'Shazam 2' - judging by the box office - the first and, apparently, the last continuation of the well-started in 2019 tape. . .
.. . So! 'Shazam 2' - is nothing more than an ordinary children's family fairy tale film of the level of 'Jumanji', with the only difference - that here is a comic book Universe 'DC'!
But what I would like to say, friends. . .
THIS!!!
. . Don’t throw tomatoes and eggs at the sight! Enough!! Stop!!!
It is much better than what Marvel has been doing in recent years and, I would even say better and more: together with the Flash, it embodies the correct vector of development of the Disc Universe after several initial failures! The Flash is connected not only with a visually similar picture, but also with the final drama, as well as the theme of parents and family, which runs through the entire timekeeping of what is there, what is there! Well, good, by my standards, the quality and pleasure of watching!
The only thing that reduces the position of the film, is that to maintain interest for more than 2 hours - it did not work! The plot develops quite mediocre, standard, if you want, cliched, fabulously fabulous and predictable - everything according to the canons of an ordinary easily predictable Hollywood fairy tale with a predictable ending! It is, of course, depressing ... Despite the interesting characters, a pleasant picture, sometimes humor - it is quite difficult to revel in the screen all 2:10 of the film. More than once or twice put on a “pause” to “i” drink tea, lunch, go to the toilet, drink water, answer in the “cart” and so on. . .
The graphics, by the way, are quite good - at least the eye does not cut. . .
So... If you don’t mind relaxing and watching this funky and banal, but good and comfortable fairy tale with your children, please! Well, if you are fed up with these template comic adventures, and your heart wants to be surprised, amazed, frightened and, perhaps, even think - then you are clearly on the wrong track, gentlemen!! .
My Verdict: Good, cool, pleasant, amusing, tolerable, not so bad!
Probable Verdict of your co-measure with profits from cash collections. . .
The DC Cinematic Universe has, in fact, always cracked at the seams, and it’s unclear why it’s so unlucky. It seems to be good reviews of critics, eminent directors (what only Snyder is worth with his oversaturated slow-mo pictures), but the puzzle did not add up. We have a failed Shazam on the table! 2'. Is he that bad? However, no. It was different.
This is a superhero comedy action movie, as it was in the original, in the first part, but the sequel, in my opinion, was more successful. If the previous work was a purely local story, coupled with the original character, then the second one is already an “interworld” conflict with higher stakes. The film copes with its task: minimally loads you with exposition scenes, nominally connects with the first part, which is why it is not necessary to watch it to get acquainted with this film, in every possible way entertains and captivates, and yes - this movie is banal interesting to watch. It’s not time-consuming, which is what Marvel likes to indulge in, which is why you don’t hover in the clouds and contemplate both teenage comedy and beautiful action. On the guiding idea, we have the eternal theme that each of us can be a superhero, and that the real power is hidden in the heart when we believe in it. Sweet banalism, but, excuse me, a movie for a teenage audience: well agitates to the “right thoughts”.
The cast remained the same, as did their play. Good. Default technical performance, but this can be said about most comic book adaptations: now multimillion-dollar blockbusters look great both in terms of picture and editing.
Shazam! The Fury of the Gods is a successful sequel that is a head taller than the original. The movie surprised me and caught me for two hours. I was happy and I can even say that I will be curious to see the triquel. If kitsch was already at the level of the whole world, what is the future? Finally a multiverse and '52'? We'll wait and see.
Sadly, adult themes from the Nolan trilogy about Batman again pushed to the tenth plan and put forward another curves of teenagers. It’s sad that adults are crooked along with them in the hope of causing at least some grin. Sadly, I don’t care about the laws of physics and the sense of falsehood on the screen. DC in comics has always been an adult theme - there were cruel things there, but justice tried to triumph. Yes, there were sometimes such stories in the comics, to which on-screen DC is unlikely to grow in the near future with such a teenage orientation and their methods of production.
The second movie was hard to wait for. The first Shazam also missed the stars from the sky, but at least he was more cheerful. In general, all this is a one-time fresh franchise - you can watch once, but boring. But they could make the story a little more serious, add drama. But this is not done and all emotions are not perceived at all. And with logic, some oddities - like children turn into other adult characters, and some turn into themselves. It’s also funny that higher-level heroes are lost somewhere, even though the threat to life on Earth looms. Villains are also incomprehensible with incomprehensible goals, which begin after the middle of the films to wrangle and fool out of the blue.
The special effects are also very average - a standard computer drawing with no hint of physical laws. As if the directors shoot a movie according to the principles of the cartoon - the main thing is to draw, and there somehow they may not notice. The sound wasn't good either. So overall, the viewing was through force. And this in a superhero should not be - either entertain or make you think. But there are just frank patterns and boredom... Flat heroes and flat villains converge in a primitive fight. Somewhere people die, but no one leads with their ears. Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren as villains are nothing at all. Like the daughter of God, but the behavior and plans are outright ridiculous. We could not take an example from the character of Hela from the Marvel Universe.
As a result, we see that the directors are frankly skittish in staging potentially chic topics - whether the PG-13 rating once again ties hands, or the directors are simply bored to shoot comics. But “Black Adam” was just as bland, “Flash” in reviews is also so much so, Batman has gone into the dark, no one stutters about Lanterns, Superman also seems to be on the sidelines somewhere along with Wonder Woman. And more than that, there is no one to remember... So many millions just thrown into the latrines, judging by the fees.
If "The Flash" took out somehow in seriousness, then with the sequel "Shazam" things are worse than nowhere. Billy Bettson's family (no, he's not Batman's son) takes the teen's level of humor from the first film and multiplied by six. Before us is a team of fiasco in the face of the children of a large friendly family, who only make their abilities worse. Jokes sometimes flew, but there is no associated villain or normal motivation in the film. This is Thor: Love and Thunder from the world of Detective Comics.
