Overview: Bestowed with the powers of the gods, Billy Batson and his fellow foster kids are still learning how to juggle teenage life with having adult Super Hero alter-egos.

But when the Daughters of Atlas, a vengeful trio of ancient gods, arrive on Earth in search of the magic stolen from them long ago, Billy — aka Shazam — and his family are thrust into a battle for their superpowers, their lives, and the fate of their world!

4K UHD Blu-ray Verdict: Warner Bros. Entertainment is expanding their 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray catalog offerings this month with the release of the highly-anticipated Shazam! Fury Of The Gods in the expansive 4K Ultra HD video format this May 23rd, 2023.

For my money, this Shazam! Fury Of The Gods [4K UHD+BR+Digital] combo pack sharpness takes a fairly large step forward from others in their 4K Ultra HD catalog and even comes with HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the complete 4K Ultra HD experience, of course.

So, what we have is Shazam! Fury Of The Gods presented to us as a two-disc combo pack with a sheet for a Digital HD Copy. Other stand out points you should know are: Codec: HEVC / H.265, Resolution: Native 4K (2160p), HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10, Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 and Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1.

Featuring Dolby Vision and HDR10 for brighter, deeper, and way more lifelike colors, as with most all 4K UHDs, everything that we watch features these qualities - but somehow, this film gloriously shines within them all.

Noticeably crisp with the overall clarity receiving an obvious boost here on this release, what is more is that it is enjoyably noticeable. For as well as some new nuances to the somewhat drab palette courtesy of Dolby Vision, we also get to witness sudden bright pops of color, which makes the eyes draw in, for sure.

One of those moments now being when the daughters of Atlas are revealed, for they are all loosely based on characters from Greek mythology, and who are there to seemingly recollect their fathers powers back!

One by one they are revealed, whether it be in the middle of a baseball field or other less showcasing events, each one of the trio brings with them a very colorful, very explosive entrance!

As for the audio, well we get the choice of: English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit), English: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1.

Overall, this is a very strong 4K HDR Blu-ray presentation, and, for the most part, the audio track remains fairly similar to its DTS-HD counterpart; with much of the action occupying the surrounds with outstanding directionality and placement where effects flawlessly pan between the sides and rears.

As for the story to hand, in truth, the overall premise is one that I’m honestly starting to get tired of, but if you build a good movie around a generic plot, it can still work very well.

The Daughters of Atlas (Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, and Rachel Zegler) are in pursuit of the staff from the first time, given to Billy (Asher Angel), which made him into this hero in the first place. Learning that it can destroy the world, Billy and his foster family, who all continue to have their powers from the last film, must band together and stop them.

This premise is weak, but as I said, the film built around it is a blast from start to finish and thus I also now prefer this over the first one.

Zachary Levi crushes it as Shazam once again and the rest of the Shazam characters are all given much more to do than the first time around. In particular, I really liked Freedy Freeman’s (Jack Dylan Grazer) story line here. His struggle, in reality, meshed with his overconfidence as his alter-ego (played by Adam Brody) really gave this film both an added layer of fun and heart.

The foster family was easily the best aspect of the first film and there is no change in that here. There is much more of it this time as well, which is why I think it evens out with the story to become a very, very solid flick.

Indeed, I could go into everyone I liked in this film, but the list is endless because I enjoyed the entire cast. I will just throw in there that I still love Meagan Good’s portrayal of little Darla’s alter ego, for she is great at channeling her inner child.

Helen Mirren is at the point in her career where it just looks like she wants to pick fun roles. She looks like she is having a blast and Lucy Liu alongside her was just hamming it up too. There’s nothing particularly special about their performance at all, but I enjoyed watching them.

The CGI in this film is not superb by any means, but that’s okay, this is a much cheaper superhero film to make than most, which is why I really hope it is able to make a profit. It deserves some notice and these films just don’t seem to garner a big audience.

Overall, Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a very good time, especially if you have seen the first film. For I will say that the emotional moments here are far less engaging if you don’t have the prerequisites. The silly humor will turn off some viewers, but unlike something like Thor: Love and Thunder, which I thought took silly to an insanely dumb level, this film goes just far enough and knows when to pull back.

In short, I laughed, had fun, and even teared up a bit. This is pretty much everything I wanted from a sequel to Shazam!

DIGITAL, 4K, BLU-RAY & DVD ELEMENTS:
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” 4K disc contains the following special feature:
1. Director’s Audio Commentary with David F. Sandberg

“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” Premium Digital Ownership and Blu-ray disc contains the following special feature:
2. SHAZAM! Let’s Make a Sequel - featurette
3. The Rock of Eternity: Decked Out - featurette
4. The Shazamily Reunion - featurette
5. The Zac Effect - featurette
6. The Sisterhood of the Daughters of Atlas - featurette
7. Pay By Play: Scene Breakdown – featurettes
1. Ben Franklin bridge collapse
2. Rooftop battle of the gods
3. Unicorn ride in Philadelphia
4. Epic showdown at the baseball stadium
8. The Mythology of Shazam! - featurette
9. Director’s Audio Commentary with David F. Sandberg
10. Deleted Scenes, Alternate & Extended Scenes

Experience an action-packed adventure when “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” arrives for Premium Digital Ownership at home on April 7th, 2023. The film is directed by David F. Sandberg, written by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan, based on characters from DC; Shazam! created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck, starring Zachary Levi (“American Underdog”) as Shazam and Asher Angel (TV’s “Andi Mack”) as Billy Batson. The film will also be available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD beginning on May 23rd, 2023.

The film was produced by Peter Safran with Walter Hamada, Adam Schlagman, Richard Brener, Dave Neustadter, Victoria Palmeri, Marcus Viscidi and Geoff Johns executive producing.

On April 7th, 2023, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” will be available for early Premium Digital Ownership at home for $24.99 and for 48-hour rental via PVOD for $19.99 SRP on participating digital platforms where you purchase movies.

On May 23rd, 2023, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” will be available on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD. “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” will also continue to be available to own in high definition and standard definition from participating digital retailers.

Shazam! Fury Of The Gods | Warner Bros. Entertainment [Official Trailer]

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