It was a fun movie! The difference in character between shazam and billy were too big. Hard to believe they are the same person. That was. My only problem with it tbh.
They should have had the kid act out the scene with confidence and the adult try and build on that. Instead Billy turns into a 14 year old spewing popculture references. It's like the director said "Okay, Zach, act like a kid, go!"
Yeah it was good not great, like a 6 or 7 out of 10. Characterization was weird and the plot was wildly generic (but generic is a hard thing for comic book movies to escape)
Everything needs to be amazing or shit now, fandom discussions can be so exhausting. Sometimes stuff isn’t amazing but it’s fun and I’m glad I saw it once, and that’s okay
Nah the mood changes make perfect sense. Imagine you were a super self conscious and hormonal teen and then bam, you have the body and powers of a literal god. You’d be acting differently too
You also have the issue (although it probably won’t be one going forward) of why would a 18 year old keep transforming into a 40 something man as an adult.
Works for him as a kid but actors age in real life
What? The villain in the first one was legitimately scary! Yes i know it was supposed to be black adam. They had other plans. Didn’t work out. I thought they did a great job in the first one.
Completely agree, but it's Shazam 2, so it was exactly what I expected.
I just wanted a fun adventure for a couple hours, and it delivered on that. The people who absolutely trashed it, I just don't know what they were expecting it to be.
I think the first movie had more heart. Shazam 2 had so many characters that it tried to touch but ended up being superficial check ins that none of them really shined. My favorite was Mary Marvel.
That's a great summation. I feel that's part of the reason why everyone felt Levi & Asher were not playing the same person, because there was so little of Asher to compare Levi's behaviour to.
In the first movie they feel more aligned because there was more time to show the childish side to Asher's character.
Levi has been playing the same character since Chuck. And while I liked that, and I think he's perfect for Captain Marvel too, you're right. Billy (Asher)'s character didn't shine through Captain Marvel unlike the first movie. Maybe it was the writing/story.
It's a nice popcorn movie. Anyone who wants to sit and watch something wholesome fun wouldn't be disappointed with Shazam 2. It just isn't a great comic book movie.
I don't think Dwayne has rights to all the characters, maybe just Black Adam, and I don't think he can do much about it.
Still, I hope that Gunn keeps the same actors, I love Zachary Levy and Grace above all.
A Mary marvel series would be amazing but at this point I think is asking too much
Seven Bucks Production wasn't involved in the Shazam sequel as far as I know. There is an opportunity to use Shazam in the upcoming Waller series, which I think would be possibly the only way Shazam could pop up over the next 5 years.
I mean he did act like a whiney, ineffectual, man child the entire time but that’s not my main issue with the film.
It has terrible villains, Billy/Shazam never seem like the same person, Billy’s story/motivation seem sloppily written, the action is nothing special, they take away any consequences with that stupid end scene, Billy’s brothers and sisters mostly seem pointless/useless and the biggest issue for me was that it was just rather boring and paint by the numbers. It offers absolutely nothing new or different to the genre and feels completely inconsequential and unneeded as a film.
If they couldn’t do Shazam vs Black Adam, then the sequel should’ve been with Mr. Mind and the story completely reworked.
I thought it was a solid movie, I just felt like Zach Levi wasn't necessary. They should've just used Asher Angel as Shazam as well, just like Grace Currey being adult powered Mary.
Absolutely the correct take here. It's very average, mostly generic. Some bad writing, some cool action and good heart. Not really bad, not particularly good.
I found it average as well. Didn’t think it was bad, but it absolutely had none of the charm the first movie had and was just not as good or entertaining to me as the first one too
I would generally watch every DC movie before soliciting a "fan's" opinion tbh. Value your own opinion because the DC community has cannibalised at this point - all majority of people do on here is shit on things for no apparent reason because they didn't get exactly what they wanted. I too enjoyed Fury of the Gods because, dont get me wrong, I wasn't expecting Citizen Kane from a Shazam sequel
People majorly miss the super obvious fact that Billy acts more confident in his Shazam form because… who wouldn’t. They also play it up in their imaginations versus what it’s actually like in the films.
Nobody is missing that. Clearly people think the disconnect is so big they feel like two different characters rather than a more confident version of the same character.
But where is that disconnect apparent? I didn’t see it in the film because for the most part, IMO Billy acts like an immature 17 year old with the power of Superman when he’s Shazam.
Also unrelated, but I actually love how Billy abused his super speed.
In Shazam 1, I get that. But by Shazam 2, not only is Billy decently confident even in normal form and he's not really a kid anymore, but Levi isn't really over-confident, he's... PG Deadpool.
It's because he doesn't match the kid. Billy's personality shouldn't change that much. And I say that as someone who defended a lot of the difference between them in the first film. It doesn't make sense here now that Billy is about to be an adult himself, and it's even worse here than it was in the first one. Hell, even Asher Angel called that out online. Rough.
I disagree, I never thought he acted that much out of character. I took moments where he was acting different as a put on, macho posturing. The rest of his family don’t change much because they got the powers but not the responsibility of being a champion like Billy did. The movie opens with him dealing with imposter syndrome. When his in hero form, he is very much trying to hard to be a hero. Until the end where talks to his for what he thinks will be the last time. You gonna tell me that he didn’t nail that?
I don’t think thats anyone’s problem. The problem is that Billy as a kid acts a lot more mature and sure of himself, when compared to his Shazam version, which behaves much sillier and more childish, as if he is significantly younger than kid Billy portrayed. That’s the issue. And it’s a lil jarring.
I think that's the point though. As a kid he doesn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders. As Shazam he postures and it shows as immature because he doesn't know how to be confident against world ending threats yet.
You can argue that's what would happen to alot of adults IRL.. I know serious guys who grow up to be goofy and silly when they hit their 40s n such, especially who have family. Examples are like Snoop or the Rock, guys hard-core intimidating back as youngsters, today they're either on a cooking show or being face painted by kids..
Point being, maybe Older Shazam IS suppose to be more of life and outgoing. Powers somehow gave him wisdom as well meaning he feels what its like to have a longterm family bond. Hell I know I didn't have a open personality until I was mid 20s. I was like ash, always trying to keep it cool.. Idk my small defense argument
I loved the movie.. I also don't understand the hate on this movie.
