Found myself bright-eyed and bushy tailed this morning. I hopped out of bed at 7:30 in the morning. I know that is not that early, but early enough for me, and it still took a pretty substantial pep talk for me not to go back to sleep. I managed to rouse Minime shortly after with promises of a family favorites movie at the Cineplex. He takes after his momma and can sleep in like a champ.

Shazam 2, Gods of Fury, follows on the very charming first Shazam instalment.

The DC comic adaptation brings to the big screen just about every young boy's dream: what it would be like if you suddenly had super powers and then ... nightmare.. suddenly lost them again.

There is still lots of awkward charm in the sequel, but less novelty that transforms those social gaffes to comedy. Shazam 2 does has some impressive cast additions this time around. Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu play the two oldest Daughters of Atlas, Hesperia and Calypso. Atlas is dead; his daughters don't hold up the world in his stead, but a grudge from the betrayal of humanity and the theft of their godly powers, at the hands of the Wizard. Portrayed by Djimon Hounsou, the Wizard captures some of that original charm as a shell-shocked dimension traveller out of time and he delivers the best chuckles. Shazam's premise was great and its special effects superb. Of course, Mirren, Honsou, and Liu acted well, but the script and dialogue was predictive, and the product placement like an anvil on a xylophone: skittles anyone. But for 3 bucks on a Saturday morning, it's a good time, and you might just see unicorns and a Wonder Woman cameo.