Shaz-ayum!

You know, I didn't think Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) was all that bad. It wasn't good, of course, but I actually didn't mind it.

It starts with Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu (both slumming it something fierce) stealing a broken magic stick from the museum on the Acropolis. They have fancy magic powers - mainly, they can whisper in someone's ear and turn them to stone. They take this stick to Djimon Hounsou, who we thought died in the last one. Nope, just imprisoned by the gals. They force him to repair the stick and now they have the power of Shazam!

Meanwhile the Shazam gang is saving people who are stuck on a collapsing bridge. They get everyone off, but can't prevent the collapse. For this, they are ridiculed by Philadelphia - called the Philly Fiasco. Typical Philly. 

You get an idea of the group's dynamic when they are chilling in their extradimensional clubhouse, filled with doors to random dimensions. Zach Levi wants them to work together as a team, fighting crime, but they all have their own interests. Anyway, even in their super-forms, they are still just kids. In particular, Adam Brody, who can't use his legs in kid form (Jack Dylan Grazer) wants to spend more time by himself being super.

In school, Grazer meets cute new girl Rachel Zegler. He tries to keep her from getting menaced by some bullies, so they pound him. As a kid, his super-power is the keep quipping even as he's being beaten up. After they hang out together a bit, he decides to show her his Brody form. And it turns out that she is a sister of Mirren and Liu. They appear and use the staff to steal his powers.

Liu wants to get the power to destroy the world. Mirren is willing to go along. Zegler is against it. But Liu has a dragon, so she's going to be hard to stop. 

There's a lot going on in this movie. For one thing, there are 5-7 Shazamers - I can't count because they aren't all really distinctive. The big issue is maybe Levi's imposter syndrome - except he really is an imposter. He's not that smart. The other is Brody, who clearly doesn't want to live in his weak body - although I think they de-emphasize to avoid disability-shaming or insensitivity. Other than them, there's chubby Jovan Armand, who comes out as gay when everyone is revealing their super-identities to their foster parents (then sort of disappears from the movie). But Faithe Herman, the nerdy little Black girl, has some of the best beats. When the bad guys release a bunch of Harryhausen-inspired Greek monsters, she fights them by releasing a bunch killer unicorns. She gets them out of hiding with Skittles - "Taste the rainbow, motherf..."

Scenes like this were fun to watch. The theme of the bad guys stealing the kids power was sort of interesting, although not much came of it. Levi does save the day with a clever plan, which he repeats - "I can't believe you fell for that twice!" OK, it doesn't really hold together. Also, Asher Angel, who plays Billy Batson when not Shazamed, is not very compelling. They mostly stick to Levi. 

So, I'd say my favorite film in the series is Black Adam. But I didn't hate this.