Family is a matter of honor. No wonder the main character Shazam quotes Dominic Toretto and mentions the racing franchise, but the tape does not develop, but stands still. James Gunn apparently did not know what to do with the already ready-made script, so just approved the director David F. Sandberg the post-credits scene, referring to the project of Gunn himself as a director.
In fact, the “Rage of the Gods” introduces antagonists in the face of the daughters of Atlanta – Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren, to use a magical artifact to gain power from the family of heroes. Simple plot, simple implementation. The film contains all the criteria of a superhero teenage template, and since there are six characters, each has its own cliché. Billy solves problems through the power of the gods. But, unfortunately, from the first picture, the hero did not change. Responsibility, power (Uncle Ben), which was the culmination of the first part, are absent here, giving the viewer self-repeats.
Greater emphasis was placed on Freddie’s half-brother to somehow attribute interest to the female character and plot twist. Beautiful, I don't argue. We learn about the evil intentions of the villains, meet the appearance of another opponent and... magician Jimon Honsu. Although it turned to dust, but for the script the character was returned.
The tape jokes constantly, shows comic “Easter eggs”, delighting fans, gives references to pop culture, but all this is teenage stuff. It is clear that before watching you realize that you are not ahead of Andrei Tarkovsky, but even for a superhero film seems empty. Awareness of forces, a sense of family and justice - these stages seem to be marked with a tick, moving on to subsequent episodes.
The Justice League character’s cameo (the same was the case in The Flash and the anticipated Blue Beetle) to Hans Zimmer’s personal soundtrack serves to tie the characters. Keep in mind that Zack Snyder’s Justice League was plotted before the magician handed over Billy’s powers, but last year we had Black Adam, which is directly dependent on Shazam. Where exactly is he? On the throne in Egypt guards the world, while in America the Pikachu family (with lightning on their chests) fights against ancient goddesses.
Even the name of the film “The Rage of the Gods” does not portend anything epic, although the authors tried their best, and filled the plot with fairy-tale creatures and flying a dragon. The film wants to be serious, but it doesn’t fit into the overall concept of Justice League. “Shazam” is like an adopted son, who in himself, although the general plans are that in the post-credits scene of “Black Adam”, that in the post-credits scene of “The Fury of the Gods” already lead to the Society, but after the failures (one after another) it will be too difficult to keep the projects afloat.
Shazam! The rage of the gods acts as a childish whim of the movie universe. It can be safely deleted, and you will not lose anything. Okay, it was introduced in 2019, but the sequel did not tie to the general status. The sequel as an independent, sometimes stupid picture. Action, fights, magic – all this is enough, but there is no seriousness at all. In the end, we have a tape that pulls the universe to the bottom.
No offense to the fans of the comics will be written, but the endless stories about how superheroes save the world / universe / city from supervillains, quite tired. Characters change, directors approach stories differently, either making them darker or, on the contrary, filling them with humor, but everything always comes down to a standard template:
Acquaintance with the villain and his plans for destruction;
- defeat of the superhero in the first fight with a supervillain;
- alternative to the second point: the conflict of the superhero with himself / with someone close to him;
Finding a way to defeat Evil;
The final epic battle and the victory of Good over Evil (in rare cases, Evil defeats, but only to get a bream in the sequel).
At one time, the first Shazam attracted attention because being the brainchild of DC, it looked much brighter and more fun than previous projects. Although I have repeatedly written in reviews that it is the gloom of the comic books of this office that attracts me more than the brightness of Marvel (but this is exclusively a personal opinion).
I won’t say that the humor of the first “Shazam” was enough, but the second did not bring anything particularly new, because Billy Batson remained at about the same age as in the first film, and therefore most of his humorous statements could relate to all the same topics that were touched on in the first part. Well, this time, however, Batson is already interested in girls and even dreams of kissing Wonder Woman herself!
By the way, the love of Billy Batson in Wonder Woman is a reference to the comic book “The Power of Shazam”, in which the Wizard Shazam also communicated with Batson through sleep and his face was also “complemented” with the body of Diana Prince.
The new story of Billy Batson is connected (naturally) with new enemies, as well as with the new opportunities he opened up for his adoptive family.
The plot of the film is closely intertwined with ancient Greek mythology, borrowing some ideas to develop its own plot. In particular, here we are talking about the daughters of Atlas (well, the one who held the heavenly vault on his shoulders), and one of them is called Hespera - almost like the daughter of Atlas from mythology - Hesperia (though the other two names are still different from each other).
Plus, there is the dragon Ladon, as well as the golden apple, which directly refer to one of the exploits of Hercules. In the case of Shazam 2, that (Hercules in the sense) is Billy Batson and his alter ego.
The daughters of Atlanta are not mentioned in the comics about Shazam, so these characters, like the entire mythological plot of the picture, can be considered original. For myself, I will note this as a plus in karma to the creators.
In the rest - a good selection of songs and sometimes good humor. It's a plus.
Of the minuses - Hollywood already residually picks up those who have not yet been involved in superheroics, why Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren appear as either heroes or villains (with all due respect to them, but grandmothers as supervillains?!) Seriously?! At this pace, Jack Nicholson and Gene Hackman will resume their careers and bring to life the images of someone!
Also to the minuses - the standard history of superhero cinema, which was written at the very beginning and a kind of Spider-Man story with teenage problems and love.
In the end, the average movie to watch (to be). But without fanaticism.
Facts:
In this film, a cameo starred the performer of television Shazam, who appeared on American TV in the 70s. Michael Gray played an old man in red-and-yellow clothes (to become a Shazam costume) in the scene when the dragon Ladon burns the costume of Batson and he shakes off and starts a short dialogue with a crowd of people (this scene precedes the beginning of a fight between people and creatures on the streets of the city).
