I didn’t catch Blue Beetle in the cinemas, partly because the trailers were just “fine” and partly due to knowing that DC was about to take a new direction under their new lord and saviour (?), James Gunn. But I have heard that it was actually a fun movie, so I knew I had to catch it at some point and let me tell you, I am a bit sad I didn’t see this in the cinema. This movie isn’t anything revolutionary, but as far as the DCEU movies of the last couple of years, this one stands out and knows what it is.
One thing that’s clear from the get-go is the sense of identity, and that focus on the Latin community and family helped to ground Blue Beetle in something that felt real and more relatable. Unlike some other superheroes who must hide their secret identity from their families, Xolo Maridueña (Jaime Reyes) goes through all the major stuff with his family pretty much by his side. The initial transformation happens in front of the entire family, there is no room for secrets, and I appreciated that twist.
Speaking of Xolo, he was perfect as our protagonist and is a great leading man. You believe his awkwardness, so when he is slowly transforming into this superhero (almost against his will), you see the stark difference, and he makes it look effortless. No matter whether he returns to the new DC universe under Gunn, I hope to see him in many movies to come because he has that leading man quality where no matter what is happening on screen, he makes you feel safe and is our guide throughout everything and his charisma shines through in every scene. I hope Gunn will bring him back and give him another movie connected to a more coherent universe.
Along with Xolo, his entire family were also superb. From Belissa Escobedo to Damián Alcázar and Elpidia Carrillo, everyone felt right. I believed those were not just actors but one big family as they all had one or two great moments. I also must mention George Lopez, whose “bigger than life” energy charges this movie with that “chaotic uncle” energy I appreciated. But dare I say, the main star of this family was Adriana Barraza, aka Nana. She starts as the stereotypical granny we all love and turns into someone who may or may not have led a revolution or two. I adored her and the choice to give this character more time and space to shine, especially in the second half of this movie. I also would love to see a prequel about Nana’s past, but that might just be me. 😉
The only problem with Blue Beetle was the fact that this is an origin story. Sure, it’s “packaged” differently and told from an entirely new perspective, which I appreciated, but the movie falls into the same traps we have seen now for the last 20+ years. The same vs. same finale is one of the major examples; the “real” villain, Susan Sarandon (who felt a bit wasted and almost like a caricature of a villain), also felt predictable. It’s almost like they focused too much on everything around this movie and copied and pasted what worked in many films before this one.
However, this doesn’t take away from the fact that this is the most enjoyable DC movie since… The Suicide Squad (2021, my review here), and as you can see based on the year, it’s been three years since that movie came out. So even though I have enjoyed Blue Beetle the most out of all the DC movies, that’s not exactly a high bar to clear. But I don’t want to take anything away from this movie because everything they (the people behind this movie directly) had under their direct control felt right, fun, and, all things considered, worked perfectly fine. I can forgive some formulaic origin stories, given the cast is fun. What makes this a slightly harsher pill to swallow is that we may or may not see this cast again, depending on the direction the new DC will take, and that ultimately hurts this movie. Because on its own, it’s a perfectly fine film. But I can imagine how a sequel with more of an original story (now that we have the origin story behind us) could be fun, specifically with the same cast. We need to wait and see what happens next.
Overall, Blue Beetle isn’t anything revolutionary, and yet I didn’t mind. The cast was fun, the family aspect worked, and I had (mostly) a good time with this movie. Sure, it didn’t have to be over two hours long, and ultimately, there are only a few ways how to deal with an origin story for any superhero character, so nothing will surprise you that much. However, I would cautiously recommend this film, especially if Gunn decides that this superhero can be part of his new DC universe and brings back this cast, I would be in.
That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!
Until next time,
Luke