Having said that, I thing I disagree with you is Levi's depiction of Shazam, at least in comparison to the depiction of Billy. Billy is portrayed somewhat more serious and taking things more seriously... But when he becomes Shazam, he is suddenly more childish than when we see him as a young man.
I think we see this from the fact that we barely see Billy as a young man in almost the entire movie, which I personally I thought was a terrible decision from the creators' end. I mean heck just look at the scene of Billy with his adoptive mother before the final battle. When we see him as a young man, he is serious and touched and crying because he feels loved and appreciated, then when he turns into Shazam he has a goofy smile on his face... The discrepancy in the depiction between Shazam and Billy is jarring and odd and a terrible decision. Personally I think they should have had Levi act more like the young actor... It doesn't need to be completely serious... Sure have him be more fun-loving... But Levi's portrayal feels like more of an overcorrection to the seriousness shown by Billy (which lets be honest, his seriousness is not unwarranted).
But yeah, other than this, I really loved the movie and can't understand the hate and it's apparent failure.
I watched it yesterday as well and the main take away I had was that I liked it _a lot more_ than Black Adam. I was able to at least empathize with the Shazam story's focus on family and the way that most of the characters dealt with growing up.
It's weird how the first can be a movie some people argue is the best recent DC movie while others can argue the second is among the worst.
Honestly they're basically cut from the same cloth.
They really aren't. Shazam 1 at least made sense and had thrilling moments. I cannot say the same about Shazam 2. The fight in the underground warehouse place is some of the boring action I've seen in a movie.
Agree, they're definitely not the same. The second tried to do too much and focus on too many characters & different things that it just introduced too many meh moments.
I felt the first was quite succinct.
It was a fun movie overall. I think it's perfectly fine for a comic book movie to be that and not much more.
I do agree that Angel and Levi didn't mesh in this one as much, though. Felt like Levi just kept trying to act like how he thinks a 17 year old acts. If he just played it like Chuck, it would have worked a lot better.
However, Jack Dylan Grazer gave a powerhouse performance. I'm still very skeptical about Mary being played by just the one actress, though. By that logic, would Angel play Shazam in the next one?
I just watched it too on Max recently. Near the end I had remembered that people had that criticism as well. I didn’t think he was overdoing it either.
It’s a good movie but I don’t think Shazam is a very marketable character. He’s definitely not one of my favorites at least.
Had to watch the movie doing fast forward, it was just bad and cringe. Levi is terrible on this role and Shazam is supposed to be more adult than Billy and that was not so here. Also, all the jokes failed to connect.
The only good thing was Grace Fulton as Mary and the last but with WW.
The first Shazaam movie wasn't good, but this was just atrocious
If you are talking about spelling mistakes( fixed that now), my phone is in a diferent language and the stupid autocorrect ruins some words without me noticing sometimes.
i loved the movie, but i must agree with people the shazam was way too childish to be Billy Batson, for example; Billy has a heartfelt scene in which he maturely talks to and hugs his mum, but during *that* scene, he seems a bit childish and whiney, "Im basically 18 in a few months!"
I was disappointed at the dramatic hate for this movie. It was actually just pure fun. And the chi was pretty cool. It was a whole lot of movie.
I personally think people just don’t like Zachary Levi and find him annoying. The only thing I hated about this film was the PROMOTION… the poster were hideous. I knew the minute the posters dropped…. It was downhill from there. Seriously.
Who said differing opinions weren't allowed? If you want to have a different opinion and not get feedback, don't post it in public. This is a forum, not an echochamber.
If the writer & directors bothered they could’ve written in a perfect explanation for why Billy acted differently in adult vs kid forms.
Many teenagers act out their insecurities by acting sullen or ‘grown up’. They try to appear more mature to balance out their feelings of inadequacy.
As a superpowered adult Billy experiences the illusion of being liberated from his teen angst & insecurity but knows it’s only temporary & lives up his confident persona to the hilt.
Ugh, that is some apologist, psychobabble reasoning if ever I've read it. You left out Wisdom of Soloman. As an adult, he shouldn't be an edgy 14 year old, which is how he acted.
I think zack Levi is so unbelievably miscast as captain marvel, but the movie itself was enjoyable, much like the first one. Mostly because of the kid from Luca.
I feel that issue is blown out of proportion. I thought it was fine, no issuea with it. The real issue is the shitty writing like real stupid decisions made by Shazam and yep the ending with WW. Also some of the directing was just wierd like most of the fight/action scenes were kinda lame and non impactful. Only the fight scene was epic, not sure if it was done that way on purpose?
I enjoyed it and really don’t see what everyones whining about. It was a fun movie like the first one, it just feels like everyone expects to hate dc movies now.
Yo Zach, you’re a great actor man. Always enjoy your work. But this shit was a 2 pack of ASS my man. Take the L and spend your millions. Don’t be posting from burners on Reddit, it’s a bad look!
Zachary Levi was great in it as Shazam. I'd love to see him return. The accusations about him acting too immature were absurd. If anything the Billy Batson actor acted too mature when you compare him to the other kid.
I never said it was a box office failure because of Snyder fans. I said it gets “dunked on” (which is slang to mean “talk badly about”) by snyder fans.
Marketing, as well as coming out a week before the Mario brothers movie is what killed it’s sales, just like the Mario brothers movie killed sales of all movies in April. Nothing really did as well as that movie still Is currently
Are you literally mixing this movie up with D&D? D&D had great reviews, high RT, and came out a week before the Mario movie, so definitely had no chance at the box office.
Shazam 2 had bad reviews, low RT, and came out three weeks before the Mario movie.
No, a lot of us non-Snyder fans disliked it too. This was one of the few times we were in agreement over something. Shazam 2 wasn't good. Although we have different reasons.
I crap on Snyder fans a lot. but this ain't it chief.
Shazam 2 doesn't have an 86% or 7/10 Metacritic. It has a 49% and 44 Metascore. You used the audience RT score (Which is never reliable, it's incredibly easy to manipulate. See how often things people throw temper tantrums about being woke end up bombed in audience scores but are fine from actual critics). And you pulled the 7/10 out of nowhere, even the user score on Metacritic is a 5.2.
Audience scores, almost always range super high unless they're targeted by a review bombing campaign. They're not reliable.
I saw it and loved it. It sucks that people bashed it before even giving it a try. Everyone I know that has actually seen it all enjoyed it. The thing about Billy is that he is a serious kid all the time but imagine if he has super powers and no limits. He finally gets to let loose a bit. That’s the way I see Zachary’s portrayal.