Director David Sandberg disguised the film as a reference to his second project (as a director). In a scene in the pediatrician's office, you can see in one of the moments the Annabelle doll from Annabelle's Curse. The birth of evil Sandberg shot this horror after the rather successful "The Lights Go Out." . .
At the beginning of the film, there is a malfunctioning scene on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Throughout the film (including the creation of the dome and its subsequent reduction), the bridge is intact. . .
But look at you. I do not impose my opinion on anyone.
Speaking in the voice of Boromir of the Lord of the Rings: “You can’t just take it and” make a film for the Junior (US rating 13+) audience, Twice without showing gay people.
After watching this “masterpiece”, you deeply sigh and rejoice that the writers literally and figuratively buried this story. Everything's bad in the movie. If “this” can be called an art painting... The first thing that catches your eye is a 100% lack of humor. If you’re expecting the 80’s jokes from the first movie (2019), don’t count. There are no gags or Russian gygs. There's not even any toilet humor. There's just no humor.
The appearance of the characters of the picture deteriorated sharply. The only ones who looked like normal superhero characters were the aging Asher Angel and ageless Grace Curry. I understand that out of respect for the many years of merit Helen Mirren in the cinema, she was offered this role, but the sight of an old woman who does not walk well in her 77 years on the set clearly does not add applause to the film. Botox cheeks Lucy Lew because of bad hairstyle and stupid artificial blush visually swollen like 2 pink balls. There was a feeling that in front of you on the screen is not an Oriental actress, but an Asian inflatable doll.
With the actors, things are no better. The protagonist Asher Angel as Billy Batson played mediocrely, through strength. Through the screen, it felt like the guy was fed up with all this superhero nonsense and he would happily trade Shazam 2 for any other movie project... but the shackles of the previously signed contract do not allow this. Zachary Levi played the same way as in the first part, that is, as an actor did not improve his skills and did not progress. The same fate was shared by 80% of other actors. We were pleased: Jimon Honsu began to play better, more believable, he already looks more like a sorcerer, and not like a black man with dreadlocks, who senselessly runs with a stick and tries to pass it off as a staff, as it was in the first part; Rachel Zegler gave out good emotions, worked on facial expressions and gestures, looked alive and believable; well, of course, the experienced Marco Salusolia is aka Mark Strong, who in the post-credits scene in 30 seconds gave out more charisma than the entire cast in 2 hours. He looked like a villain, spoke like a villain, gestured like a villain, in general he was 100% a villain.
Graphics waved a pen to us from 2002. Greedy creators decided to save on special effects as a result of which we have the level of Spider-Man 20 years ago. Most of the tricks are like a soapbox, in places you can see protruding polygons. In order to hide all this LOOK, the creators have increased the number of scenes taking place in the twilight and darkness by 2 or perhaps 2.5 times. The director and the cameraman decided to get smart and refused panoramic shooting and winter time of the year for what immediately paid. The film plummeted in scale and credibility, sliding into a “cardboard” sitcom with static plans and squalid scenery. It is clear that it was impossible to repeat the action again in the winter season, but the summer was a bad time for the city. If during the cold period the city was emphasized, then in the sunny season it visually dissolved, lost its charm and turned into an average, faceless city in the United States. Because of this, the film twice repeated for the audience that the scene takes place in Philadelphia, and not at any other point.
If you do not know that the plot was written by live screenwriters, you would get the impression that it was arbitrarily generated by a neural network. The story is neither good nor bad, it simply does not exist. It is woven from templates and clichés taken from other films and TV series. Tree from Thor, Dragon from Game of Thrones and so on. The stupidest moment of the picture is the unicorns with which the heroes fight monsters. No, they do not breathe fire, do not develop superspeed and do not throw lightning, these are ordinary black horses with horns on their heads, which, contrary to all logic, turn into a panic flight of monsters, who at one blow cut a person in half. You might ask, why would I add this to the movie? And I will tell you: this metaphor is a symbol of a tolerant society, Little Pony rides unicorns, Rick and Morty ride unicorns, Gravity Falls rides unicorns, so “we have to ride them in Shazam,” without any logical load. At the very beginning of the film close-up showed a gay moment, but suddenly you as a viewer have a vision of minus 20 and lapses in memory, then “we” remind you and not just show, but also make the character say “I’m gay!” loudly, in public near the end of the picture. And it does not matter that under the laws of the United States itself, this topic can be announced at the federal level no earlier than 14 years, and it does not matter that in most states there is a limit of 16+, gay agenda paid for millions of dollars by sea knee-deep any laws. While checking out Shazam 2 was already smiling nervously and waiting for the 3rd LGBT moment, but the Yankees let down and despondently deflated with their "rainbow" propaganda. Apparently left on the sweet, preparing the workpiece for the 3rd part in 2025, so to speak “how many parts, so many gays”, finish with a control shot heterics.
The result is an open-door day in our madhouse: unicorns, gays, old women, dolls, soapbox, cellulite, wrinkles, axe play, a squalid scenario and a comprehensive HALTURE.
Rest in peace, dear Shazam. You gave us fun and positivity in Part 1, your moment of fame was short, but we will never forget you.
Superhero movies have been disappointing in recent years, especially as far as Marvel is concerned. “Doctor Strange 2” turned out to be a film not at all about the title character, since the emotional center is the main “villain”, but the companion of the main character resolves the final conflict (feminism pushed the greatest sorcerer into the background). The Thor was made a mockery. Black Panther 2 turned out to be a bunch of hysterical ladies in supersuits, I barely forced myself to inspect this slag. "Ant-Man 3" is so emotionless that I don't remember what and who was shown there at all (although it would seem to have created such a motley quantum world - but in fact it just doesn't catch). Occasionally, the series delight... It seems that after the peak of “Avengers: Endgame”, the Marvel Cinematic Universe only degrades.
