“Blue Beetle” Review
Xolo Maridueña stars as Jaime Reyes, a young man who becomes the titular insect-themed hero in “Blue Beetle,” the latest chapter in DC’s universe of interconnected superhero films.
There’s this idea going around called “superhero fatigue,” meaning that audiences are growing weary over the constant onslaught of films centered on comic book characters. In some ways, this is perfectly understandable given that we’ve already had two Marvel Cinematic Universe films, two DC Extended Universe films and an animated “Spider-Man” film this year and, with the exceptions of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and “Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse,” all of these films have either underperformed or bombed at the box office.
On top of that, many would argue that superhero films just don’t feel like big events any more. While I, for one, love many superhero films, I can’t pretend like this hasn’t been weighing on me. While I don’t think that “Blue Beetle,” the latest film from the DC Extended Universe, is going to cure the superhero fatigue that audiences seem to be suffering from, it is still a remarkably entertaining film that I think will satisfy those who want to believe in the impossible.
Recent college graduate Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) returns home only to discover that his family is in dire straits with their home and livelihood at risk of being destroyed by tech conglomerate Kord Industries. Seeking any kind of work to help support his family, Jaime encounters Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine), an idealistic scientist who charges Jaime with protecting a mysterious extraterrestrial device known as The Scarab. When The Scarab attaches itself to Jaime, he discovers that the artifact has chosen him to be its champion: a superpowered force for good known as The Blue Beetle. When Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), the CEO of Kord Industries who wants the Scarab to create weapons, discovers that Jaime has it, she deploys all of her forces to kill Jaime, leaving him, his family and Jenny to stand together and defeat Victoria’s sinister plan.
What’s refreshing about “Blue Beetle” is how self-contained it is compared to other recent DCEU films. While I don’t mind when established characters like Wonder Woman or Aquaman make cameos, it is nice to have something that doesn’t require that you’ve seen every other film in the franchise, especially when it’s an origin story. With a story devoted entirely to just one hero, “Blue Beetle” is given the freedom to dive deep into this corner of the DCEU and it does so pretty well.
Xolo Maridueña is plenty likable as Jaime and you definitely understand his desire to make his family’s life better as they’re being forced out of their hard-won community. While I was worried that this would be your cookie-cutter, unprepared young hero performance that we’ve seen plenty of recently, Maridueña injects a fresh energy to his performance that makes him an enjoyable superhero.
Like “Shazam!” and its sequel, “Blue Beetle” has a strong focus on family with Jaime’s mom (Elpidia Carrillo), dad (Damián Alcázar), sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo), uncle Rudy (George Lopez) and Nana (Adriana Barraza) all being central characters and helping Jaime on his journey. However, it doesn’t feel like this larger franchise is retreading and this is due to just how charming the Reyes family is. As great as Xolo Maridueña is, it certainly helps that he has such strong personalities to work off of. This family is plenty loving but also has the right amount of dysfunctionality to make it feel real and enhance the film’s comedic moments.
In particular, George Lopez is absolutely hilarious as this tech genius who’s insanely suspicious of the government and who thinks Batman’s a fascist (he actually may have a point there if you’ve read as many Batman comics as I have). As Nana, Adriana Barraza is also quite funny and a surprising badass. As much as I’m excited for Blue Beetle’s future in DC films, I wouldn’t mind seeing a film called “Blue Beetle’s Nana.”
While the family is insanely entertaining, they keep the story grounded with a strong sense of heart. There’s a much stronger balance of comedy and drama in “Blue Beetle” than in past DC films. While there are some laughs to be had (I mean, this is a film where an alien device lodges in a 22-year-old and gives him a supersuit), it doesn’t lean hard into comedy like the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films. It’s more interested in telling its story in a straightforward way with the dramatic moments being heavy and the funny moments lifting your spirit with neither scenario feeling phony.
“Blue Beetle” certainly has its protagonists, tone, fun special effects and decent enough origin story going for it, but it does falter in its villains which aren’t that interesting. Despite getting a big star like Susan Sarandon (who I am contractually obligated to love due to my membership in a “Rocky Horror Picture Show” shadowcast), her character is something we’ve seen a million times in a superhero film. It’s a tech mogul who wants to use a certain device as a weapon to dominate the world. We’ve seen it with Jeff Bridges in “Iron Man,” Sam Rockwell in “Iron Man 2,” Guy Pearce in “Iron Man 3” and Corey Stoll in “Ant-Man.” It’s just not fresh anymore.
Victoria Kord’s cybernetically-enhanced bodyguard Ingacio Carpax, brought to life by a lively performance by Raoul Max Trujillo, is a surprisingly more intimidating presence with an interesting backstory. During the sequences where he’s fighting Jaime, there’s a strong feeling of suspense because Jaime, for all his powers, still has a hard time taking out this ruthless monster. All of this is much more enticing than another shouting person in a suit.
While a good deal of fun, “Blue Beetle” probably won’t win anyone over that has been rendered apathetic to superhero films. It’s not a big event of a film but I don’t think it’s meant to be. I think “Blue Beetle” is supposed to be a light, fun family adventure and it does that well enough. So, if you’re interested in exploring some more of what DC films have to offer, this is a perfectly good one to check out.