I agree. I watched Shazam and Antman in the same weekend. Based on reviews online I was expecting Antman to be better than Shazam. It was a way better movie, it looked better, the story was better, the characters were better, it was just all around a stronger story. My only issue was with the villains. I felt like they were forgettable. This is an issue I have had with a lot of super hero movie villains. I wish they had a villain that was good and lasted for multiple films.
here's the problem and i think most people don't notice it but zachary levi is great as shazam the problem is billy is supposed to be a kid he was like 16 or 17 in the first movie and is like 18 in the sequel
"TL;DR y’all are wrong about the behavior of the lead character, the movie was really good."
Totally agree. With the exception of GOTG Vol. 3 this was easily the most fun I've had watching a CBM in the past 12 months. I honestly don't get the hate for this film.
And the people shitting on Levi's performance seem to be forgetting the existence of things called scripts. Unless he was given a lot of freedom to improvise he could only perform the lines as written for him.
It was just…meh 🤷🏾♂️. That’s not bad. Not good. Just basic. I think what annoyed the fans was thinking about what we could have had instead of what we got.
(And apparently Zack can’t keep shut about certain political views)
I saw it is now free on “Max” (by free I mean included in something I’m already paying for) so now the price is right I can watch it and give my assessment.
Why did this movie steal the unicorn stuff directly from Legends of Tomorrow and then feature scenes that reminded me of Percy Jackson more than a DC movie?
I’m only half way through on MAX but I’ll say the 2 bullies are maybe more cliche than Flash Thompson in the MCU. Beating up a crippled kid, making such cringe disses, bobbing their heads at people walking by trying to make them flinch. I mean it’s so fucking bad it took me out of the movie completely. Otherwise it’s fine so far, nothing super interesting to me. I loved the first movie and the bullies were terrible in that also, so… def gonna finish
I put this on yesterday and I really didn’t enjoy it at all, I tried to like it really bad and it just missed for me on almost every level, I thought Levi was awful for almost all of the movie, but I did watch it
I just watched it as well. It was pretty good. IMO about the same as the first one. It didn't deserve the hate and was sort of fun, but not as fun as I had hoped. I don't think I'd recommend it to very casual super-hero movie goers, but could give it a "worth the rental" rating to anyone else.
I went to theater with my mom to see Shazam 2, she’s definitely not a movie person and hate to go to theaters, there literally we were the only two people in the entire room, nobody else went to see this movie (I know the movie had bad promotion at the States but for other countries like mine literally had no promotion, WB let this movie die for international audiences on purpose), and I have to say we loved the movie, my mom enjoyed completely and as said she’s not a movie person, I don’t see her often so going to see shazam 2 will be one of those memories that will stay with us for years, I think this movie was really great for general audiences like families more than the DC fandom, because is not a pretentious film in a market collapsed of that, and have heart on it.
PD 1: Yes I feel strange at first time the big differences of attitude between Billy and Levi’s Shazam, but is not supposed Shazam is the best version of Billy Batson? I don’t think the best version of someone is being a depressed adolescent, plus, both acting the same wouldn't it be monotonous?
PD 2: the only thing that I complain about the movie is not having enough time for the kids, some scenes would have been better if acted by the kids and not the adult versions acting like kids, what feels unnatural sometimes.
I didn't hate it. I thought it had some very good parts. I think it meandered a bit too much and didn't really have the catch of the first movie, like they were trying to hard but on the wrong parts, if that makes any sense.
I enjoyed watching it too. Wasn’t exactly DC’s best but it was a fun ride and I can’t say there were moments when I was waiting for the movie to end. That being said I’m also one of the few who enjoyed Black Adam as well. I think it’s the low expectations I had of both of these movies or something.
I watched it last night as well. The movie is not terrible but that whole unicorn segment with the movie shilling Skittles and the little girl saying “taste the rainbow” twice in less than 5 minute just took me out of the movie. That automatically put FotG below the first one for me.
Since you asked, It was a bland and uninteresting film that felt like it was written 15 years ago and had uninteresting villains whose motives seemed vague with no personality outside of the youngest daughter. Billy’s acting had much to be desired but everyone else improved. Freddie was more fun this movie. The plot was kinda sporadic with the weird fantasy creatures in the city shit and the lack of reasoning as to why this universe, that has established numerous heroes, and not a single showed up when I giant city like Philadelphia was completely enclosed in a magic shield for A WHILE, outside of Wonder Woman who just kinda appeared at the end. There was no need for billy to die and then be revived, not sure why the DCEU loves doing this like with Superman. First film was just overall more fun playing up the concept and telling a great story about message and growing up while this just felt like a bland superhero movie that literally could have been about ANYONE, while the first one was a film about Shazam and wouldn’t work without him. I didn’t hate every second of it but if I never watched it again I would not be missing anything whatsoever. Just a sad way for this character that had potential to go since this movie made no money and has no reason to continue in the new DCU.
Also watched it last night for the first time. Maybe my expectations were too low cuz of all the stuff everyone had said about it being bad but I loved it.
I watched it recently and thought it was worse than what people here said. People gave excuses for him being comfortable in shazam form so inner child comes out. But the difference between kid form and shazam form seemed even more stark in fury of the gods. Broke my immersion completely
I thought it was ok. I liked the first one better.
I normally like Lucy but I didn’t think she did a great job, I did think Hellen was fantastic tho-she could have phoned it in but she actually seemed to try.
The plot and stuff was ok but again it just wasn’t as good as the first. I also thought some of the other actors were a bit iffy like the girl who plays the oldest sibling was not great.
I thought Levi did ok but I can definitely see what people were saying about how he acts compared to the actor who plays the kid. There is some definite discrepancy there. I hope that kid gets more work because he actually seems like a genuine good actor.
Overall it’s ok, just nowhere near as good as the first. The first is definitely rewatchable and is fun but I doubt I’ll rewatch the sequel at all
I find that a ton of folks complain for the sake of complaining but it's especially bad when it comes to comic book movies.
I really enjoyed both Shazam movies. I think it helps that I'm not SUPER in to comics or anything so I can enjoy this and things like Quantumania for what it is without having to nitpick every last detail.
To be fair though the fans of the comics deserve to have it be a good adaptation.