Oddly enough, at the same time DC does not cease to delight with its projects, albeit not glued into a single universe. The new Batman, despite all the controversy regarding Patisson in the title role and the image of the main character, I personally consider enchanting and with pleasure reviewed 3 or 4 times. Among the series sparkles "Peacemaker". Although there were failures, in particular, the vampire “Morbius”, and some completely incomprehensible where sewn “Black Adam”.
And the new "Shazam", although it is absolutely stupid and children's movie, surprisingly well entertained me. He is light and uncluttered, childishly mocking himself and the whole subject with superheroes. I really empathized with the characters, especially in view of the unexpectedly good performance of the teenage actors.
Yes, at the same time, the movie is stupid, overloaded with very low-quality special effects, with laughter-causing villains (Helen Mirren with blurred wrinkles and empty eyes and Lucy Liu with a frozen face, expressing perhaps a “mysterious danger”, well, or just an overdose of Botox), it raises outdated themes of responsibility for the received force and all that, and in principle it does not carry anything.
But it doesn’t look tortured, doesn’t look hostage to some ephemeral plans for the future siphoning of money from the audience. It's just fun, no obligation.
The second 'Shazam!' from the very beginning caused some confusion. It is unclear for whom and why they decided to shoot the sequel, given that the first part did not say that it shot hard. The average superhero, which offered almost nothing original and really interesting, no unique author’s vision, no special production. However, here it is, ' The rage of the gods' which expectedly did not live up to even the lowest expectations.
The problem ' The rage of the gods' exactly the same as the first film - it's an empty, disposable gum, which does not impress the imagination of the modern viewer anything. Yes, instead of one Shazam on the screen now flies a whole pack, and according to the precepts of Dominic Toretto again the theme of the family, veiled as a superheroic, but all this is not new. And the film does not even try to present itself under some delicious sauce, no, it is a bland tasteless comic book without any of its core, without a distinctive feature that would allow the tape to entrench itself in memory.
But no, there is such a thing, only it does not decorate the film at all. This is Zachary Levi. His replays and curves are so disgusting that it will not be possible to throw them out of memory soon. At the same time, Billy Batson in his usual guise on the plot of the film is about eighteen years old, that is, it is impossible to call him a child. And in his human, teenage form, Billy acts plus or minus for his age. But for some reason, Zachary Levi is twisted, as if not an eighteen-year-old boy turns into an all-powerful hero, but a five-year-old, with a lag in development. And you have to take into account that all the other children in the guise of superheroes also behave generally at their age. That is why the solitary clown Liva looks even more alienated and defiant for common sense.
What good can you say about the tape? The picture of his comic book is not impressive, and the action does not offer anything roof-bearing and giving delight. This, by the way, has always amazed me in comic books - why does the fantasy of the creators ' Furious' work dozens, hundreds of times better than the fantasy of Marvel/DC writers who write about actually god-like and omnipotent beings?
In the caste, their big names stand out Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren, who play one-line empty villains. It was nice to watch the pretty Grace Fulton, it would be better if the sequel was entirely dedicated to her, and not the clown Levi. The heroine Grace and the storyline could turn out more interesting, something on the level 'Spider-Man 2' Raimi, when Parker tried to combine a superhero and everyday life.
Well, the cherry on a very modest muffin of good things in the sequel ' Shazama' becomes a cameo Gal Gadot in the image of Wonder Woman. This is who is always in place and who is always nice to meet in modern DC comics.
Verdict: 'Shazam! The rage of the gods #39; it is an empty, unideal, stupid and therefore failed miserably. It seems that people are increasingly tired of empty scripts of comic books, in the creation of which no one tries at all.
Even though I’ve never really loved DC, I don’t want to scold this movie universe anymore. All their previous box office failures or artistically weak pictures, from now on I will regard as very long and expensive steps on the way to creating their own franchise, and I believe that soon DC will begin to please the audience, besides, I was once pleased with their story about the great and invincible Captain Kolgotkin, which proved the relevance of a coherent narrative, simple ideas and a relaxed atmosphere, whose sequel, despite all the criticism in his direction, low ratings and by no means impressive fees, also managed to surprise me. Let's get more specific:
Characters:
The Shazam family:
We are met by a very curious plot, where we get acquainted with the villains, learn a little about their goals and abilities. Then we go back to Philadelphia and find Billy Batson not in the best emotional state, yes, at first it is presented as a joke, but this theme gradually becomes almost the leitmotif of the whole film. In short, the warm relationship of the Vasquez with a decent amount of timekeeping allotted to all family members is still in place and watching their communication is much more interesting than the local action, because it is after such pleasant shots in the Vasquez house that we are shown the rescue of people by Shazamami on the Franklin Bridge and this is so bad that such a scene from the "Fantastic Four" of Tim Story almost eighteen years ago, sets an inaccessible bar for this tape from the point of view of computer quality. However, the authors quickly shift our attention to the everyday problems of the main characters - Billy, who in the original was not too in a hurry to get closer to the new adoptive family, now began to pester the brothers and sisters with excessive care, as it turned out later (by omitting a number of details), for fear of being forgotten and abandoned, and this line catches, because the director and writers were able to convince me that for Billy all this is really important, even given the presence of his flustered and more loose alter ego. And all the others, including older sister Billy and Freddie - Mary, who in just a few minutes will conquer you by how understanding, kind and sincere she turned out to be woven here absolutely organically.
