Tag: Jack Dylan Grazer

Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) | REVIEW

Zachary Levi as SHAZAM! in SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Directed by David F. Sandberg — Screenplay by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods takes place four years after the events of the first film. Nowadays, Billy Batson (played by Asher Angel and Zachary Levi) and his Shazam Family of foster siblings are trying to balance being superheroes and being kids and teenagers at the same time. It’s not exactly going to plan as they are dubbed the ‘Philadelphia Fiascos’ by local media. Having grown older, the foster siblings are growing apart, and Billy is especially struggling with it, and right at this moment in time a trio of super-powered individuals appear. These are the daughters of the Titan Atlas — Hespera (played by Helen Mirren), Kalypso (played by Lucy Liu), and Anthea (played by Rachel Zegler) — they want revenge on the Wizard (played by Djimon Hounsou) and plan to remove the Shazam Family’s powers.

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REVIEW: Luca (2021)

“Luca” Still Image – Photo: Disney / Pixar.

Directed by Enrico Casarosa — Screenplay by Jesse Andrews & Mike Jones.

Pixar’s Luca, which is available to watch right now with a Disney+ subscription, is a, pardon the pun, fish-out-of-water coming-of-age story about Luca (voiced by Jacob Tremblay), a teenage sea monster, who is curious about what exactly happens above the surface of the water. His parents — voiced by Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan — tell him to stay away from the surface out of a fear that the sea monster-fearing humans might catch him. But Luca, like another Disney-protagonist once sang, wants to be where the people are.

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REVIEW: IT – Chapter Two (2019)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. Pictures

The following is a review of IT: Chapter Two — Directed by Andy Muschietti.

It would be an understatement to say that Andy Muschietti’s IT (2017) was a great success. Successfully building on audiences’ relationship with the 1990s mini-series, novel, or creature design, IT went on to become the highest-grossing Stephen King adaptation and the highest-grossing horror film in North American box office history (not adjusted for inflation). Therefore, naturally, expectations for the adaptation of the second ‘half’ of the 1000-page long clown-focused King novel were through the roof. Ultimately, although I don’t think the second chapter lives entirely up to the frightening but charming first film, IT: Chapter Two finds much more success in depicting the grown-up half of the novel than the mini-series did, and, even though I have notable problems with the film, I’m mostly satisfied with how this oversized crowdpleaser wrapped up the story. Continue reading “REVIEW: IT – Chapter Two (2019)” →

REVIEW: Shazam! (2019)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. / New Line Cinema

The following is a review of Shazam! — Directed by David F. Sandberg.

It pleases me to say that the DC Cinematic Universe has turned a corner. For so long, Wonder Woman, the first film in the connected universe to receive a majority of positive reviews from film writers, seemed like an anomaly in the inconsistent universe where mixed reception was the best that you could hope for. James Wan’s Aquaman, however, was a big hit — one that indicated that perhaps the DC connected film universe still had life in it. And for Shazam! — a character most audiences will be unfamiliar with — DC and Warner Bros. borrowed yet another director from the Conjuring-film universe, Swedish David F. Sandberg, who, thankfully, has made a huge homerun hit for the weakened connected universe.
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REVIEW: It (2017)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros.

The following is a review of It – Directed by Andy Muschietti

It, based on Stephen King’s super-sized novel of the same name, follows a group of kids, called the Losers’ Club, led by a kid named Bill Denbrough (played by Jaeden Lieberher) who had recently lost his younger brother Georgie (played by Jackson Robert Scott). Georgie disappeared into the sewers when he was met by Pennywise the dancing clown (played by Bill Skarsgård). When the dancing clown starts showing up and haunting the fearful kids of Derry, Maine, the Losers’ Club must band together to face their own demons in the form of a scary clown. Continue reading “REVIEW: It (2017)” →