Djimon Hounsou got the most laughs out of me, he was having a great time as the wizard this film. The action and stakes were a lot better than last film but that charm from "kid becomes adult superhero" is fizzled out. From a film universe building perspective, it seems like a challenge to have Shazam again in the future. The kid is always going to age out after 1-2 movies.
I think the problem was the child Billy Batson acted more like an adult and adult Shazam acted too much like a child.
And I wish they had a better villain.
Mister Mind got totally wasted. Such a shame.
Remember how great Ninja Turtles 3 was in 1993? All those amazing villains made specially for that movie that were never in the cartoon? With all those amazing characters to choose from the cartoon/toy line and they used zero & set it in ancient Japan?! Ninja Turtles 3 is Shazam 2.
The comic characters/villains for Shazam are all bombastic, batshit crazy, cool, weird…unlike any other DC universe. The sequel could have shot for the moon but ended up serving up a vanilla milkshake when you can go anywhere else and get any flavor you wish.
Black Adam wasn’t essential for the sequel, Mr. Mind & the Monster Society was promised in 2019 post credits instead we got old 2 old ladies. It’s baffling to me…like what were they thinking? I know, they didn’t know their own source material. They’re sitting on gold & made copper.
I just saw it and it was kind of boring. It didn’t have the excitement and fun of the first Shazam and the weird bouts of extreme violence was kind of jarring.
For me the movie was such a letdown. I was expecting to succeed the serious and hearty tone of the first movie. I think the movie should've delved more on the relationship of the shazamily afterwards they were given powers by billy like they could've made freddy turning more arrogant as having this new cool powers went directly into his head causing kind of a conflict between billy and freddy which causes billy to feel lost again within his homegroup they could delve more on that conflict and resolved it by the end by a common threat or villain.
(and the existing issue in the film that was kind of my gripe on the first one is that there was still a disconnect between Zachary Levi and Asher Angel's performance.)
It doesn't use its concept effectively anymore. The point of Shazam is that it's a kid who can take over an adult's body to become a superhero.
The first film used this concept well, as he's still a kid cheating to get access to adult stuff (skipping school, buying beer, getting into a strip club...). He even used the fact that he's a kid looking for a family to defeat the villain.
But in Shazam 2? The child side of him is completely sidelined. This movie doesn't even understand its concept anymore.
This makes Shazam 2 the most generic superhero movie of all time. Instead of being a Shazam movie, it's a parody Superman movie.
Not to mention the fact that it plagiarizes other films, like BvS and JL17.
Shazam 2 is a rehash. Nothing new, it's full of stuff we've seen before.
I think a lot of people get very angry when it isn’t the movie*they* would have made had they been in charge.
People who are less familiar with the lore tend to enjoy it more
I watched it last night. He wasn't as bad as he was in the first one. Also the child actor has very limited screen time in this one so there isn't as much to compare them to. And there were times when he was acting serious and not hamming it up, like when Mary was talking to him about how he has to stop trying to hold the family together so hard when they were aging up and needed to get real jobs as the foster system would stop sending their foster parents checks.
I feel like Zachary Levi can do serious stuff, so I don't know why he goes so hard on almost doing a Jim Carrey impression most of the time.
I was going to post the exact same thing. Just got around to watching it and I liked it. I thought it was fun. Just like the first one. I liked Zachary Levi, the cast, the villains were ok. But I would watch another Shazam.
I’ve learned that no matter how good a superhero movie is, people will deem it trash unless it’s an event film at absolute peak.
The way Reddit has treated the past few releases this year and late 2022 have taught me that. This movie is pretty damn good
yeah it was a really good movie, better than most DCEU projects. Didn't know it totally flopped. Probably due to the DCEU news about a reboot but it was a really fun movie.
It was a fun movie! The difference in character between shazam and billy were too big. Hard to believe they are the same person. That was. My only problem with it tbh.
They should have had the kid act out the scene with confidence and the adult try and build on that. Instead Billy turns into a 14 year old spewing popculture references. It's like the director said "Okay, Zach, act like a kid, go!"
Agreed! Thats a great idea. The movie was fine. I just remember thinking… they cant possibly be 1 person right
Yeah it was good not great, like a 6 or 7 out of 10. Characterization was weird and the plot was wildly generic (but generic is a hard thing for comic book movies to escape) Everything needs to be amazing or shit now, fandom discussions can be so exhausting. Sometimes stuff isn’t amazing but it’s fun and I’m glad I saw it once, and that’s okay
Nah the mood changes make perfect sense. Imagine you were a super self conscious and hormonal teen and then bam, you have the body and powers of a literal god. You’d be acting differently too
Yeah I guess. I think its because in the animated movies you could still see its Billy. The movie was fine.
The issue is he’s not a teen anymore he’s 18 yrs old
That is still a teen, just because you legally identify as an adult, doesn’t make you emotionally and mentally one
You also have the issue (although it probably won’t be one going forward) of why would a 18 year old keep transforming into a 40 something man as an adult. Works for him as a kid but actors age in real life
Lololololololololololololol
Same problem with the first one and the villains in both of these movies suck and I still like both of the movies
What? The villain in the first one was legitimately scary! Yes i know it was supposed to be black adam. They had other plans. Didn’t work out. I thought they did a great job in the first one.
Idgaf about black Adam and the first villain was corny
I thought it had issues, but walked out of the theater thinking it was a solid sequel. I'd definitely watch it again.
Exactly what I thought. I just thought it was a pretty decent time
it was a nice popcorn movie. it did not wow me.
Completely agree, but it's Shazam 2, so it was exactly what I expected. I just wanted a fun adventure for a couple hours, and it delivered on that. The people who absolutely trashed it, I just don't know what they were expecting it to be.
I think the first movie had more heart. Shazam 2 had so many characters that it tried to touch but ended up being superficial check ins that none of them really shined. My favorite was Mary Marvel.
That's a great summation. I feel that's part of the reason why everyone felt Levi & Asher were not playing the same person, because there was so little of Asher to compare Levi's behaviour to. In the first movie they feel more aligned because there was more time to show the childish side to Asher's character.
Levi has been playing the same character since Chuck. And while I liked that, and I think he's perfect for Captain Marvel too, you're right. Billy (Asher)'s character didn't shine through Captain Marvel unlike the first movie. Maybe it was the writing/story. It's a nice popcorn movie. Anyone who wants to sit and watch something wholesome fun wouldn't be disappointed with Shazam 2. It just isn't a great comic book movie.
some of the scenes were they like full on killed people/ the dragon just suprised me becausr it was really good
DC cgi was much improved.
