Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros
Topics: Film and TV, DC Comics
Ali Condon
Since it hit cinemas, Shazam! Fury of the Gods has been getting some pretty hefty backlash from fans and critics alike.
But no one has been quite as harsh as its director David F. Sandberg.
In general, the sequel to 2019's Shazam! didn't exactly live up to expectations in the box office, grossing just $30.1 million domestically.
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With a reported production budget of $125 million and a marketing budget of a further $100 million, it doesn't take super powers to determine that this film was a flop.
While the film has a decent audience score of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, the general consensus from both fans and critics is that it's missing... something.
"Shame the fun of the first movie is turned into cliches and boring story here," one Rotten Tomatoes review reads.
"A movie for kids, written by kids. A mindless superhero movie that does nothing interesting, even most of the cast seemed bored during the scenes," complains a second.
Meanwhile, on Letterboxd, the reviews aren't much kinder.
"Vacates all the charm of the first and replaces it with... a dragon? Some bland villains? Uninspired action?" one user wrote.
Another simply reads: "Well, at least Rachel Zegler got paid."
Rough.
Eventually, the film's director, David F. Sandberg got in on the hate too.
Taking to Letterboxd, he gave the film 1/2 a star, writing: "Billy and Shazam have different personalities. I really wish someone would point this out to the director. Unwatchable!"
David has been pretty open about the fact that Shazam 2 is definitely not his best work.
Taking to Twitter shortly after the release, David told fans that the film flopping didn't 'come as a surprise'.
In a now-deleted tweet, he had added: "I saw where this was heading a long time ago. I’ll be alright though. I got paid all my money upfront."
But, despite that, I wouldn't take David's film review too seriously.
A quick scroll through his Letterboxd account will reveal that he does this with all of his movies.
For example, in a review of the first Shazam film, the director pokes fun at haters who love to criticise unrealistic action movies, writing: "How could he catch a bus by the windshield?! Worst movie ever!!"
The review continues: "And why did we hear a loud bang when he caught it if he caught the glass? Wouldn't there just be a glass cracking sound?
"Why was there a shockwave in the snow on the ground if the bus never actually reached the ground?"
"I know he could fly at that point but why didn't he just use superspeed up to the bridge and grab the bus from behind to gently pull it back up? Garbage."
And for his 2017 film Annabelle: Creation, he mock-complained: "Plot made no sense. Why would the general hide inside the Pentagon when he knew he wouldn't be able to get back in there after his cover was blown? And what was the ultimate plan of the bad guys?"
I guess it's true what they say, you really are your own worst critic.