Shazam 2 Fails to Strike While the Iron is Hot

In this new video, I dive into the biggest flaw of the Shazam film and what made it fail to connect with audiences in the same way that its predecessor did.

[@KaijuofSteel]

I feel like the character disconnect was a lot more prevalent in this movie because Zachary Levi extremely overacted his lines. I thought he was one of the best parts of the first movie. But in this one he leans for the goofy and comedic side of Shazam way too much. With the DCEU getting rebooted, we will probably just see this set of actors one last time which is sad since they all had so much potential. Plus this Shazam never got to face his biggest rival thanks to The Rock's ego.

[@rinzzzzie718]

I agree. If we do get a Shazam 3, it will really be the final movie of this cast.

[@radrobd123]

FYI: Asher Angel is now 20 but the movie was filmed in 2021 when he was still 18.

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

True. I believe he was just about to turn 19 when they wrapped and was 19 for reshoots. My points still stand though. He is a legal adult and looks it.

[@gateauxq4604]

It doesn’t help that he apparently hit a growth spurt and looks like he could play older characters.

[@radrobd123]

@@gateauxq4604 That's what happens when kids age. Jack Dylan Grazer also looks much older in the second movie. Although the second movie is supposed to take place 2 years after the first. However, the video says Tom Holland has not aged. Tom was already 19 when he appeared in Captain America: Civil War so he was already an adult

[@tready77]

I agree with a lot of what you said, especially with Jack Dylan Grazer. He (and Freddy) really did carry the film. But I felt a lot of the 'disconnect' you mentioned between Zach and Asher. It was still an enjoyable movie, but I found myself enjoying the parts with Freddy more than the parts with Shazam. And not seeing 'young' Billy much did throw me off, we at least get to see some bits of the other heroes as kids, but I do think they spent too much time in 'adult' form. One thing they did pretty well was the coming out scene of Pedro, a big deal wasn't made of it, and it was just continued on as normal.

[@MegaRED555]

Just found your channel. Wow your analysis are great. You break down these concepts in such a digestible way. And you're really good at narrating.

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you are enjoying the videos. I'm still working on improving both performance and video quality but it is always nice to hear I'm moving in the right direction!

[@platform14]

This was my biggest problem with the first movie and for it to double down on it 💀 what did they think would happen here

[@kapitankapital6580]

I know you say it's comedic, and there's definitely plenty of comedy there, but I do think there is an interesting story to tell with aging actors that is unique to the concept of Shazam. Like how does that dynamic of changing into an adult shift when you yourself become an adult? How does it impact Billy when he becomes more like his alter-ego and there isn't that same natural separation? Maybe we see him fall more and more into the Shazam personality as a form of escapism as he struggles to live up to what he thinks an adult should be in his own life? There are interesting themes alongside the humour which can be explored with an older Billy Batson.

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

Agreed! I think there are a lot of ways they could have effectively leaned into the idea. Unfortunately what they ended up doing with him worrying about leaving home was fairly surface level and perhaps a missed opportunity.

[@MadFrogFilms]

"FROM THE SAME UNIVERSE AS MAN OF STEEL COMES...... YOUNG ADULT TURNS INTO OLDER ADULT ".This video PERFECTLY articulates why the most interest I had in seeing this film was to catch Gal Gadot as WW in some poorly written scene on the big screen before the reboot. Fuck WBBBBBBBBB

[@Cingular777]

I agree, the sequel took too long to come out and the dumb goofiness of Shazam didn't match his now older alter ego. After the sequel bombing, don't your breath to see Shaz again. If he does, he'll be alone and not with his team.

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

There are still a lot of questions on what will happen when James Gunn takes over the DCU. It'll be interesting to see what they decide to do with the character. Maybe they shelve him for a while, maybe reboot him, maybe retool him. Time will tell! Thanks for watching!

[@justsomefish8804]

I hope your channel blows up.Some quality content you got going here.Insted of mindless bashing you analyse in a calm way.Good work my man. edit--- Also a recommendation, focus on more newer releases that will get your channel more traffic hopefully.