Hespera and Calypso:
Played by Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu, alas, are as plain as Dr. Sivan Mark Strong. The lack of prescribed characters and clear motivation of the antagonists was worth trying to compensate, at least with unique skills or bright, catchy and memorable images, but no! Hesperus has the power to control the elements, and this is demonstrated, unfortunately, terribly sluggish and ingeniously (except in the introduction). The actress herself simply has nothing to work with, so her character tirelessly hovers over changing locations against the background, issuing one monotonous exhibition after another. The situation is similar with Calypso Lucy Liu. She does what her sister does, but in a more unconstrained and menacing way, apparently to highlight that the Titan's middle daughter, Atlanta (without context!), is a mess. Plus, what other way to use Lucy Liu's martial arts talent, other than to put her on a huge painted wooden dragon (flashing in all the trailers!) and never let her fight the protagonist hand-to-hand, right?
Humor here is completely harmless, but hits right at the point! The reincarnation of Escher Angel in Zachary Levi is a key comedy element that I still haven’t had time to get tired of, thanks to the latter’s inexhaustible enthusiasm and charisma. The jokes themselves are not just minute gags, which immediately disappear from the head, but often well-thought-out tips to reveal the personal qualities of all Shazams. For example, their team is called the “Philadelphia fiasco”, in any other commodity, the central persons would spend about an hour of screen time on self-digging and experiences, but not Shazama, they perceive this quite easily and go on to save the world.
Outcome: Shazam! The Fury of the Gods by David F. Sandberg is a reference entertaining movie, which in the process did not lose all the energy and message of the original, however, if you dwell on the unsuccessful moments of the continuation (of which, admittedly, it is enough), You probably won’t notice all the other little things that have been successful in it! And although the further adventures of the All-Powerman within the James Gunn universe are now in question, I am happy that we have this dilogy!
8 out of 10
Not as bad as I expected, but still worse than the first part.
Recently opened reviews of the first Shazam and learned that the film, it turns out, a lot of dissatisfied. They are scolded for the children’s plot, attempt ' copy Marvel', a bright colorful attraction, strongly contrasting with the pretentious shenanigans of Snyder and all that. I don’t know, I liked the movie initially. Yes, this is not a breakthrough genre, but not its shame. Quite an easy movie, a kind of superhero version ' Big' with Hanks. And yes, I remember him being much less childish than many people think. At least ' The Seven Deadly Sins' that was sent back in the 80s, when family movies could use elements of horror. And the moral that biological parent does not mean native parent seems to be much more mature than in many types 'adults' DS films. So, yes, the first part went quite well and the second one was really waiting, especially since the trailers were good. Alas, the film may not be as bad as they say, but it is still disappointing.
The main problem here is the same as most comic books of recent years. I just don’t want to review it. That the latest Marvel movies, that Black Adam with the Rock's overblown ego, you can see them once and that's all, they fly out of your head very quickly. It creates a feeling that the genre has become an analogue of gum, which was allowed to flow and can no longer stop. Unfortunately, the same trend continues here. The first part could be watched with pleasure once, and then, if it caught on TV, again not without the same pleasure to look again. When watching the second Shazam, there was also a pleasant residue towards the end, but if I get it on TV, it is better to switch to something more interesting. The feeling after watching as from some filler, after which the characters did not change and all the events shown did not particularly affect something.
Some of the things that worked in the first part are no longer there. Billy Batson is now 17, but Zachary Levi continues to play him as if he were still 13. In Shazam, it looked plausible and therefore most of the twists of the hero were justified. Immediately, the 17-year-old fool confuses Solomon and calls him Saruman, which is slightly ridiculous. Well, yes, as always typical for sequels the problem of repeating the same story arc that was before. If the first time Billy Batson learned to suppress his selfishness and work in a team, the second time... he still suppresses his selfishness and learns to work in a team. Spider-Man Syndrome is created when Peter Parker screws up and learns from the same mistakes over and over again, only to step on the same rake. Plus, the ending here is weird. It is difficult to explain without spoilers, but when a completely different hero of DS appears in the frame and aki a wand-goal solves all the problems of the characters, this somewhat spoils the feeling by the end.
There are enough disadvantages here, but you can also find advantages in the tape. Heroes are still charming. Billy Batson as a character still chains, and in chemistry with his foster brothers and sisters still believe. Such a lamp atmosphere of the family is created, when it seems that they treat each other lovingly, but still do not mind trolling. Many scolded the film for the increased scale, which deprived Shazam & #39;locality & #39; but in fact there is nothing wrong with this. It is the duty of the sequels to make events bigger and raise the stakes many times over. The scheme is many years old and it still performs well. Humor works ... once in a while. There is no such thing as in the fourth Torah, when after half an hour after watching, I wanted to strangle all the characters of the film, as long as they shut up. But sometimes the jokes were inappropriate. But if you're angry in the fourth Torah after another bad joke, you're not. Because you know that after a ridiculous punch about the rock of Eternity will be followed by a more successful pro ' I do not know how to play bouncers'.
And yes, what is well preserved after the film is the designs of all sorts of otherworldly creatures. And it is not surprising, because the director of both films was David F. Sandberg, who previously shot the horror film And the lights go out. and the Annabel Curse 2. So yes, despite the family atmosphere and endless jokes, there will be quite tough scenes for their rating. Here it is possible to show how the sisters-antagonists induce the teacher to commit suicide or how chimeras and manticors pierce the inhabitants of the city. And yes, even the unicorn designs here look too brutal, and the practical effects make the appearance of all sorts of monsters even more suggestive. Of course, this is not a complete hitch, but its rating PG-13 picture is quite justified, unlike most other films of recent years.
