"Shazam! Fury of the Gods" is buzzing with energy, but...

Fans of the 2019 "Shazam!" will find "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" to be a blast. It packs the same goofy magnetism and electric charisma as its predecessor while further exploring hinted elements from the past.

David F. Sandberg returns as director to continue the story of young Billy Batson (Asher Angel) as he explores his newly gifted abilities that turn him into the god-powered Shazam. (Zachary Levi) Now that his adopted siblings also have super powers, they are all figuring things out together and it's up to Billy to keep them all on the same page.

Two years after the "Shazamily" defeats Thaddeus Sivana, the daughters of Atlas, Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu), steal the Wizard's (Djimon Hounsou) staff and activate its powers. Freddy, (Jack Dylan Grazer/Adam Brody) Mary, (Grace Caroline) Darla (Faithe Herman/Meagan Good), Pedro, (Jovan Armand/D.J. Cotrona) Eugene (Ian Chen/Ross Butler) and Billy have to stop the sisters from using the staff to destroy the world, but encounter a slew of related problems along the way as they navigate being superheroes.

The "Shazam!" movies shine in many different ways. The overall electric energy and goofy nature of both films carries confident charisma in screen presence. The PG-13 humor and overall fun tone almost make them feel more like Marvel movies. Also like recent Marvel movies, "Fury of the Gods" feels directionless at times, relying on cool visuals to be at all relevant.

Credit where it's due though, the CGI (for the most part) is stellar. Beautiful colors and flashes of magical imagery light up the screen from start to finish, hooking your interest and keeping it. "Fury of the Gods" creates lots of fun worlds and crazy creatures, even if it relies on "magic" as the cause, cure and explanation of everything in this fantasy world.

The first "Shazam!" is easily one of the better movies to come out of the Warner Bros. DCEU. Its successor relies on the same shtick to have effect, but it's dumb fun that kids will enjoy. It suffers the same fate as most recent comedy movies, packing the funniest moments into the trailer, but it's a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously in general, so who cares?

There's no shortage of fan service or faceless superhero cameos patented by the first "Shazam!" and the actors are all having just as much fun the second time around. Like the first, "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" knows its target audience, accomplishes its goal of being goofy and entertaining and still isn't the worst film of the franchise. (looking at you "Suicide Squad")