Time Contributor | Gummies bears
Don't walk gently into that good night.
Following "Black Panther 2" and "Ant-Man 3: Quantum Frenzy" in February, another superhero blockbuster landed in domestic theaters today.
For audiences who want to watch special effects blockbusters, and are tired of watching or can't understand Marvel movies, the arrival of DC's new films provides a variety of taste options.
"Thunder Shazam! Wrath of the Gods
For DC fans, a year after the release of "The New Batman", it is also a kind of relief to see their own superheroes active on the big screen again.
After all, after Rolling Director announced the new DC Universe plan, the movie that still belongs to the DCEU is already watching one less ...
Time Interview: Creator of "Thunder Shazam 2"
Without further ado, let's follow Time Jun back to the movie itself.
Is it worth seeing?
Family Hero
The first is the most corny question:
I haven't seen Thunder Shazam! I haven't seen other DCEU films, go directly to the cinema, can I understand the second one?
The answer is, yes.
Although he is a member of the Justice League, Shazam is not included in the DCEU main plot, and his story belongs to a more independent chapter.
The first plot is also very simple, only telling the origin of Shazam.
Billy, a teenager separated from his mother as a child, was adopted by a large family with many adopted children and adopted daughters. One day while riding the subway, he was summoned to the Rock of Eternity by an ancient wizard and inherited its powers.
Just shout "Shazam" and you will change from a teenager to a strong adult with superpowers.
Meanwhile, Dr. Shivana, who was also a candidate in the past but was not selected, takes the Devil's Eye for revenge, intending to find Billy and rob him of his Shazam powers.
During the decisive battle, the five foster brothers and sisters also received Shazam's power because they fought alongside Billy. Everyone defeated Shivana six to one, and the story of the first part came to an end.
Because the force that pushes Billy forward is the warmth brought by his family, he is also nicknamed "Family Man" by fans.
Years have passed, and Billy and his friends are no longer children.
For years, they used their superpowers to punish evil and help civilians, until Atlas' daughter, the Three Goddesses of Vengeance, came to Earth. Its ultimate goal is to recover the divine power stolen by mortals.
It can be seen in the trailer that although they are gods, the goddesses have no mercy for the human beings on the earth.
They bring all kinds of monsters and wreak havoc between cities.
Billy's brothers and sisters were also forcibly regained their strength and became mortals.
This time he had to fight alone.
The first is "Fighting with Your Family" and the second is "Fighting for Your Family".
Obviously, this is another story about the growth of a hero.
Recently, the film's foreign media reputation has finally lifted the ban, and the freshness score of Rotten Tomatoes is 67% with an average score of 6.2 points, and the MTC is 51 points, which is much lower than the freshness of the first part of 90% and 7.3 average scores.
What is the quality of the film, Time Jun is as curious as you are.
"Mini" Avengers?
Want to know more clearly about Thunder Shazam! Wrath of the Gods is what kind of movie, director David F. Sandberg's answer in an interview may serve as a reference:
"It's a miniature version of the Avengers movie, and that's how I look at it."
"Because there are so many characters, all these heroes of us, there are villains, there are monsters... And it's complicated. We shot a total of 11 characters and had to put them all into the scene, which was really hard! ”
Although comparing the signboards of competitors has caused a lot of controversy. But thinking of the miserable quality of the theatrical version of "Justice League", it seems that the benchmark "Avengers" does emphasize many highlights of the film.
The main line of "Avengers" is that Loki, the god of trickery from God's Domain, after being exiled, forms a new army and is determined to conquer Earth.
"Thunder Shazam! The invader in "Wrath of the Gods" is also the third daughter of the famous Protoss - the titan giant Atlas.
The eldest sister Hespera is played by Oscar actress Helen Mirren.
She has the power of nature and is able to control the elements of nature. In the trailer, it can be seen that through the restored staff of the gods, she can forcibly reclaim the divine power of the members of the Shazam family.
Liu Yuling, the "deadly woman" who has caught fire in recent years, played the second sister Calypso in the film.
As the goddess of chaos, she can create all kinds of magical creatures, even dragons. This terrifying power also makes her the most dangerous existence of the three sisters.
Rachel Ziegler, the actor of Little Sister Ancia, will star in Disney's live-action "Snow White".
The youngest, but not inferior in ability. Ancia can move everything in space, even the whole world.
