Early in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, the film thoroughly embraces the obvious needle-drop of "I Need a Hero" and openly comments on it. What starts as a meta-wink to the audience quickly shifts into an embrace of the beat, playing a potentially life-or-death situation for character establishment and laughs. It's a fun sequence of pretty heroes saving the day in a goofy way, which might be the core strength of Shazam! Fury of the Gods. While it likely won't convert non-superhero fans, the film is confident in its embrace of a broad, goofy, and sometimes dangerous adventure that feels perfect for younger audiences.

Picking up after the events of Shazam!, Billy Batson (Asher Angel/Zachary Levi) has adjusted to his adopted family -- but isn't so sure about his superhero alter ego. His family, also empowered, seem to be drifting apart from one another -- Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer/Adam Brody) wants the spotlight, Mary (Grace Caroline Currey) wants to go to college, and Eugene (Ian Chen/Ross Butler), Darla (Faithe Herman/Meagan Good), and Pedro (Jovan Armand/D.J. Cotrona) all have their own passions and paths. On the verge of aging out of the foster family system and anxious about his place in the world, Billy is increasingly desperate to keep things on track.

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Amidst all this internal strife, the family finds themselves facing off with the Daughters of Atlas -- Hespera (Helen Mirren), Kalypso (Lucy Liu), and Anthea (Rachel Zegler) -- who've been released from their supernatural prison outside of the material world. Seeking to steal back the power stolen from the deities stolen by the Wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) -- which currently empowers the Shazam family -- the Sisters set in motion a potential world-breaking plot that forces Billy and his loved ones to step up and save the day.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a straightforward superhero narrative, and anyone familiar with the genre can anticipate the plot from a mile away. But that predictable nature isn't necessarily a flaw. The film doesn't waste time on false tension. Instead, the cast gets to go on adventures, get into big action sequences, and play on a fun family dynamic. There's a fluffiness to the film. The best parts of Shazam! are when it embraces its inherently childish central fantasy. But instead of channeling his propensity for pure horror and character drama, returning director David F. Sandberg redirects the film into a fantasy adventure that plays with a mix of Spielberg-esque whimsy and extended Ray Harryhausen fun. The film is a goofy adventure where the stakes and comedy don't undermine each other, with enough earnestness and self-awareness to make it work.

The big emotional swings are sweet but predictable, with the extended cast necessitating a broader scope for the film. The cast does solid work, especially the superhero alter egos. Levi, Brody, Butler, Good, and Cotrona all seem to be having a blast playing their childish superheroes with energy and sincerity. As a result of the cast's size, many characters only get minor story beats that largely land. Mirren, Liu, and Zegler have fun tapping into some big arch-villain melodrama but find enough of a human core to ground their performances. While it's not the deepest character exploration in the genre, the breezy nature lends itself to the film's infectious tone, and the cast's likability works in its favor.

At the end of the day, Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a fun movie willing to embrace weird monsters, giant dragons, and lightning punches. It won't revolutionize the genre or push the boundaries. It's a simple story that falls prey to some trappings of the genre. Sometimes it's better to know what kind of story you're trying to tell and how to tell it well. A predictable but effective entry in the genre, this is a fun way to spend an afternoon in the DC Universe. With the cinematic landscape for superheroes set to continue expanding for the foreseeable future, there's a place for something light-hearted and comedy-driven to serve as a palette cleanser amidst the multiversal chaos and grim imaginings. There's merit to the childish sense of fun at the heart of the film, a literalization of the imagination inherent to the premise of a kid shouting a magic word to become a superhero. Shazam! Fury of the Gods is the kind of big, broad blockbuster that movie theaters can always afford to have more of.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is due out in theaters on March 17.