I waited until I had seen the first Shazam! movie before I saw its sequel.  So in early December I watched Shazam! (2019), which rates just ☆ ☆.  It’s another of those working-class superhero movies, like the recent Blue Beetle, which wonders how an ordinary person would handle suddenly being granted fantastic super powers.  And like Blue Beetle, the comedic elements pretty much outweigh all the others.  A foster kid is somehow chosen to receive powers when he speaks the magic word, and he must navigate the path between special and ordinary all the while battling puberty.  Then he gives his powers to his five foster brothers and sisters as well.  This may resonate with teens or adolescents but not so much with old geezers like me.  The same cast and director have teamed up again for the sequel, but the results are pretty much the same.

David F. Sandberg’s film finds “The Philly Fiascos” (the unflattering nickname the locals have for the mysterious crime fighters who cannot seem to do much right) trying to grow up properly while protecting their anonymity during their crime fighting episodes.  Then they are threatened by three sister goddesses (Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, Rachel Ziegler — ?) who want their powers back and are willing to destroy the Earth to retrieve them.  Unless the kids can figure out how to work together they — and we — are doomed.  Yawn.

Combine teenage hijinks with the obvious plea for familial harmony and one can guess what to expect.  Perhaps this would work better if the kids could remain kids once they say the magic word and assume their superhero personas, but that doesn’t happen — they become adults (Zachary Levi, et al) who have to act like the teenage souls they are.  And the longer that the adult actors are onscreen it seems clear (at least to me) that the studio far prefers the adults to the youngsters, even though the point of the story is that the youngsters are the ones learning how to control themselves, control their newfound powers and growing up ahead of schedule because of all this mayhem.  It’s a weird balancing act and I don’t think the movie does it very well, especially in the case of Billy Batson (Asher Angel, seen far more often as Zachary Levi).

Logic is also given short shrift in these fantasy adventures, mostly in favor of what is intended to be comedy, or at least amusing banter and flirting romance and accidental destruction.  This is filmmaking designed for young audiences and while there’s nothing wrong with that, I cannot call myself a fan of it, or impressed by it.  Maybe it boils down to DC characters not being as interesting or deep as Marvel characters, but one studio has had quite a successful run while the other is stumbling awkwardly.  Maybe the whole superhero thing has finally run its course.  I will not mourn it.  ☆ ☆.  1 January 2024.