‘Shazam! “Clash of Gods” surpasses the most recent Marvel films with a simple and entertaining story

The feature film, produced by Peter Safran, works precisely because it doesn’t take itself seriously

DC is in a time of transition in theaters. Following the sale of Warner Bros. to Discovery, the home of superheroes such as Batman AND Wonder Woman put a “under new management” sign on the door. the vision of Zack Snyderwhich continues in the company even after leaving office, and begins to dominate the gaze of the producers James Gunn (Director of Guardians of the Galaxyfrom competitor Marvel) e Peter Safran. And, although it was produced before, Shazam! Fury of the Gods lets take a look at what lies ahead.

Out Thursday 16 in theaters, the feature film is the continuation of the 2019 film Billy Batson (Angel Asher) is now a teenager, already of age, who manages to turn into a superhero (Zechariah Levi) when you invoke some kind of mystical power. But now he’s not alone: ​​alongside him, his half-brothers share power and begin to defend the city of Philadelphia, USA, from bad guys. This is the case of three Greek deities (Elena Mirren, Rachel Zegler, Lucy Liu) who threaten the family of superheroes by clashing with other mystical powers.

DIFFERENTIAL

As in the first feature film, the director David F. Sandberg (When the lights go out) knows that Shazam’s story can’t be as grand as Batman’s journey to the big screen, say, or Superman’s. He must value the little, the closeness of these heroes who, in reality, are teenagers who experience almost magical powers. This is where the fun and differential of the film lies, it takes itself little seriously and makes no effort to be grand or opulent with the viewer.

It’s the opposite of what’s happening now, for example, with Marvel Studios. After the events of Avengers: Infinity War AND Ultimatum, the public will accept nothing less than stories that really make your skin crawl. And with that, two effects are already felt on the big screen: either the film exaggerates too much to achieve this effect or, then, it absolutely fails and ends up not convincing. He rarely finds the middle ground.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods, meanwhile, finds just that middle ground within the DC scene in theaters. First, in terms of the shared universe: the elements are there, but it’s not excessive for the characters to be used haphazardly. There’s a cameo, but it manages to be functional and fun in equal measure. Very different than seen in black adamwhen The Rock forced Superman’s participation, even with the character’s future uncertain.

Also, it’s worth mentioning, all the cast are very comfortable and not even the excess of jokes bothers. It makes sense within the proposal to place children as superheroes. Warner Bros. Discovery just pay attention to the tone of the film from now on: Asher Angel, the Shazam before the transformation, already looks like a man. It will soon be hard to swallow that the boy has such immature superhero attitudes. You will have to change.

TWO PROPOSALS

Another middle ground traveled Shazam! Fury of the Gods it is in the union of the two moments of DC. The film seems to be a perfect link between what existed before in the studio and what will be from now on, preceding the important and divisible The flash, which is due out in June. The new feature, after all, brings characters from that other moment to DC, but already with a younger, more relaxed face – which is one of Gunn’s trademarks, responsible for titles such as The suicide squad AND The peacemaker.

Therefore, contrary to expectations, Shazam! Fury of the Gods it is not a stillborn film, set in a universe with no future. On the contrary: as James Gunn recently said on his Twitter profile, it could be the basis of the new one. “One of our strategies is to take our ‘diamond’ personas and use them to support others that people don’t know about. Like what happened somehow with Guardians of the Galaxysays Gunn, reiterating how Shazam still holds on. “There’s no reason any of the characters or the actors who play them shouldn’t be a part of the DCU. There’s nothing to stop that from happening.”

Source: Terra

Rose

Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.