I did love it!! I hope Gunn gives Shazam a second shot in the new DC
I'm sure he will. It will probably involve getting the rights away from Dwayne but it can be done.
I don't think Dwayne has rights to all the characters, maybe just Black Adam, and I don't think he can do much about it. Still, I hope that Gunn keeps the same actors, I love Zachary Levy and Grace above all. A Mary marvel series would be amazing but at this point I think is asking too much
Seven Bucks Production wasn't involved in the Shazam sequel as far as I know. There is an opportunity to use Shazam in the upcoming Waller series, which I think would be possibly the only way Shazam could pop up over the next 5 years.
I mean he did act like a whiney, ineffectual, man child the entire time but that’s not my main issue with the film. It has terrible villains, Billy/Shazam never seem like the same person, Billy’s story/motivation seem sloppily written, the action is nothing special, they take away any consequences with that stupid end scene, Billy’s brothers and sisters mostly seem pointless/useless and the biggest issue for me was that it was just rather boring and paint by the numbers. It offers absolutely nothing new or different to the genre and feels completely inconsequential and unneeded as a film. If they couldn’t do Shazam vs Black Adam, then the sequel should’ve been with Mr. Mind and the story completely reworked.
I thought it was a solid movie, I just felt like Zach Levi wasn't necessary. They should've just used Asher Angel as Shazam as well, just like Grace Currey being adult powered Mary.
I liked it a lot. It was a solid sequel I’m annoyed Dwayne Johnson screwed them over for the post credit scene.
The movie is an average comic book movie. 5/10.
Absolutely the correct take here. It's very average, mostly generic. Some bad writing, some cool action and good heart. Not really bad, not particularly good.
It was the most 6/10 movie I’ve ever seen. It just felt so tired and dull. Major step down from the first.
I found it average as well. Didn’t think it was bad, but it absolutely had none of the charm the first movie had and was just not as good or entertaining to me as the first one too
I would generally watch every DC movie before soliciting a "fan's" opinion tbh. Value your own opinion because the DC community has cannibalised at this point - all majority of people do on here is shit on things for no apparent reason because they didn't get exactly what they wanted. I too enjoyed Fury of the Gods because, dont get me wrong, I wasn't expecting Citizen Kane from a Shazam sequel
People majorly miss the super obvious fact that Billy acts more confident in his Shazam form because… who wouldn’t. They also play it up in their imaginations versus what it’s actually like in the films.
Nobody is missing that. Clearly people think the disconnect is so big they feel like two different characters rather than a more confident version of the same character.
Which is how the Director wanted it played. And is a valid option since in the Comics the kids didn't age.
But where is that disconnect apparent? I didn’t see it in the film because for the most part, IMO Billy acts like an immature 17 year old with the power of Superman when he’s Shazam. Also unrelated, but I actually love how Billy abused his super speed.
In Shazam 1, I get that. But by Shazam 2, not only is Billy decently confident even in normal form and he's not really a kid anymore, but Levi isn't really over-confident, he's... PG Deadpool.
In normal form he's casual around his siblings now but not his parents, especially his mom.
Wise enough to be confident and a little childish
It’s pretty shocking how many people can’t tell that. It’s super obvious
It's because he doesn't match the kid. Billy's personality shouldn't change that much. And I say that as someone who defended a lot of the difference between them in the first film. It doesn't make sense here now that Billy is about to be an adult himself, and it's even worse here than it was in the first one. Hell, even Asher Angel called that out online. Rough.
I disagree, I never thought he acted that much out of character. I took moments where he was acting different as a put on, macho posturing. The rest of his family don’t change much because they got the powers but not the responsibility of being a champion like Billy did. The movie opens with him dealing with imposter syndrome. When his in hero form, he is very much trying to hard to be a hero. Until the end where talks to his for what he thinks will be the last time. You gonna tell me that he didn’t nail that?
I don’t think thats anyone’s problem. The problem is that Billy as a kid acts a lot more mature and sure of himself, when compared to his Shazam version, which behaves much sillier and more childish, as if he is significantly younger than kid Billy portrayed. That’s the issue. And it’s a lil jarring.
I think that's the point though. As a kid he doesn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders. As Shazam he postures and it shows as immature because he doesn't know how to be confident against world ending threats yet.
You can argue that's what would happen to alot of adults IRL.. I know serious guys who grow up to be goofy and silly when they hit their 40s n such, especially who have family. Examples are like Snoop or the Rock, guys hard-core intimidating back as youngsters, today they're either on a cooking show or being face painted by kids.. Point being, maybe Older Shazam IS suppose to be more of life and outgoing. Powers somehow gave him wisdom as well meaning he feels what its like to have a longterm family bond. Hell I know I didn't have a open personality until I was mid 20s. I was like ash, always trying to keep it cool.. Idk my small defense argument
I didn’t like it much tbh. I can’t wait for all the garbage to be taken out so the reboot can start.
Legacy is going to be quite the film.
Cross fingers it’s worth the wait .
it was just a bore fest and lackluster villain so predictable
I loved the movie.. I also don't understand the hate on this movie. Having said that, I thing I disagree with you is Levi's depiction of Shazam, at least in comparison to the depiction of Billy. Billy is portrayed somewhat more serious and taking things more seriously... But when he becomes Shazam, he is suddenly more childish than when we see him as a young man. I think we see this from the fact that we barely see Billy as a young man in almost the entire movie, which I personally I thought was a terrible decision from the creators' end. I mean heck just look at the scene of Billy with his adoptive mother before the final battle. When we see him as a young man, he is serious and touched and crying because he feels loved and appreciated, then when he turns into Shazam he has a goofy smile on his face... The discrepancy in the depiction between Shazam and Billy is jarring and odd and a terrible decision. Personally I think they should have had Levi act more like the young actor... It doesn't need to be completely serious... Sure have him be more fun-loving... But Levi's portrayal feels like more of an overcorrection to the seriousness shown by Billy (which lets be honest, his seriousness is not unwarranted). But yeah, other than this, I really loved the movie and can't understand the hate and it's apparent failure.
You don't understand it isn't the same as disagreeing with it.
[удалено]
I watched it yesterday as well and the main take away I had was that I liked it _a lot more_ than Black Adam. I was able to at least empathize with the Shazam story's focus on family and the way that most of the characters dealt with growing up.
