Movie review

Shazam! Fury of the Gods fizzles with lack of charm and odd villains

Unless you’re a superfan, it’s next to impossible to figure out what’s going on in the DC Comics at the movies. There’s the biggest part, the DC Extended Universe, that has included Batman v. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Justice League. But the two recent films with DC characters that were best reviewed were 2019’s Joker and 2022’s The Batman, neither of which are considered part of the DCEU.

One that does belong is 2019’s Shazam!, which is finally getting a sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Billy Batson (Asher Angel), Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), and the rest of their foster family who were turned into superheroes in the first film spend a lot of their time saving the day in and around Philadelphia. Billy – played in superhero form by Zachary Levi – is the most gung-ho about their adventures, with most of the others finding distractions in everyday life.

Without getting too deep in the finer details, a trio of ancient gods – Hespera (Helen Mirren), Kalypso (Lucy Liu), and Anthea (Rachel Zegler) – reclaim a staff that was broken in the first film, regaining powers that had long been lost. Now they’re hellbent on world domination … or revenge on Billy for breaking the staff … or, oh, who knows, just watch things blow up and hope the Shazam heroes can save the day.

Directed once again by David Sandberg and written by Henry Gayden, Chris Morgan, and Bill Parker, the film has sequel-itis in the worst way. Everything has to be bigger, which totally negates the charm that the first film had. That includes a (totally unbelievable) bridge collapse early in the film, big CGI battles, and the destruction of more buildings than you can count.

The unavoidable fact that the kids have aged has much to do with the change in tone, as the innocent wonder with which they approached their new powers is gone. The shifting back-and-forth between the kid and adult versions of the characters worked well in the first film, but they struggle to justify it here, winding up with a mish-mash that’s unsatisfying on both sides.

The villains also leave a lot to be desired. Some of it has to do with the bizarre teaming of Mirren, Liu, and Zegler, who just don’t work either as a group or individually. This lack of chemistry makes them inert as bad guys, too. Their wildly different personalities don’t mesh, so even though they do a lot of dastardly things, it’s difficult to feel any enmity toward them.

Levi remains the best thing about the film, portraying a level of giddiness that any kid who can transform at will into a superhero would probably have. The foster family works well when everyone is in kid form, but when they’re all superheroes, the actors don’t seem to belong together at all. Sadly, the foster parents played by Marta Milans and Cooper Andrews don’t get much to do this time around.

Shazam! was a rare bright spot for the DCEU, but Fury of the Gods misses the mark in almost all aspects. It’s serviceable entertainment for anyone who doesn’t expect much from these types of films, but it will be a disappointment for anyone who thought Shazam and company could continue to bring something bright and different to comic book movies.

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Shazam! Fury of the Gods opens in theaters on March 17.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Adam Brody, Grace Caroline Currey, Zachary Levi, and Meagan Good in Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

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Movie Review

Podcaster lets creepy noises get under her skin in Undertone

Photo courtsy of A24

Nina Kiri in Undertone.

While the horror genre is still capable of producing some innovative filmmaking, most of the output tends to fall back on jump scares and other tropes to deliver their terror. So when a film like the new Undertone tries something different, it should be applauded for the effort, even if it’s not as successful in its execution.

Evy (Nina Kiri) is a podcaster who co-hosts a show called Undertone, which focuses on paranormal videos and sounds they find on the internet. Her co-host, Justin (Adam DiMarco), lives in London, so - for kind of contrived reasons - in order to make the time difference between them work, Evy records at around 3 am her time. Evy - who lives at home with her bedridden, dying mother - is the skeptic of the two, consistently debunking clips that Justin presents to her.

Her doubts are tested when Justin brings in a series of 10 audio clips that purport to be about a boyfriend recording his girlfriend as she talks in her sleep. The audio begins in a lighthearted manner and quickly turns creepy and then sinister as unexplained things start happening. Evy senses that what she’s hearing is bleeding into her own world, especially when inexplicable actions take place in her mother’s bedroom.

Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Ian Tuason, the film is effective early on when it introduces the story concept. Making great use of sound design, Tuason essentially puts the audience inside Evy’s head, where every little sound is heightened. Setting the podcast sessions in the middle of the night ups the anxiety level for both her and the audience.

However, as the film goes along it gets a little tedious watching Evy listen to the audio, even as Tuason attempts to keep the film dynamic by moving the camera around her. The premise of the story - progressively going through 10 clips - and Tuason’s framing of shots that focus as much on the background as they do on Evy seem to promise more interesting results than actually transpire.

What ultimately holds the film down more than anything is its lack of different viewpoints. The only other person who’s actually seen is Evy’s mother, who is unable to speak. Evy speaks to Justin, another friend, and a doctor over the course of the story, and while each broadens our understanding of Evy somewhat, none of them make her a truly three-dimensional person. Getting a little more information about her history might have helped the story work better.

Kiri does her level best to vary her acting in the various podcast scenes, and even when they start to get repetitive, she remains compelling and watchable. It’s difficult to judge the other actors based on audio alone, but knowing that DiMarco also starred in season 2 of The White Lotus helps to visualize him and his acting style.

Undertone does well in creating a spine-chilling mood, but it needed something beyond that to become a truly great horror movie. Tuason shows some promise as a filmmaker, especially in the way he uses the camera to create tension, but a more complete story will serve him better the next time around.

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Undertone is now playing in theaters,

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