Blue Beetle

It’s no secret that the DC Universe is struggling quite a bit in the film space. Its most recent releases Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash not only tanked at the box office earlier this year but were also big disappointments for many fans, myself included. Blue Beetle unfortunately seems destined to do the former, but I highly doubt it’ll be the latter. While it’s far from the knockout hit the iconic superhero franchise needs to resuscitate itself, it’s a solid first step in bringing DC back onto the right track.

The film follows Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) fresh out of college and trying to make ends meet for his family before they lose their home. While pursuing an opportunity at Kord Industries, he crosses paths with The Scarab, a mysterious alien device that bonds itself to his spine and grants him access to a powerful battlesuit. CEO of Kord Industries Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon) and the subject of her military experiments Ignacio Carapax (Raoul Trujillo) pursue Jaime to retrieve the Scarab, endangering his family and Victoria’s niece Jenny (Bruna Marquezine), along the way.

The plot of Blue Beetle is extremely barebones and is largely little more than a generic government pursuit movie. The only thing that sets it apart is the film’s focus on family, which is core to both our protagonist and the narrative. What elevates this somewhat lackluster script are the performances. Xolo Maridueña’s lead performance here is very charming and fun, as are those of the many actors comprising his family. All of these performances gel together very naturally, and when the movie is focused purely on the family dynamic, it works. Every single member gets a moment to shine. Uncle Rudy (George Lopez) and Nana (Adriana Barraza) in particular have a lot of fun comedic bits. Jaime’s father, Alberto Reyes (Damián Alcázar), has a notably strong moment towards the end too, but it is unfortunately undercut by odd visual choices. The villains, however, drag Blue Beetle down significantly and prevent it from being anything above average. Susan Sarandon’s Victoria is a cardboard cutout evil CEO who fails to deliver anything fun or threatening. Raoul Trujillo’s Carapax, despite a last-minute push to make the character work, similarly doesn’t have anything to him.

Technically, the film doesn’t stand out in either direction, save for the visuals and score. Outside of a couple elements and scenes here and there, the visuals here are surprisingly decent. Throughout the marketing cycle, I had doubted the CGI for looking very much in line with the film’s initial placement as a streaming movie. However, they actually wound up working quite well for the most part. The few CG visuals unrelated to the Blue Beetle suit do not work, however. For instance, Carapax’s armor resembles that of a bargain bin action figure that would break after touching anything. Additionally, the film’s attempted emotional climax (one that I actually think is pretty earned) goes for an unusual style visually and fails to make it work. Meanwhile, the synth-filled score is not nearly as prominent as I would’ve liked but is nonetheless exciting.

Blue Beetle is in an odd situation release-wise. On one hand, it comes out at a moment when the DCEU is hanging on for dear life in terms of theatrical success, and it is not poised to change that. However, it’s also being touted as the first film in James Gunn’s new era of DC. Xolo Maridueña’s Jaime Reyes is certainly a character I’d like to see return in the future (along with his family). If you want to see fun characters in future, better DCU projects, you should check out Blue Beetle in theaters. Otherwise, it’s a great background movie for at-home viewing.

6/10