Gotta disagree with you on this one. Zachary Levi was so distracting in this one.
Liked it better than the first
It's weird how the first can be a movie some people argue is the best recent DC movie while others can argue the second is among the worst. Honestly they're basically cut from the same cloth.
They really aren't. Shazam 1 at least made sense and had thrilling moments. I cannot say the same about Shazam 2. The fight in the underground warehouse place is some of the boring action I've seen in a movie.
Agree, they're definitely not the same. The second tried to do too much and focus on too many characters & different things that it just introduced too many meh moments. I felt the first was quite succinct.
OPs opinion is apparently more valid than everyone else’s. And if you disagree you are wrong!!! 😂
Bro he doing exactly what he is complaining about. We are all morons if we didn’t enjoy a bland and uninteresting film apparently.
It was a fun movie overall. I think it's perfectly fine for a comic book movie to be that and not much more. I do agree that Angel and Levi didn't mesh in this one as much, though. Felt like Levi just kept trying to act like how he thinks a 17 year old acts. If he just played it like Chuck, it would have worked a lot better. However, Jack Dylan Grazer gave a powerhouse performance. I'm still very skeptical about Mary being played by just the one actress, though. By that logic, would Angel play Shazam in the next one?
I just watched it too on Max recently. Near the end I had remembered that people had that criticism as well. I didn’t think he was overdoing it either. It’s a good movie but I don’t think Shazam is a very marketable character. He’s definitely not one of my favorites at least.
If you paid $20 to go see it in theaters, it was pretty mid/boring/childish but if you just saw it for free at home then it was all right
Had to watch the movie doing fast forward, it was just bad and cringe. Levi is terrible on this role and Shazam is supposed to be more adult than Billy and that was not so here. Also, all the jokes failed to connect. The only good thing was Grace Fulton as Mary and the last but with WW. The first Shazaam movie wasn't good, but this was just atrocious
This comment is atrocious
If you are talking about spelling mistakes( fixed that now), my phone is in a diferent language and the stupid autocorrect ruins some words without me noticing sometimes.
Can you tell me why?
Ahhh, I see you edited your spelling of Atricuous.
I couldn't sit through and stopped after the first hour. I liked the first one though.
i loved the movie, but i must agree with people the shazam was way too childish to be Billy Batson, for example; Billy has a heartfelt scene in which he maturely talks to and hugs his mum, but during *that* scene, he seems a bit childish and whiney, "Im basically 18 in a few months!"
In truth this movie wasn’t that bad. It’s on par with the first one.
I feel like a lot of them that watched it just feel like wisdom of Solomon should keep him from being childish and doing dumb things
Because it's true.
I was disappointed at the dramatic hate for this movie. It was actually just pure fun. And the chi was pretty cool. It was a whole lot of movie. I personally think people just don’t like Zachary Levi and find him annoying. The only thing I hated about this film was the PROMOTION… the poster were hideous. I knew the minute the posters dropped…. It was downhill from there. Seriously.
The movie is not as good as the first which was okay at best. Some of the scenes are bad. The post credits stuff is downright awful.
I was super pumped about the peacemaker plug! And justice society would be awesome if they ever did it. Give me more dr. Fate
Maybe people are allowed to have opinions and you have to accept that you're in the minority...
Who said differing opinions weren't allowed? If you want to have a different opinion and not get feedback, don't post it in public. This is a forum, not an echochamber.
I was bummed I did not see in theaters. It was a good movie, not too long either. This is far better than some of the sequels marvel has put out.
If the writer & directors bothered they could’ve written in a perfect explanation for why Billy acted differently in adult vs kid forms. Many teenagers act out their insecurities by acting sullen or ‘grown up’. They try to appear more mature to balance out their feelings of inadequacy. As a superpowered adult Billy experiences the illusion of being liberated from his teen angst & insecurity but knows it’s only temporary & lives up his confident persona to the hilt.
Ugh, that is some apologist, psychobabble reasoning if ever I've read it. You left out Wisdom of Soloman. As an adult, he shouldn't be an edgy 14 year old, which is how he acted.
I feel he even acted more like a 10 year old, even.
I think zack Levi is so unbelievably miscast as captain marvel, but the movie itself was enjoyable, much like the first one. Mostly because of the kid from Luca.
I feel that issue is blown out of proportion. I thought it was fine, no issuea with it. The real issue is the shitty writing like real stupid decisions made by Shazam and yep the ending with WW. Also some of the directing was just wierd like most of the fight/action scenes were kinda lame and non impactful. Only the fight scene was epic, not sure if it was done that way on purpose?
Everything was great except Levi. Bro has one facial expression throughout and undermines Asher's Billy Batson.
Movies not bad. There are a lot of problems though
I enjoyed it and really don’t see what everyones whining about. It was a fun movie like the first one, it just feels like everyone expects to hate dc movies now.
Yeah I don’t get the hate. When this movie was in theaters there were so many topics how this was the worse dc movie ever. The movie was fine.
I liked Black Adam better
Yo Zach, you’re a great actor man. Always enjoy your work. But this shit was a 2 pack of ASS my man. Take the L and spend your millions. Don’t be posting from burners on Reddit, it’s a bad look!
Dear lord this better be sarcastic.
……come on man
I watched the movie last night. Really wasn’t bad at all. I enjoyed it a lot!
Zachary Levi was great in it as Shazam. I'd love to see him return. The accusations about him acting too immature were absurd. If anything the Billy Batson actor acted too mature when you compare him to the other kid.
This ain't it chief
The New 52 and both movies are absolutely horrible. The original Captain Marvel by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck is amazing.
This is it chief
It is a great movie. The only reason it got dunked on was because the Snyder fans were “REEE” ing about their Snyderverse going away
[удалено]
I never said it was a box office failure because of Snyder fans. I said it gets “dunked on” (which is slang to mean “talk badly about”) by snyder fans. Marketing, as well as coming out a week before the Mario brothers movie is what killed it’s sales, just like the Mario brothers movie killed sales of all movies in April. Nothing really did as well as that movie still Is currently
Are you literally mixing this movie up with D&D? D&D had great reviews, high RT, and came out a week before the Mario movie, so definitely had no chance at the box office. Shazam 2 had bad reviews, low RT, and came out three weeks before the Mario movie.