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

Yeah, I'm trying to find the right balance between my historical content and modern day analysis. The modern day stuff is definitely favored by the algorithm but the same time I don't want to lose the heart of the channel either. The dream would be if this continues to 'blow up', as you said, I may start dedicating more of my time and putting out one historical and one modern a week. Thank you for the feedback!

[@jjones9822]

I would do more modern day stuff if I were you. It draws more traffic to your channel, especially super hero movies and horror flix. Older cinema is better IMO but I think it would be better to get people here first and then maybe you could get them interested in older cinema.

[@Snow43214]

Yeah, modern film reviews will get your channels noticed, post that, you could then do a mixture of modern and classic cinema. Luckily certain modern films are potentially adding to film history e.g. John Wick franchise is definitely influential and 21st century action films expectations have changed due to the franchise

[@maxwllcool]

Love these videos. Something really satisfying about a succinctly presented analysis, and not as some over-edited video essay i see so often. Keep up the good work.!

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

Thank you! I'm trying to find that happy medium between KZbin talking heads and video essays that aren't five hours long. Good to hear I'm heading in the right direction! More to come!

[@rinzzzzie718]

I liked the movie but it really shows that time is going fast (also curse you covid). It might take a miracle to make a Shazam 3, esp with the low box office, which is a shame because I love this cast. To add, it would've been better if they had made a tv series instead (live action or animation) just to compensate for that "lost time" and then be connected w/ a 2nd movie.

[@queencancerous5332]

The Rock's ego really damaged this movie, you can tell that they wanted to have him fight Black Adam.

[@filmreviewer117]

If COVID never happened the squeal would have come out late 2021/22 so the discount wouldn't have to jarrying.

[@SamManso]

I Thought that you were going to dump on the movie like so many other channels who are whining about ideological issues rather than bad film-making that mechanically welds ideology with film (most likely because the makers don't understand the ideologies or film making). But I was (glad to be) wrong. This was a thoughtful commentary on the flaws of this movie. Most Excellent! I I subscribe and will watch your earlier contributions.

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

I'm glad you enjoyed the content! Thank you so much for watching!

[@Iambagface]

Great breakdown homie

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

Thank you and double thanks for watching!

[@trafficcone5449]

Great video. I just found your channel and I'm impressed. Your delivery is good, and the scripts are pretty tight. I particularly appreciate that your takes are even handed- neither too cynical nor doting. Keep up the good work!

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

Thanks for the positive feedback! More to come!

[@TheDanishGuyReviews]

One thing that l have thought was strange about the trailers: "I am a fool. Superman and Batman, those are real heroes, not me." I expected an arc of insecurity needing to be resolved. Yet I've not seen any reviewers bring up something like that.

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

I can tell you that besides that line in the trailer and his final actions, the arc is pretty nonexistent imo

[@firstorder438]

Awesome break down just found the channel great work my friend keep up the great videos!

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

Thank you and I’m glad you are enjoying the content!

[@Wesblumarine]

Another awesome video! Thank you!

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

You are very welcome! More to come soon!

[@jaymz010]

Marvel’s gonna run into the same problem with the Young Avengers they’re building up

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

I sense you may be right...

[@SSJPENGUIN]

Obviously directing & casting child actors is difficult but even during the first film's run I did think they should've cast younger to account for their lead ageing

[@FoxCastleChild]

I had the same thought when I saw the first one. They should have cast older to give them more of a runway for future entries. It was short sighted of them.

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

Definitely should have casted younger for the first movie IMO even if I did think Asher did a good job there

[@EGO_Reviews]

Good video man, your channel is next big thing cause you seem to describe everything perfectly keep up the good work 👍

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

Thank you! I appreciate the vote of confidence!

[@devenhologram]

I too have just discovered your great commentary on films and cinema. Great job! Looking forward to more!!

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

Thank you! More on the way very soon. Both historical and modern!

[@CLINTTHECOOL]

They should have gone with a younger actor in the first movie. Like 9 or 10

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

I believe Asher Angel was 15 when recording the first film. Imo that was certainly to old of casting if they wanted this to go to franchise status. They should have gotten someone in the range of 10-12, I think.