You can dig into the illogicality of the script, like why the older sister changed her mind so quickly, or why they didn't take the staff off at once with their super speed, but it's all convention, and they're much less annoying than in any, God forgive me, Quantomania. Shazam 2 on the output still turns out to be a medium film, but it does not cause vomiting like some other comic books. On the contrary, you can see it once, especially in the family circle. But, unfortunately, if you need something more, this is not the right place. The film is designed for one view and is unlikely to find a viewer who will remain delighted with him. Therefore, the second Shazam has a great chance to forget among the endless stream of other representatives of the genre. On the other hand, if you dust your memories one day, you’re unlikely to be angry with the movie. There will just be a little sadness that this is just another representative of comic books, which are mixed in my head as one.
One of the most curious phenomena of human existence is undoubtedly the family. Of course, we can say that the basic desire to live next to someone with whom there is a blood relationship is explained by animal instincts, because some kind of family is also in forest animals. But man is different from the beast in that he has a mind, and therefore the family is for him, of course, something more, something that is not limited to the framework of family ties. This feature can be the basis for the broadest discourse about both the family and its individual members, and the new “Shazam” from the first appearance of its character on the screen clearly raises a number of questions about the outlined paradigm. But, having made such a loud request for the development of relatively non-banal thought, the film cannot cope with its embodiment, remaining only a movie for entertainment, unable to properly reveal the idea more difficult than chewing gum.
The fact that “Shazam” swings at the consideration of the family theme is evidenced not only by the enchanting pseudo-medical scene at the beginning of the picture, but also by the choice of sisters as antagonists, that is, also families in the most literal sense of the word. Thus, contrasting the family of superheroes with the family of supervillains, the filmmakers would have to consider both a positive and a negative model of behavior, thereby proving that there is the best and right. However, the “strain” is that our positive family does not pull on such: among the heroes there is neither mutual understanding nor mutual assistance, despite loud declarations, and, in fact, everyone is passionate about their problems. It wouldn’t be a disaster if the story began to change as the story progressed, which unfortunately never happened in Shazam. In addition, the idea that the strength of the family is not in superpowers, but in the ability to act together, because after a series of incidents with individual members, their role begins to decline rapidly. Of course, the authors of the picture tried to come up with something for such heroes, to somehow increase their importance, but could not overcome the impression that the characters after the incidents went to the periphery of the plot. Closer to the final, the film becomes the story of the confrontation of singles, and a significant impact on the final result, at least for the main character, are not family members, but casual acquaintances. Thus, the writers who clearly wanted to show the power of family values at the end of the film completely discredited them, emphasizing exactly the opposite – the power of individuality.
Another obvious failure of Shazam is the formation of motivation for antiheroines. Yes, from a formal point of view, this motivation is at least there, and even basic explanation, but the explanation is so conditional that it is hardly able to clarify anything. In addition, the film can not determine the exact and final motivation, in connection with which it is changeable like the weather in the spring. When the goal of everything and everything finally settles down, another potential idea comes to the surface, connected with the consideration of the issue of distilled pure hatred. This, I admit, turned out even worse than with the family, because the filmmakers could not counter hate even the most banal – love, and even in those scenes where otherwise and it was impossible to shoot. Hate is opposed not by something equal, but only by chance and luck, and such a set is not able to push any valuable conclusions. Although the inability of hatred to produce something useful, its destructive nature in Shazam is quite convincingly visualized, another feature of its nature seems completely forgotten, namely, the influence of this worst of feelings is not so much on others as on its carrier. As a result, the finale of the picture is just a banal battle, whose outcome is not able to show the viciousness of the path chosen by the character, to convey something constructive and meaningful to the viewer.
Another example of unembodied potential is, in fact, the development of the character of the protagonist. Here and there, the coming of age looming on the horizon is mentioned, which obviously puts on the agenda the question of growing up a hero who is absolutely stuck in childhood. It would seem that the trials that fall to the hero’s lot should change something in his attitude and understanding, but no – do not change. It's the same as the beginning. Even such a banal thing as first love, in some evil irony, is given to another character, not the maturing main character, and the pool of psychological problems indicated at the beginning of the picture remains undeveloped, whose solution is limited to a few duty phrases. It is quite difficult to understand how it was possible to miss such an obvious element in a film about a teenager, but the writers somehow managed to.
Despite its length, I can’t call the film lengthy or downright boring. However, he is something ... ridiculous. It starts very slowly and tediously, not as a superhero movie, but as a schoolboy movie, but then things go too fast and then slow down and then run again. The plot seems to have been created on the knee, so formal and inconsistent. There is nothing for all actors to play in Shazam, without exception, and even a hardened actress like Helen Mirren cannot change that. “Shazam” gives the impression that it was removed because it could not be otherwise, and not at all because they understood why they wanted to shoot it and what it was about. Unfortunately, Shazam confirms all the worst stereotypes about comic book movies, which its colleagues in the genre with varying success manage to fight.
Unlike many people, the first part was very popular. There was a competent combination of action, jokes and theme that family is very important in this spirit. . .
In this part, by the way, the authors chicly bloated this phrase in the context of the franchise 'Furious'. The second joke I remember was about Khaleesi.
Successful can be considered and strengthening the caste in the face of Mirren, Liu and Zegler.
But there are serious questions. First of all, the script. Again, we see an extremely indistinct exposition, where, according to the favorite tradition of bad cinema, we are thrown into the thick of events without proper motivation and introductory ones.
And then we see a story lame on both legs, which by the middle of the action already begins to cause yawning, which is simply criminal for a blockbuster.
You can praise the aforementioned artists and visuals as much as you like, but when there is no sensible script, it makes no sense.
As for the jokes, except for a couple of those that were remembered in the beginning, there was no more. There was an attempt in ' joke' like Marvel likes.
So did veiled agendas pro ' alternative history' and unconventional interests. And in the first part, they abstained.