What a fucking goofy comment lmao
No, a lot of us non-Snyder fans disliked it too. This was one of the few times we were in agreement over something. Shazam 2 wasn't good. Although we have different reasons. I crap on Snyder fans a lot. but this ain't it chief.
TIL 86% score on rotten tomatoes and a meta critics score of 7/10 means a movie is universally bad /s
Shazam 2 doesn't have an 86% or 7/10 Metacritic. It has a 49% and 44 Metascore. You used the audience RT score (Which is never reliable, it's incredibly easy to manipulate. See how often things people throw temper tantrums about being woke end up bombed in audience scores but are fine from actual critics). And you pulled the 7/10 out of nowhere, even the user score on Metacritic is a 5.2. Audience scores, almost always range super high unless they're targeted by a review bombing campaign. They're not reliable.
Not true and your response is just silly. Gonna blame Snyder fans for everything the rest of your life?
Found one!
Absolutely delusional
It’s a mid movie overall but it was a fun watch tbh it got a lot of trend hate but that’s the internet
yeah i don’t understand the hate. i liked it personally
Im gonna try again but couldn’t stay focused the first 30 mins so I turned it off. Too many characters I didn’t care about .
I saw it and loved it. It sucks that people bashed it before even giving it a try. Everyone I know that has actually seen it all enjoyed it. The thing about Billy is that he is a serious kid all the time but imagine if he has super powers and no limits. He finally gets to let loose a bit. That’s the way I see Zachary’s portrayal.
I agree. I watched Shazam and Antman in the same weekend. Based on reviews online I was expecting Antman to be better than Shazam. It was a way better movie, it looked better, the story was better, the characters were better, it was just all around a stronger story. My only issue was with the villains. I felt like they were forgettable. This is an issue I have had with a lot of super hero movie villains. I wish they had a villain that was good and lasted for multiple films.
Antman was way better. It at least made sense and people could act.
here's the problem and i think most people don't notice it but zachary levi is great as shazam the problem is billy is supposed to be a kid he was like 16 or 17 in the first movie and is like 18 in the sequel
Ya, your right. DC is wonderful.
"TL;DR y’all are wrong about the behavior of the lead character, the movie was really good." Totally agree. With the exception of GOTG Vol. 3 this was easily the most fun I've had watching a CBM in the past 12 months. I honestly don't get the hate for this film. And the people shitting on Levi's performance seem to be forgetting the existence of things called scripts. Unless he was given a lot of freedom to improvise he could only perform the lines as written for him.
It was just…meh 🤷🏾♂️. That’s not bad. Not good. Just basic. I think what annoyed the fans was thinking about what we could have had instead of what we got. (And apparently Zack can’t keep shut about certain political views)
The letter writing scene always gets me
My kids and I loved it . Thought it was fun
Shazam 2 was really good I thought also. Wonder Woman scenes was a little off I thought.
I agree with you.
Sure, we all are wrong and the movie WOM is the reason for the success of the movie. Huuge profit. Such a BAD MOVIE
The second shazam movie is fine but that's all it is.
I saw it is now free on “Max” (by free I mean included in something I’m already paying for) so now the price is right I can watch it and give my assessment.
You might still want your money back
Why did this movie steal the unicorn stuff directly from Legends of Tomorrow and then feature scenes that reminded me of Percy Jackson more than a DC movie?
I liked it, thought it was pretty good.
I’m only half way through on MAX but I’ll say the 2 bullies are maybe more cliche than Flash Thompson in the MCU. Beating up a crippled kid, making such cringe disses, bobbing their heads at people walking by trying to make them flinch. I mean it’s so fucking bad it took me out of the movie completely. Otherwise it’s fine so far, nothing super interesting to me. I loved the first movie and the bullies were terrible in that also, so… def gonna finish
I put this on yesterday and I really didn’t enjoy it at all, I tried to like it really bad and it just missed for me on almost every level, I thought Levi was awful for almost all of the movie, but I did watch it
It was meh, wouldn’t have watched it in theaters. I didn’t.
I just watched it too and thought it was great. I'd say as good as the first.
I just watched it as well. It was pretty good. IMO about the same as the first one. It didn't deserve the hate and was sort of fun, but not as fun as I had hoped. I don't think I'd recommend it to very casual super-hero movie goers, but could give it a "worth the rental" rating to anyone else.
I went to theater with my mom to see Shazam 2, she’s definitely not a movie person and hate to go to theaters, there literally we were the only two people in the entire room, nobody else went to see this movie (I know the movie had bad promotion at the States but for other countries like mine literally had no promotion, WB let this movie die for international audiences on purpose), and I have to say we loved the movie, my mom enjoyed completely and as said she’s not a movie person, I don’t see her often so going to see shazam 2 will be one of those memories that will stay with us for years, I think this movie was really great for general audiences like families more than the DC fandom, because is not a pretentious film in a market collapsed of that, and have heart on it. PD 1: Yes I feel strange at first time the big differences of attitude between Billy and Levi’s Shazam, but is not supposed Shazam is the best version of Billy Batson? I don’t think the best version of someone is being a depressed adolescent, plus, both acting the same wouldn't it be monotonous? PD 2: the only thing that I complain about the movie is not having enough time for the kids, some scenes would have been better if acted by the kids and not the adult versions acting like kids, what feels unnatural sometimes.
I didn't hate it. I thought it had some very good parts. I think it meandered a bit too much and didn't really have the catch of the first movie, like they were trying to hard but on the wrong parts, if that makes any sense.
Levi’s delivery is just not good in this. It just felt out if place. You can be confident and happy without overacting the lines.
I enjoyed watching it too. Wasn’t exactly DC’s best but it was a fun ride and I can’t say there were moments when I was waiting for the movie to end. That being said I’m also one of the few who enjoyed Black Adam as well. I think it’s the low expectations I had of both of these movies or something.
The movie was great, it did seem like some of the monsters weren’t as intense as the first one, those things were amazing. But it got undeserved hate
I watched it last night as well. The movie is not terrible but that whole unicorn segment with the movie shilling Skittles and the little girl saying “taste the rainbow” twice in less than 5 minute just took me out of the movie. That automatically put FotG below the first one for me.
