Shazam! Fury of the Gods 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Shazam! Fury of the Gods 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Wasn't I supposed to hate this?

Reviewed by Randy Miller III May 19, 2023

After its lukewarm reviews and failure at the box office (because remember, one doesn't always guarantee the other), David F. Sandberg's Shazam! Fury of the Gods was dog-piled as the DOA follow-up to his largely well-received first film. I mean, I understand that after years of oversaturation, the general public might finally be getting sick and tired of comic-inspired movies opening every other week... but isn't there any more room left for good ones?

Because that's what Fury of the Gods is: a good superhero movie. Not a great one, but one that thankfully doesn't stray too far from what made 2019's Shazam! such a breath of fresh air after wave upon wave of endless overly dark, overly serious, and overly loooong films with more edge than the entire first decade of Image Comics. Truth be told, it appealed to me personally for those exact reasons: I'm not really a big fan of costumed superheroes or team books and was happy to see a movie poke some holes in that heavy balloon without trying too hard like Deadpool (which, for the record, is still pretty fun). Shazam! was the best big-studio stab at loose, fun superhero fare aimed at the whole family in quite a while, and Fury of the Gods maintains that M.O. while changing a couple of the recipe's main ingredients. Some actually work better and others, not so much... but the end product still tastes pretty good.

Since sequels usually hit the ground running and are larger than their predecessors, it's not surprising that Fury of the Gods ticks both of those boxes. It's a slightly more international affair with three villains rather than one (the original film's admittedly kind of bland Dr. Thaddeus Sivana); here, we have none other than the daughters of Atlas Hespera (Helen Mirren), Kalypso (Lucy Liu), and Anthea (Rachel Zegler), two of whom have recently stolen Sivana's broken staff from Greece's Acropolis Museum. They force the staff's original owner, the wizard / original Shazam (Djimon Hounsou), to repair it and leave him imprisoned in the Gods' Realm. Meanwhile, current Shazam Billy Batson (Asher Angel as a teen, Zachary Levi as his super version) and his five foster siblings Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer / Adam Brody), Mary (Grace Caroline Currey), Darla (Faithe Herman / Meagan Good), Pedro (Jovan Armand / D. J. Cotrona), and Eugene (Ian Chen / Ross Butler) have had a pretty scattershot two years, coping with their newfound superpowers (and secret identities) while balancing school, puberty, unassuming but protective parents, and a love-hate relationship with the general public after their hit-or-miss emergency response tactics, including a recent bridge collapse.

Coming-of-age turbulence isn't exactly new territory for the genre, but Sandberg once again injects the formula with a refreshingly light tone (albeit one mixed with darker elements, but nothing that pushes PG-13 too far). As Fury of the Gods juggles its slightly growing number of key characters, some get lost in the shuffle while others get a bit too much screen time. The three goddesses' later full-scale invasion of the foster family's hometown of Philadelphia -- including a lengthy third-act sequence involving the Tree of Life, a recently awakened dragon, and a horde of mythical beasts -- pushes the franchise even further into true blockbuster territory, yet Fury of the Gods still feels solidly paced and, like the first film, doesn't overstay its welcome nearly as much as most modern superhero films. (This is aided greatly by the removal of at least 30 minutes of deleted scenes, which are included on this release as an extra.)

A handful of speed bumps create turbulence along the way, such as several misplaced jokes, somewhat predictable twists, a number of weirdly distracting performances by background characters, and of course that infamous Skittles product placement... which, to be fair, is largely played for laughs and most of us grew up watching thinly-veiled toy commercials anyway. There's also the somewhat drawn-out climactic showdown and conclusion that, if nothing else, features a pretty welcome cameo from the DC Universe. Yet for the life of me I can't figure out why Fury of the Gods was singled out as some kind of monumental disaster, as its positive elements clearly outweigh the handful of things it gets wrong on the road to "big sequel" country. Too late of a follow-up? Residual hate from Black Adam? Maybe some of both. But if nothing else, anyone coming in with lowered expectations will almost certainly have a good time: there's still plenty to like here, and I'm genuinely pretty bummed that we'll almost definitely never get a third installment or spin-off. I mean, damn, is anyone actually looking forward to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom?

Nonetheless, Warner Bros. has served up a very good home video package for Fury of the Gods, one with a solid A/V presentation and a collection of extras that's actually better then the first (pre-COVID) release. Unless you absolutely hated this movie and have no plans to re-evaluate it in the near future, I'd say it's well worth picking up.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Since Fury of the Gods has a similar visual design to Shazam!, it's no surprise that Warner Bros.' 2160p, HDR10+/DV enhanced transfer takes most of its cues from the same template. There are a few key differences, though: Fury of the Gods relies quite a bit more on complex CGI elements during several of its bigger fight scenes (including almost all of the last 40 minutes, where things go into overdrive) and those blend fairly seamlessly, while other production design changes -- such as the cavernous Rock of Eternity's transformation into a teen-friendly hangout HQ -- infuse plenty of neon elements and other pockets of color. Yet for the most part, it's business as usual here, from the familiar costume designs -- complete with illuminated lighting bolts -- to dynamically lit and composed action, occasional hand-held footage, and group-ready wide shots, all of which are rendered with clarity on this native 4K presentation.

