who points out that Shazam 2 has some fun surprises in it. In some ways, this is what modern hero movies are often missing. When filmmakers are too busy trying to just give fans what they want, they forget about how awesome it is when an audience feels surprised at the movie going in unexpected directions.
Of course, you don’t have to trust the critics about Shazam 2. You’ll be able to judge for yourself when the movie premieres on March 17. And seeing Zachary Levi fighting bad guys on the big screen might finally help us forget his inexplicable real-life nemesis when the cameras aren’t rolling: Pfizer.