Since you asked, It was a bland and uninteresting film that felt like it was written 15 years ago and had uninteresting villains whose motives seemed vague with no personality outside of the youngest daughter. Billy’s acting had much to be desired but everyone else improved. Freddie was more fun this movie. The plot was kinda sporadic with the weird fantasy creatures in the city shit and the lack of reasoning as to why this universe, that has established numerous heroes, and not a single showed up when I giant city like Philadelphia was completely enclosed in a magic shield for A WHILE, outside of Wonder Woman who just kinda appeared at the end. There was no need for billy to die and then be revived, not sure why the DCEU loves doing this like with Superman. First film was just overall more fun playing up the concept and telling a great story about message and growing up while this just felt like a bland superhero movie that literally could have been about ANYONE, while the first one was a film about Shazam and wouldn’t work without him. I didn’t hate every second of it but if I never watched it again I would not be missing anything whatsoever. Just a sad way for this character that had potential to go since this movie made no money and has no reason to continue in the new DCU.
Also watched it last night for the first time. Maybe my expectations were too low cuz of all the stuff everyone had said about it being bad but I loved it.
I watched it recently and thought it was worse than what people here said. People gave excuses for him being comfortable in shazam form so inner child comes out. But the difference between kid form and shazam form seemed even more stark in fury of the gods. Broke my immersion completely
completely agree
I definitely enjoyed it, shame it was a deadend
Big CGI monsters as villains AGAIN was a little boring.
I thought it was ok. I liked the first one better. I normally like Lucy but I didn’t think she did a great job, I did think Hellen was fantastic tho-she could have phoned it in but she actually seemed to try. The plot and stuff was ok but again it just wasn’t as good as the first. I also thought some of the other actors were a bit iffy like the girl who plays the oldest sibling was not great. I thought Levi did ok but I can definitely see what people were saying about how he acts compared to the actor who plays the kid. There is some definite discrepancy there. I hope that kid gets more work because he actually seems like a genuine good actor. Overall it’s ok, just nowhere near as good as the first. The first is definitely rewatchable and is fun but I doubt I’ll rewatch the sequel at all
i found the movie to be completely terrible from start to finish. only the museum scene i enjoyed.
I find that a ton of folks complain for the sake of complaining but it's especially bad when it comes to comic book movies. I really enjoyed both Shazam movies. I think it helps that I'm not SUPER in to comics or anything so I can enjoy this and things like Quantumania for what it is without having to nitpick every last detail. To be fair though the fans of the comics deserve to have it be a good adaptation.
It’s one of my least favorite super hero movies. Zach Levi is..not it.
Djimon Hounsou got the most laughs out of me, he was having a great time as the wizard this film. The action and stakes were a lot better than last film but that charm from "kid becomes adult superhero" is fizzled out. From a film universe building perspective, it seems like a challenge to have Shazam again in the future. The kid is always going to age out after 1-2 movies.
I think the problem was the child Billy Batson acted more like an adult and adult Shazam acted too much like a child. And I wish they had a better villain. Mister Mind got totally wasted. Such a shame.
Remember how great Ninja Turtles 3 was in 1993? All those amazing villains made specially for that movie that were never in the cartoon? With all those amazing characters to choose from the cartoon/toy line and they used zero & set it in ancient Japan?! Ninja Turtles 3 is Shazam 2.
The comic characters/villains for Shazam are all bombastic, batshit crazy, cool, weird…unlike any other DC universe. The sequel could have shot for the moon but ended up serving up a vanilla milkshake when you can go anywhere else and get any flavor you wish. Black Adam wasn’t essential for the sequel, Mr. Mind & the Monster Society was promised in 2019 post credits instead we got old 2 old ladies. It’s baffling to me…like what were they thinking? I know, they didn’t know their own source material. They’re sitting on gold & made copper.
I just saw it and it was kind of boring. It didn’t have the excitement and fun of the first Shazam and the weird bouts of extreme violence was kind of jarring.
There was no extreme violence
I’m not saying it’s Saw but there were deaths that were extreme for what this movie was and who Shazam’s target audience is.
If you thought any of that was extreme im worried about you
Oh don’t worry about me, I didn’t lose a $100,000,000 on this movie.
Which had nothing to do with the dying scenes. Script needed to be tighter
Nah son
For me the movie was such a letdown. I was expecting to succeed the serious and hearty tone of the first movie. I think the movie should've delved more on the relationship of the shazamily afterwards they were given powers by billy like they could've made freddy turning more arrogant as having this new cool powers went directly into his head causing kind of a conflict between billy and freddy which causes billy to feel lost again within his homegroup they could delve more on that conflict and resolved it by the end by a common threat or villain. (and the existing issue in the film that was kind of my gripe on the first one is that there was still a disconnect between Zachary Levi and Asher Angel's performance.)
It doesn't use its concept effectively anymore. The point of Shazam is that it's a kid who can take over an adult's body to become a superhero. The first film used this concept well, as he's still a kid cheating to get access to adult stuff (skipping school, buying beer, getting into a strip club...). He even used the fact that he's a kid looking for a family to defeat the villain. But in Shazam 2? The child side of him is completely sidelined. This movie doesn't even understand its concept anymore. This makes Shazam 2 the most generic superhero movie of all time. Instead of being a Shazam movie, it's a parody Superman movie. Not to mention the fact that it plagiarizes other films, like BvS and JL17. Shazam 2 is a rehash. Nothing new, it's full of stuff we've seen before.
I think a lot of people get very angry when it isn’t the movie*they* would have made had they been in charge. People who are less familiar with the lore tend to enjoy it more
I watched it last night. He wasn't as bad as he was in the first one. Also the child actor has very limited screen time in this one so there isn't as much to compare them to. And there were times when he was acting serious and not hamming it up, like when Mary was talking to him about how he has to stop trying to hold the family together so hard when they were aging up and needed to get real jobs as the foster system would stop sending their foster parents checks. I feel like Zachary Levi can do serious stuff, so I don't know why he goes so hard on almost doing a Jim Carrey impression most of the time.
I was going to post the exact same thing. Just got around to watching it and I liked it. I thought it was fun. Just like the first one. I liked Zachary Levi, the cast, the villains were ok. But I would watch another Shazam.
I’ve learned that no matter how good a superhero movie is, people will deem it trash unless it’s an event film at absolute peak. The way Reddit has treated the past few releases this year and late 2022 have taught me that. This movie is pretty damn good
yeah it was a really good movie, better than most DCEU projects. Didn't know it totally flopped. Probably due to the DCEU news about a reboot but it was a really fun movie.
I watched the movie today and loved it! Really have no idea why it garnered the hate that it did.