[@Ciborium]

Shazam 2 has the same problem as Ghostbusters 2, which is why Back To The Future 2 and 3 were filmed concurrently.

[@sharkanenoa5928]

Maybe it will get reboot with mr.mind as the main villain

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

I still wish they had gone with Mr Mind for this film. Sounded more unique and interesting at least.

[@sharkanenoa5928]

@A Journey Through Cinema yeah they SHOULD HAVE, but they didn't for some stupid fucking reason

[@terrellwebb6907]

Love the video but unrelated but doesn’t he look like Tucker Carlson lol

[@ajourneythroughcinema1271]

Oh no! Lol. I have not gotten that before.

[@luigi_border]

Am I the only one who thinks act the same way? They picked asher angel. The only mistake in the movie. Jack Dylan can play the sad bits AND the funny

[@rinzzzzie718]

Well, no offence to Asher, but Jack definitely is the better actor between them which is why he gets more screen time. I do agree that I didn't have any big issue the Asher-Zach disconnect at least in the 1st movie + most of the scenes are very situational. In FotG, it's a bit obvious now (although imo it really depends on the kid/person, I for one am nearly 23 but I still have a "childish" personality)

[@pauldavidartistclub6723]

No, no, the first SHAZAM was terrible on almost every level (besides that it needn’t have been made in the first place). We’re a long distance from when Captain Marvel and Family were by far the best selling comics in the industry, and the most beloved, and the character hasn’t much worked since DC’s early 1970’s revival of him. They’ve tried multiple moods for the character, none of which have really worked well (but Jeff Smith’s being the best).The character is almost out of sync with time…in the 70’s the lighthearted tone Denny O’Neil and original artist/co-creator C.C.Beck tried was just completely out of stepwith practically every other mainstream superhero comic on the market, a time when both Marvel and DC had turned grim, and sometimes All in the Family-“relevant”, and the scripts weren’t just innocent, they were mostly stupid and Beck quickly walked…he wanted to do books for intelligent kids (he also hated the turn towards “realism” that comics had taken). As DC merged the hero into the rest of the DC universe, capt Marvel never gained his footing, even though he was an obvious priority in merchandising and marketing. Probably the closest nature for SHAZAM these filmmakers could have aimed for would have been the 1950’s Superman tv series (ironically, since that was the era in which DC sued Capt Marvel out of business). But the first movie failed as decent SHAZAM, and was definitely crap-by-the-book cinema

[@TreyIM22]

U said it early about the first one - The disconnect between Shazam's character and Billy. That was blatantly obvious in the the trailers which kept me away from seeing it in the theater. An outrageously corny, goofball, and outright dumb version of Shazam, by himself, is stupid but then u see the chasm between personalities. It made absolutely sense. Add in that I grew up watching the old Shazam show as a kid. NOT saying it had to be exactly the same as the show but this Shazam was so over the top cringe that by the time it hit "free" streaming, I had a hard time watching and finishing the movie. Which leads me to another thing - The movie was horrible. The jokes were mostly so canned that it wasn't even funny to me. At least it could have been funny. Case in point - Ragnarok. I was sooo conflcted by how insane of a turn Thor took into all our comedy, made lite of the seriousness of Ragnarok, yada... but it was actually damn funny. Such a weird situation for me, but as time went on and by the time the bluray hit, conflict no more! I absolutely LOVED it on rewatch and return to it from time to time on Disney+. It's one of my top MCU movies. Shazam was no Ragnarok, whatsoever. Ha. Sidebar - Wtf was Love and Thunder??? Horrific! Seriously, WTF Taika???!! As for the sequel to Shazam, u guessed it, didn't bother to go see it, and actually watched early spoiler vids as well as post cred vids cuz I just didn't care. Initially, I was going to bypass the free stream, but I want to see it now that it's completely tanked in the theater. Apart of my theory on the box off is that maybe a ton of ppl realized that the 1st actually was NOT.a good movie like they thought either on rewatching on streaming/disc and/or the dust settling in their minds. The fact that DC has gone thru an upheaval coulda played a part but even ppl who were not into comic book movies seemed to love the first Shazam, so where were those ppl? Who knows.