Stale approach of “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” past its expiration date

There’s an exasperating trend in superhero movies that has reached the end of its shelf life and needs to be chucked.

Back in the 2010s, a light touch on the tone seemed fresh and funny, with quippy, ironic dialogue popularized by Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers” that felt revolutionary and snarky — motor-mouthed performances from stars such as Ryan Reynolds in “Deadpool” that were downright radical. But one whiff of the “Shazam!” sequel, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” and you’ll find that this overly jokey approach is well past its expiration date.

“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is exceedingly grating, labored and annoying, and that’s in large part due to star Zachary Levi’s utterly confounding performance as Shazam, the superhero alter ego of teenage Billy Batson (Asher Angel). In 2019’s “Shazam!” — also directed by David F. Sandberg — there was something rather charming about Levi’s boyish performance, a grown man playing Superman with all the aw shucks wonder of a teenager. In the four years hence, the shtick has grown old, or Levi is simply laying it on too thick, adopting a vaguely urban accent, speech peppered with tired slang (“trippin’”) and an extra-randy attitude.

The biggest problem with his performance is that it’s completely out of step with his younger counterpart, which was an issue in the first film, too. Angel’s Billy is a more grounded, even an anxious teenager, worrying about his large, multicultural foster family and his role in it as he gets older. When he Shazams himself into Shazam, thanks to the magic granted to him by a wizened wizard (Djimon Hounsou), the Levi version of Billy suddenly becomes bratty, arrogant and mouthy.

Levi’s performance may be the crown jewel of nonsense swirling at the center of “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” but the film around it doesn’t help matters. It is ugly, noisy and poorly written (the script is by Henry Gayden and “Fast & Furious” writer Chris Morgan), which is a shame, because director Sandberg has churned out some reliably inspired genre gems, including “Lights Out” and “Annabelle: Creation.” But “Fury of the Gods,” which boasts an almost laughably random cast (Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and Rachel Zegler play a trio of goddess sisters, the daughters of Atlas), is excruciating.

We know this film is set in Philadelphia only because Shazam and his superhero pals have been dubbed “The Philadelphia Fiascos,” and Lucy Liu’s Kalypso plants a golden apple that sprouts mythological beasts in the middle of Citizens Bank Park, where the Philadelphia Phillies play. A Wolf Blitzer chyron reading “Philadelphia trapped under strange dome” is the only true laugh of the movie, an unintentional one at that.