Shazam! Fury of the Gods (4K UHD Review)

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

As referred to in the title of this sequel to the successful 2019 film, in Shazam! Fury of the Gods Billy Batson/Shazam! and the foster siblings he imparted the power of the gods to in the previous film face the wrath of the Daughters of Atlas (Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, and Rachel Zegler). They arrive angered that they had their realm destroyed and powers torn away. Now they steal a powerful staff that can restore their world and wipe out the powers of Shazam!, but they can also destroy the world.

David F. Sandberg returns in the director’s chair for this second outing and the cast, including Zachary Levi, reprise their roles, bringing a feeling of continuity. This latter point is much needed given the far more convoluted nature of the screenplay this time around. The comedy also does not land as well. The run time of over two-and-a-half-hours drags at times as well. Thankfully, Levi’s charisma and the powerhouse performances of Mirren and Liu as the evil goddesses help to carry the film over the finish line.

In the end, Shazam! Fury of the Gods keeps its heart, which is the power of teamwork and family. A few spectacular set pieces, including a big showdown between Billy, one of the Sisters of Atlas, and a magic-breathing dragon, keep things exciting, but this is no equal of the original film, which had an air of levity and a steady, quick pace with an easy to follow story.

The Video

Shazam! Fury of the Gods was shot on the Arri Alexa LF and Arri DNA LF with Leitz Prime lenses, the Arri Alexa Mini LF with Leitz Prime lenses, and the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. The film was shot in 4.5K resolution and utilizes a 4K digital intermediate with Dolby Vision HDR. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray comes encoded in HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) with Dolby Vision framed at 2.39:1.

This is a gorgeous transfer and encodement free from any issues related to noise, edge enhancement, or posterization. The detail is crisp, the image is clean and cinematic. The Dolby Vision coding imparts extended shadow nuance, colorful visual effects, such as when the wizard sends off the puff of “dust” from his prison cell – it looks vibrant and bright orange, versus the paler, more yellow/orange look on the Blu-ray. Specular highlights in the visual effects and lights have bright ‘pop.’

The Audio

Shazam! Fury of the Gods gets a Dolby Atmos audio mix that is unfortunately not a good one. The placement of sounds and use of the overheads is all fine, but the sound is compressed and lacking dynamic range. This mix is mastered similarly to the bad mix on the Black Adam 4K release from Warner Bros. There is no low-end frequency extension. The explosions and other “big” effects hit with ZERO impact. Take a look at the scene with the bridge collapsing – none of the sounds of the columns or cars falling and crashing hit with big, deep lows. The scenes with the dragon have no impact either. Furthermore, the sound is so squeezed and mastered so low, I had to listen to this 12db above my normal listening levels to get it at a decent volume. I get the feeling Warner Bros. is starting to optimize audio mixes for low bitrate streaming services (i.e., Max).

The Supplements

Warner includes a small collection of lighthearted, behind-the-scenes featurettes with interviews of the cast and crew as well as some deleted scenes. There is also a director commentary.

• Movies Anywhere Digital Code
• Blu-ray with Feature Film in HD and Bonus Features
• Commentary by Director David F. Sandberg

Blu-ray Only Bonus Features:

• Shazam! Let’s Make a Sequel (1080p; 00:24:49)
• The Rock of Eternity: Decked Out (1080p; 00:05:42)
• Shazam! The Zac Effect (1080p; 00:04:20)
• Sisterhood of Villains (1080p; 00:07:54)
• Shazam! Scene Deconstruction (1080P; 00:10:06)
• Mythology of Shazam! Fury of the Gods (1080p; 00:04:59)
• Shazamily Reunion (1080p; 00:05:01)
• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 00:31:06)

The Final Assessment

This second entry has some flaws but is still great for passing some time. Unfortunately, the poor audio mix takes away from the enjoyment, but the reference video quality is hard to beat.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is out on 4K Ultra HD Combo May 23, 2023, from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

• Rating Certificate: PG-13 (for sequences of action and violence, and language)
• Studios & Distributors: New Line Cinema | DC Entertainment | Warner Bros. | HBO Max | Max | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
• Director: David F. Sandberg
• Written By: Henry Gayden | Chris Morgan | Bill Parker
• Run Time: 130 Mins.
• Street Date: 23 May 2023
• Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible)
• HDR10 Metadata:
  • MaxLL: 983 nits
  • MaxFALL: 208 nits
• Primary Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible)
• Secondary Audio: English DD 5.1 | English Descriptive Audio (US) | English Descriptive Audio (UK) | French DD 5.1 | Spanish DD 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH | French | Spanish | Danish | Finnish | Norwegian | Swedish