However, her relationship with the Shazam family does not seem to be as tense as that of her two older sisters. I don't know if she will still firmly stand on her sister's side at the decisive moment.
In addition, although the DC Comics has the character Atlas, his three daughters are not mentioned. That is to say, the three sisters are all original characters in the movie.
This further emphasizes the independence of the "Shazam" series of movies from the DCEU, leaving other possibilities for the expansion of the DCU universe in the future.
In terms of visual effects, "Thunder Shazam! Wrath of the Gods contributes more action scenes and grand battle scenes.
Loki has the army of Zitauri, and Lycapso has various murderous summoners. After Warner decided to cut the "Fantastic Beasts" series, we finally know where the laid-off Fantastic Beasts went -
It turned out that they all came to the city of Fawcett, where the Shazam family was located.
Warner, who holds a large number of copyrights, does not hesitate to play memes in the film.
When Billy fights with the dragon, he calls each other "Kalixi", apparently making fun of the title of the dragon mother in A Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones.
In his first meeting with Hespera, Billy mentioned more directly that he had seen the entire series of "Fast and Furious", and these movies inspired him: the most important thing is family.
I don't know if Billy, after the end of the war, will go to the theater to watch the tenth new film in the "Fast Furious" series.
After all, Hespera, who sits across from him, Aquaman, who has no chance to meet, and the Wonder Woman he envisions, will all appear in this film...
But he doesn't need to rush. A week before the film's release, the official release of a new short film verified that Gal Gadot would make a cameo appearance in "Thunder Shazam! Wrath of the Gods" rumors.
Compared with Superman, who did not show his head in the first Easter egg and was not played by Henry Cavill himself, Gadot, who appeared on the scene, undoubtedly aroused the enthusiasm of fans.
In general, the "Shazam" series, which has always kept a certain distance from the DCEU, is the most suitable work for passers-by to watch in all the movies in DC.
Because it was independent enough, it was not affected by the overall layout change, and the film was not modified beyond recognition. Here, there are no dark stories of bitterness and hatred, only positive themes towards warm families.
More cheerful battles and funny laughs make it a family blockbuster for all ages.
The only thing to worry about now is that the leading actors who have grown too fast have changed from low children to tall teenagers today.
Losing the highlight of the huge contrast before and after transformation, is the audience willing to buy it?
Goodbye, Shazam
In fact, not only the movie style is closer to the MCU, but Shazam's hero itself is also quite related to Marvel.
Shazam first appeared in the second issue of Genius Comics in February 1940 and is a superhero under the Fawcett Comics Company.
At that time, he was not called Shazam, but had another familiar name: CaptainMarvel.
Fawcett's stunned team was so popular that comic book sales even surpassed that of the National Comics Company (the predecessor of DC Comics), Hua Dan Superman.
However, after this, the national comic book company sued Fawcett for stealing the Superman image of Captain Marvel, and the end result was that in 1972, DC acquired the rights to Marvel.
At the same time, during the lawsuit between the two companies, Marvel preemptively registered the right to use the term "CaptainMarvel".
Therefore, even if DC gets the character, he can no longer call him Captain Marvel, and can only rename him "Shazam" - six letters representing the power of the six gods.
Ben was one of the first superheroes of the Golden Age to become popular, but he was constantly marginalized due to copyright issues. It is also embarrassing that Solomon does not see in him, only "the wisdom of locking the door".
And like a joke of fate, the movie version of Shazam encountered the same problem again.
It has won the opportunity to be filmed and has achieved good results at the box office. The old rival Black Adam is also filmed, and it can be linked with each other at the sight, which makes people go to the next level.
However, with the change of Warner's top management, the new co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Saveran brought a new cosmic plan to "de-Zack Schneiderization".
And this first stage, called "Gods and Monsters", although more than 10 new works will be released, none of them have anything to do with Shazam or Black Adam...
Of course, Gunn has also said that if "Thunder Shazam! Wrath of the Gods has excellent box office results, and Shazam is promising to appear in DCU's new film in the future.
But in view of DC's bad habit of "restarting when things are not decided" for many years, Time Jun thought that this kind of polite painting cake should be listened to.
Simply put, Thunder Shazam! The release of Wrath of the Gods is both the superhero's second appearance on the screen and most likely the last time we see him.
Whether you really love this superhero or just want to relax and watch a family popcorn movie, it's a great choice.
As one of the only four DC movies left before 2025, let's watch and cherish it.