Starting off with the open theft of a mystical staff from a museum by a pair of gods (in the form of Lucy Liu and Helen Mirren), the joyous superpower and friendship discovery journey of the delightful original film is here replaced by rather forced humour and generic scenarios that we have seen in other films (collapsing suspension bridge, large unconvincing CGI dragon attack, etc). Fury Of The Gods unfortunately also sidelines the fun younger characters for their older and duller superhero counterparts (introduced at the end of the first film), who are adequate but are saddled with a rather dull and laboured script that drags rather than sparkles like the original. The characters also seem a little off from before - Freddie is oddly hyperactive, Shazam dimly smug - and whilst the film overall is not bad as such, it is simply bland and disappointing as a sequel to an entertaining first film. Mid- and end-credit scenes set up the next instalment (if the relatively weak box office performance permits), for which sharper writing and a return to the spirit of the original film would be welcome.
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