Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu) show up at a Greek museum to get the magical staff that was broken years ago. Any guesses whether security will be able to stop them?
A few new characters are introduced, but none of them are all that interesting. This whole story is rather incoherent. There’s a product placement for Skittles that feels more like a commercial that is flat out baffling. There are lots of dumb looking CGI monsters. My wife even pointed out that with all these creatures, you take away this film being good for the family, as it’s a bit scary for those under the age of 12.
Djimon Hounsou is wasted as the wizard. The foster parents are back, and they have a few funny lines (one being about the constant lightning strikes).
In Spielberg’s West Side Story, one of my many complaints about that film was that Rachel Zegler looked too young as the lead. Proof that I was right in that complaint, is that she plays a new girl at school in this, and she looks 12. She and Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) flirt, as he tries to also fend off bullies. Once the bad sisters kidnap Freddy, the family of superheroes have to step in. And it’s not just Philadelphia that’s at stake, but the entire planet, of course.
In so many of these types of movies (and the John Wick series falls into this category for me) – any tough situations can just be made easier by new rules this universe creates. That could be a special tool that’s needed, or whatever. You never feel the main characters are in danger. I remember as a kid watching Christopher Reeve in Superman II, and he gave up his powers for a woman, and as the bad guys started taking over, I felt a real concern (sure, I was only 11, but still).
The gimmick of these being kids who when turning into superheroes become adults, just doesn’t work on a few levels. With the main character Zachary Levi plays, it makes no sense that as a kid he’s cool, but as an adult he’s nerdy. And Freddy liking the girl…becomes creepy when he turns into an adult superhero and is still pining for her.
A lot of the things in this movie feel like things that are nicked from other films – dragons, an all-knowing pen that writes answers to questions, door portals to other dimensions.
I’ve complained in other superhero movies about the non-stop fighting, with people being thrown through buildings. It’s just gotten so old and repetitive at this point. Who cares?
A few of the jokes were cute, but when you’re asking an audience to spend two hours watching this garbage, there’s really not any aspect of this I can recommend.
1 star out of 5.