I don't want to talk too much anymore. You can see it once, but no more. An extremely intense attempt to make a sequel for the sake of a sequel.
Movie 'Shazam! The rage of the gods' is a continuation of the superhero film four years ago, the main characters have already managed to grow up, and the viewer forgets everything that was in the first part.
One of the main problems of the film is the poorly revealed characters and the relationship between them, most of all it relates to the relationship of Billy with foster parents, because of which you do not feel and do not imbue with proper emotions at a certain moment, because for the viewer these relationships may seem strained and artificial, and the whole drama begins to merge into zero. The film's villains are the film's second major problem, not charismatic, weird and flat - all that can be said about them. The plot in the film is quite standard, and if not for the above problems, the film could look good, but very wooden characters and a weak plot buried the project, which already, judging by the fees, lost more than 100 million on the output.
Despite these shortcomings, the film has its strengths. For example, it successfully combines comedy and action, making it fun to watch for both children and adults. The visual part of the film also deserves a special mention: the visual effects coordinators did a great job to create a bright and attractive world.
Overall, the film 'Shazam! The rage of the gods' is a good entertainment for the whole family, which, however, somewhat pumps in the disclosure of characters and illogicality in certain moments of the plot. However, it may interest superhero fans who want to see a new story about Billy Batson and his friends.
The title of this review eloquently speaks about the incapacity of this sequel. It could be stopped, but the author of this review would not like to be known as an impostor, because in the second Shazam there are enough such people. They only compete with who gets the palm. Here you and two dividing in half a broom goddess, which will wake up all of a sudden conscience at the most inopportune moment. And now they destroy the Athens Museum and turn visitors into stone. Far from them is Dr. Shazam’s fooling around, or worse, the crooked teenagers I would call a generation Googled.
How a cancerous tumor multiplied these freaks in costumes. And, not having time to recover from the daring and from the no less ridiculous robbery of the museum, the superfamily flies to save kittens on the bridge to the tune of Holding Out for a Hero. By the way, in Tetris, this composition sounded much more appropriate than here. Then the confusion begins – a pun about three sisters, one of whom goes to the end, the other gives his heart to his prince, and the other has a conscience. And it remains to be wondered why this trio was going, if only one was ready to go to the end. If for several decades to exploit the same story of how evil gods or aliens try to avenge their destroyed world, destroying everything in their path, and turning the Earth into the object of taking out their fools, even the most loyal fans of these trinkets will get tired of eating it. After all, even the dome over Springfield sixteen years ago was beaten much more filigree, with a sense of humor and imagination.
One of the worst jokes in the whole movie, when I smiled a little, was when Shazam, with Steve's help, wrote a message to the three sisters and read it out loud. It was really funny. And for the most part, all the jokes in the film are attempts at humor, devoid of peppers and ingenuity. Nothing lasts forever, and it would be time to send these comic books to the distant shelf, or even better – to tie them all together and put them in the school garbage can. And do not return to them even in times of crisis of ideas and imagination.
The film works like a good Skittles ad, but casts doubt on the safety of street toilets. With the educational task, the creators of the picture coped with hurrah, but to close your eyes to all the rest of the meaninglessness happening on the screen would be a crime on my part.
In the second half of the zeros and at the dawn of the tenth, once children's magazines with pictures about superheroes began to be hotly discussed by yesterday's comic book haters. People were covered with a new wave of films about superheroes along with the boom of previous decades on horror films and action movies with Schwarzenegger and Stallone. Famous actors were increasingly invited to comic book projects, and film budgets grew. Marvel from film to film built its Cinematic Universe, winning all the rolling time in theaters and eclipsed all other fresh releases, while DC hastily tried to create its franchise in order to keep up with the competitor.
But the era is passing, and at the moment the genre of superheroics is rapidly losing its popularity. Only some of the paintings cause the viewer a genuine delight, but universal jubilation and mass march to the cinema for each new film wrapped by Marvel, DC or any other publishing house can no longer be expected. An overabundance of comic books and literally a conveyor stream of new films about superheroes from leading film companies caused a decline in people’s interest in fighting people in colorful costumes, as the plots ceased to shine with originality, directors and producers with ingenuity, and from watching there is no former sense of novelty. The new film is similar to the previous, template plot moves and suppression of the author’s vision of eminent directors by producers who are afraid to go beyond the already established formula of success. And now, at the end of the wave of popularity of comic books, the Guardians, which were not understood and perceived with hostility in 2009, or, for example, the series “Boys”, deconstructing the genre of superheroics, are more relevant in their subject.
The new picture of David F. Sandberg, albeit inferior to the original, released in 2019, but at the same time fits into the concept of post-modern, and also has an ingredient called “Samorion”, for which the film can be loved. Paphorous and serious moments in the film are interrupted by comedic inserts in a hooligan manner, as if in a theater where a serious play about angry Gods is staged, a rocked superhero mistakenly ran over, interrupting the actors and setting his own rules of the game. The characters of Helen Mirren and Jimona Honsu seemed not to understand how this ridiculous boy, defaming the atmosphere of Greatness, got into their world of Magic and Ancient Gods. To the level of “Deadpool” on the destruction of the fourth wall and self-awareness of the character sequel “Shazama!” clearly does not reach, but it seems that he does not need it. Meta-comments on past films of the DC Universe (attention to detail!) and the whole genre, as well as dedramatization and parody inserts really look funny and appropriate. The sequel lacks only this lamp and original atmosphere of the first part. It is simply criminally small, but plenty of large-scale action, which only slightly harms the picture, overshadowing the entire originality of Shazam, simplifying the film to the usual one-time superhero action movie. And if the recently released “Black Adam”, which was conceived more as a serious and tougher film, amuses with its pathos and unwavering facial expressions of the Rock, sending us back to the time of the first attempts to make superhero films, the new “Shazam!” fully understands what a film it is.