The HDR10+/Dolby Vision layer likewise follows suit, offering bold highlights and deep shadows along with particularly good use of color enhancement that adds visual appeal. Only a few stray encoding issues keep this from earning a perfect score, but it's so close that you can consider Fury of the Gods a virtually perfect 4K effort overall.

For my thoughts on the included Blu-ray's 1080p/SDR transfer (which is where this review's screenshots are sourced from), as well as 25 more screenshots, please see my review of the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The default Dolby Atmos mix (which, as always, folds down to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 if your receiver doesn't support the newer format) is an immersive and at times overwhelming experience, but one that has oddly been dialed down about 7-8dB from what I consider my normal listening levels. (Case in point: I watched the first film earlier this week for a refresher and immediately noticed something was off.) One can only wonder why WB made this decision, but a quick adjustment of the receiver should bring things back up to speed. I've docked the audio rating a full point for this glaring oversight, yet you can otherwise consider this a consistently full-bodied effort that carries a sufficient amount of sonic weight at necessary moments -- the bigger set pieces for sure, plus superpower displays like Shazam's electric shocks and one goddess's ability to movie entire buildings at will. Discrete effects are supported well by Atmos' object-based formatting, with height channels also being a big factor at opportune times like in some of the larger indoor locations or, of course, the occasional dragon fly-by. Overall, it's a fine effort that, like the visuals, can't help but be written using a similar template to the first film... so if you liked Shazam!'s audio mix, chances are you'll like this one too.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the main feature and extras.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc set ships in a standard keepcase with poster-themed cover art, a matching metallic slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. Extras (which are actually a bit more well-rounded than those from the first film) are mostly found on the included Blu-ray movie disc, but a director's commentary is helpfully repeated on both.

4K DISC

• Audio Commentary - This feature-length track with director David F. Sandberg covers a lot of ground from start to finish, including set design, casting new characters vs. familiar reunions, Peacemaker, calling up Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu, deleted scenes, background Easter eggs and cameos, adding a few extra scenes for clarity, VFX development, differences from and callbacks to the first movie, staging the fight scenes and set pieces, test screenings, and much more. It's a largely relaxed but pretty well-paced track that fans will enjoy.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Audio Commentary - Same as above.

• Shazam! Let's Make a Sequel (24:29) - This nicely-produced behind-the-scenes featurette offers a well-rounded overview of the production, delivered in the same semi-serious but lighthearted tone. Key participants include star Zachary Levi, producer Peter Safran, director David F. Sandberg, actor Asher Angel, writer Henry Gayden, actor Jack Dylan Grazer, actor Helen Mirren (!), actor Djimon Hounsou, and many others.

• The Rock of Eternity: Decked Out (5:42) - A short piece about converting the first movie's set into a sweet lair featuring some behind-the-scenes footage and brief comments from key cast and crew members.

• The Zac Effect (4:20) - Zachary Levi goofing around and fellow cast members singing his praises.

• Sisterhood of Villains (7:54) - Producer Peter Safran and several others, including the three female villains, talk about the daughters of Atlas and their contributions to the world of Shazam!. There's quite a bit of repeated interview footage from "Let's Make a Sequel", but this one's still worth a run-through.

• Shazam! Scene Deconstruction (10:06) - A combined featurette, hosted by the director, that details five key scenes from the film including "Ben Franklin Bridge", "School Rooftop", "Philly Cheesesteak Scene", "Unicorns and Monsters", and "Shazam vs. Kalypso". It's too short for its own good but there's good info here.

• Mythology of Shazam! Fury of the Gods (4:59) - Another bite-sized piece with the director, this explains the reasons for using Greek mythological figures rather than established characters from the comic.

• Shazamily Reunion (5:01) - David Sandberg and the foster family members (parents included) talk about the excitement of getting back together as well as a welcoming a few new friends to the fold.

• Deleted Scenes (31:06) - Much like the first film, this healthy assortment of deleted, alternate, and extended scenes runs the gamut from dropped detours to superfluous character beats, many of which are referenced by David Sandberg (who offers a quick introduction) during his audio commentary. There's some decent stuff here in various stages of completion and mostly in chronological order with a bit of helpful context, but it's fortunate that some of it was cut. A loot of superhero movies should be taking notes, that's for sure.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

David F. Sandberg's Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a decent sequel to the surprisingly good first film, but was bullied out of theaters in near-record time. It's a shame, because while this sequel doesn't quite pin down the refreshing magic of its predecessor, it offers a pleasing mix of new and familiar elements that, with any luck, will be recognized on home video where Fury of the Gods will hopefully earn a well-deserved second life. Warner Bros. tips the scales in its favor with another terrific home video package, one that features solid A/V merits and a solid collection of extras. It's worth a purchase -- or at least a (second?) look -- for all but the grumpiest fans of big-screen superhero fare.