God!!! This was awful! The comedy is not it, it is what made the movie miss its mark mainly because the alter ego characters do not fit with their counterparts. Does the power make kids more kiddies? I don't think so but it's what it implies.
Also, wtf for some reason I thought the Freddy kid was Shazam. Is Billy supposed to be the MC? I don't get it.

Anyways what made this movie horrible is:

1. Lack of character coherence with the younger versions: Istg they seem reasonable when they're kids.
2. Setting: Ik it's based on the comics but let us be real adaptations require ingenuity these days. The villains in this setting seem ridiculous and inconspicuously move a banal plot point you don't give a fuck about.
3. The adult actors: This may seem harsh but they fucking suck at acting as kids, especially Zachary Levi. Idk what's his deal but he fucking needs to chill. Tell me how he's turning 18 but acts like a 6-year-old as Shazam.
4. Obsession with other DC characters: I'm all for connectivity in dceu but this just takes the enjoyment out of solo movies. First, you need to make the MC of the main story stand out on their own and be able to be interesting without bubbling about Superman, WW, batman etc. A great example is WW (2017)
5. No change in the formula: Despite being at the centre of attention, superhero movies and TV shows suffer from predictability and the same outcomes. You know that at the end of the day, there'll be no high stakes such as character death, impactful events etc BC they want them for later projects. They're like, hundreds of characters that never got the chance to be introduced in live-action.

Not bad, but definitely a step-down from the original. The humor is still more hit than miss, though the ratio is down from the first. The story is serviceable. I was actually pretty happy with things until the last act when the CGI budget spiked and my interest cratered. It makes the classic sequel mistake of assuming bigger equals better. Unfortunately, much of the increased scope ends up feeling half baked and/or obligatory. For example, the movie really lost me with the [spoiler]random mythological creatures getting birthed from the tree[/spoiler]. It feels like the movie just needed a lower level threat for non-super powered characters to face off against so that they have something to do. It's completely superfluous and I would have preferred to just not see those characters for a while. Black Adam did something very similar in its finale, with zombies/skeletons randomly popping out of the ground. Not sure which is worse. In this case, the issue culminates in the [spoiler]unicorn sequence[/spoiler], which got a big fat eye roll from me. I'd also criticize the pacing of the finale, as certain sequences seemed to drag way longer than necessary ([spoiler]e.g. waiting for the lightning staff to blow up[/spoiler]). All in all, way better than Ant-Man Quantummania.

The movie is decent enough, although formulaic and predictable. But the 12 year old level humor has long since worn out its welcome.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a run-of-the mill superhero sequel that doesn’t progress the genre forward, but delivers two hours of pure entertainment.

This film does not do any one thing great, but it was still a pretty decent watch. The plot is average—nothing we have not seen on the big screen before. Our villains have no development; their motivations are sound, but there is nothing further that develops them into something greater.

This movie starts off incredibly strong, with a fantastic first act that had me laughing hysterically. The comedy hits more often than not, which was a surprise for me. There is a bridge rescue scene that is electric. The combination of "I Need a Hero" mixed with all of the heroes showcasing their abilities was amazing. I think superhero films have dropped the ball by not showing heroes rescuing everyday people. The stakes have gotten so high outside of the everyday troubles that this art is lost. I really enjoyed that aspect of the film, but unfortunately, after the first act, this story becomes inflated to a point where it is indistinguishable from many other superhero blockbusters.

The final act is overly long and bloated with a plethora of CGI monsters for our heroes to defeat. I think the CGI actually looked pretty good, but it just was not an engaging conclusion for me. The stakes were high, but not built up properly for me to be genuinely interested. The action is pretty decent, but I couldn’t care less. The finale did have emotional beats in terms of the family connection, which worked surprisingly well. That is when this franchise works best. When the focus is on family and not on god's attempts to destroy Earth,

The performances overall were pretty good. Zachary Levi is fantastic as Shazam; he has mastered the art of playing a child in a man's body. Jack Dylan Grazer is hilarious; his comedic timing is brilliant. Grace Caroline Currey is a queen. Rachel Zegler is a standout, and her chemistry with Grazer is top notch. The rest of the Shazamly do a great job as well. I think Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu are fine as antagonists but were wasted with a lack of screen time and development.

Overall, this might not be good, but it is entertaining. That is a lot more than can be said for some of the recently released superhero films (Black Adam and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania).

Score: 65%
Verdict: Decent

Passably entertaining sequel that lacks the charm of the original to go along with the over-acting from Lucy Liu as the primary antagonist; really miss the great menace Mark Strong brought to his role. Still Zachary Levi was still great as Shazam and there were some fun scenes between Djimon Hounsou and Jack Dylan Grazer. Not great but still decent enough especially for families. **3.25/5**