In its lightness and irony, Shazam! The rage of the Gods seems to dismiss all superheroics, they say, stop you all already serious mines to build and proudly stand in the position of the Hero. Charisma and acting by Zachary Levi is perhaps the main decoration of the film. Constantly joking and destroying template scenes, the actor retains in the film the key image of the simple-minded big man with an empty head, and brings to the fore the simple topics already voiced in the first part: the importance of family and kindness in the soul.
After all, if you do not say goodbye to the whole era, as with a good old friend, defusing the situation with humor and teasing each other, then how else?
Black Adam? Or Shazam? James Gunn's Middle Finger Shows You
That's all. That same DC Cinematic Universe, which began to line up with grief in half in 2013 thanks to the film 'Man of Steel', came to its inglorious conclusion. Nearly 10 years of suffering, box office failures, shortfalls, ridicule, failures, reshoots, cancellations. We, comrades, have survived to the moment when we can say goodbye to this megaproject through the film 'Shazam! The rage of the gods' and not to feel ... the sadness of parting. Oh yes, there was a spectacular spring blockbuster, so after the sixth 'Scream' and before the fourth 'John Wick' not to be bored. But it seems that in the US, viewers are bored, judging by the box office. A sad end in agony then.
A fun movie? Yeah. Are you kidding me? Well, not exactly, they do. An all-powerful and deep villain? Let's not go deep. Maybe the post-credits scenes save the situation? No matter how much you hope, it won't work. The fable has morals, of course. They say, do not be afraid to leave the family as the coming of age, because the family will always be in the heart or other organ. It feels like from another movie... Oh, come on. Plus (what a coincidence with 'Scream 6') hyperprotection, when you want to be with brothers and sisters to discuss everything in the world, but they already need their own time for solitude. Don’t be afraid to let go, Billy Batson, that doesn’t mean they’ll stop loving.
In short, all these teenage and young affairs against the backdrop of the great tragedy in the city of Philadelphia in connection with the appearance of no less than three daughters Atlanta, who once shrugged his shoulders there. Or not. One strictly European white appearance. The second is purely Asian. The third is darker. I walked through ancient cities in my time, my father. The girls have their own motives, of course, but there is, as usual, one bitch among them, who just to show what a vicious and vengeful bitch she is. In addition to the internal personal conflict, the future adult swagger faces an external conflict, because his abilities are threatened, since the sisters are fire.
We do not claim that this is a complete failure of the year, from now on, few people will like the sequel. There are probably some among you who appreciate the adventures of a guy in the body of a 40-year-old. And you will be happy with the ending, when there is something interesting that will at least wake up and cheer up a little. But personally, we frankly missed, because the children have grown noticeably, the problems are so bad, the antagonists do not agree with each other. Remote cheerful atmosphere of the first part was still able to tune in to the relaxed wave of a light interplayer with a bright Jack Dylan Grazer. And in the sequel, almost everything is the same, but something is boring. You can't go far. Comics fade. Where 'Guardians'?
'Blade' 1998?'Sin City'? At least 'Kick-Ass'?! They're all in the annals where they need to be. Looking back, there was something really interesting about those comics, or even everything. The plots are predictable as in 'Shazam! The rage of the gods' but there was enough style, originality and audacity. And in 2022-2023, comic books came out, none (!) left a lasting impression. They just don't. Or, most classically, our expectations are our problems. Funny that there are no expectations, just give an unprecedented experience of watching movies. They also found someone to demand it from. Curtain. Here we conclude and wish to watch again 'Avengers: Endgame'.
Sadly, when the superheroic is the division into black and white, good and evil.
So I watched the second part of this movie. I will immediately say that I was not enthusiastic about the first part, so I did not expect much from the second part, and even with low expectations, it was still boring to watch. Why do comics get in your head? For the fact that you can either see some close problems for yourself or see the resolution of some more complex issues (whether the existence of avengers outside the law, who create ' justice' that the world is not black and white, but a lot of shades of gray, so the division into ' Good' and ' Evil' conditionally, etc.).
Here is a super banal plot, there are heroes, there are villains, you can predict in advance who will win the fight between Good and Evil. It seems to be the plot of almost any film, but in this film there is no attempt to somehow play it. The offended gods were able to escape from prison, they are angry at the world, because their world was once destroyed. They need a specific artifact to revive their reality + the element of revenge. The plan is not perfect, because the heroes interfere with them, and the villains have certain differences in views.
I don’t even want to spend more than 5 minutes on the script. There’s always something going on on the screen, and that’s supposed to distract from the super boring script. Characters don't reveal much, so you don't empathize with anyone. It really doesn’t matter what happens to whom. There is an attempt to raise the problem of family and some children's problems, but even in Fast and Furious it is a problem and then it is better solved (and in my film I laugh at myself, because there is even a joke about it).
In addition, since now there are more superheroes-shazams, it would be necessary to at least make an attempt to explain the role and significance of each for the plot, but in fact almost half & #39;shazams' you can remove and globally it will not affect the plot. There are some attempts at jokes, but mostly unsuccessful.
Perhaps the film is designed more for children, who can be carried away by a less beautiful picture and the struggle of evil and good.
It also seemed that some things in the film are simply ' borrowed' from other movies or universes. The last part of the film is similar to Hellboy (2019), where the city collapses and monsters appear. By the way, monsters will please those who played Heroes of the Sword and Magic III (especially for the Fortress race).
Outcome: Boring, coming for the kids or just wanting to watch a movie and forget. I would like the superheroic was shown not so clearly, we need shades of gray, not black and white.
6 out of 10