DC Studios has been at a major loss lately. After suffering multiple financial and critical disasters, the studio had hoped that The Flash (2023), the latest blockbuster tentpole to focus on the already tired multiverse trend, would not only turn the tide for the future of DC but also be an incredible success for Warner Brothers Discovery.
While the film scored just below a fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, the few fans who did turn up to support it walked away not singing their praises but bellowing their dissatisfaction. After becoming one of the biggest failures in the history of Warner Brothers, DC has needed a win. Luckily, Blue Beetle (2023) is here to remind audiences why superheroes matter.
After becoming the first member of his family to graduate college, Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) returns home to Palmera City to find that things are not as great in paradise as they were when he left. The Reyes family business is failing, they have three months to raise enough money to save their home from being gentrified, and Jaime’s father, Roberto (Damián Alcázar), recently suffered a heart attack.
Until he finds a job that is worthy of his degree, Jaime begins working with his sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo) as a housekeeper at a lush mansion owned by Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon) to earn money for his family. Victoria has just unearthed the mysterious Scarab, a device that she plans to use to create her own army of mechanized soldiers known as One Man Army Corps (OMACs). When Jaime intervenes in an argument on the ethics of the matter between Victoria and her niece Jenny (Bruna Marquezine), he gets himself and his sister fired but secures a meeting with Jenny at Kord Tower about receiving a job at the company.
Something that begins to become clear in these opening scenes is that Blue Beetle is not primarily concerned with existing as a superhero movie. One of its most refreshing aspects is that it is a family film before it is a superhero film. The relationship between the Reyes family is immediately so charming that the audience becomes attached not only to Jaime but to each of them, especially the scene-stealing Nana Reyes (Adriana Barraza). The focus that they receive elevates the film above most other superhero origin tales.
When the family escorts Jaime to Kord Tower, they all stand outside cheering him on, demonstrating how proud they are of him. In moments like these, the love that they each have for each other feels extremely genuine.
As Jaime awaits his meeting in the tower’s lobby, Jenny manages to snatch the Scarab out of a laboratory in the building to keep Victoria from using it to build her army. When she’s faced with no other options when the building’s security is activated, she hands the Scarab off to Jaime, telling him to keep it safe and not to interact with it.
Naturally, Jaime brings the Scarab home to his family, and the group studies it until it suddenly activates and attaches itself to Jaime, transforming his body into a blue suit of armor. The scene itself is intensely grotesque. As the device invades his body, Jaime screams in terror as his flesh appears to burn and get replaced by the suit. Although the scene could have only been horrifying, it’s actually quite hilarious due to a healthy dose of high-pitched and exaggerated shrieks by Jaime’s uncle Rudy, played by top-notch George Lopez, along with lightheartedly silly music that accompanies it.
Once the suit is fully attached, its internal system flies him into orbit and back to Earth, where he slices a bus in half as the suit automatically tests its flight and defense capabilities. This entire sequence showcases the film’s terrific sense of humor, and the addition of an interaction between three bystanders witnessing all of this happen to Jaime on the ground makes the laughs all the more effective.
When the suit deactivates, Jaime goes back to Kord Tower to find Jenny in hopes of her being able to get the Scarab off of him after it became attached to his spine. With Rudy’s help, the two sneak into Victoria’s mansion to retrieve a key that would give them access to a facility to help them remove the Scarab. It is here that Jaime has his first interaction with Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo), Victoria’s test subject for the OMAC project.
The ensuing fight between Jaime and Carapax is exciting, as the fun action is strengthened by visual effects that were consistently fantastic throughout the entire film, along with a wonderful synth-heavy score by Bobby Krlic that feels thrilling during exciting moments and poignant during the most emotional scenes. When Jaime has Carapax defeated, he stops the suit from killing him. Jaime’s one rule that he establishes with the Scarab is that it cannot kill any threat. This is one of the many similarities that the film shares with other superhero films like Venom (2018). The symbiotic relationship that Jaime shares with the Scarab is, at times, very reminiscent of the relationship shared in those films between Venom and his host Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), who also insists that his symbiote cannot kill any individual.
Another superhero property that Blue Beetle is glaringly comparable to is Ant-Man (2015). Similar to the original Ant-Man film, in which the villain looked to utilize the hero’s tech to amass a weaponized army of their own, the same exact plot point is seen in Blue Beetle. Also, much like how Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) was not the first Ant-Man, we learn that Jaime is not the first Blue Beetle.
While the Scarab chose Jaime to be its current host, its previous host left the device to Ted Kord, an eccentric genius who built all sorts of tech to aid him in protecting his city as the fabled Blue Beetle. Ted is noticeably absent from the film’s story. It is referenced several times throughout that he has been missing for years, and no one knows whether he is dead or alive. Although his absence lends to the urgency of Jaime’s situation in terms of not knowing how to control the Scarab or how to remove it from within him without losing his life, it at times felt like Blue Beetle could have benefitted from the presence of a mentor-like figure that Jaime could lean on for some direction.
The audience feels so much of Ted’s presence in the form of his technology, which gets used heavily in the third act, that the lack of his appearance in the film especially felt like a set-up for a potential sequel. Although it is known that this version of Blue Beetle will appear in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC cinematic universe, the capacity in which this film will affect new movies down the line is still unknown, especially since there are minimal ties to the current DC universe in this entry. Until we know for sure, it is unclear whether viewers will see this plot point resolved in the future, which is frustrating.
Similarities to other superheroes and superhero origin films aside, director Angel Manuel Soto and writer Gareth Dunnet Alcocer make Blue Beetle feel original partly due to how representative of Spanish culture Jaime’s story is. Spanish culture and history play a major part in defining who Jaime and his family are as heroes. It’s one of the many ways that the film will likely stir viewers.
One of the greatest things superhero cinema can do is make people feel seen and like they have a hero of their own that they can identify with and feel inspired by. Blue Beetle offers this kind of inspiration in spades. Whether it’s the emotional love that the Reyes family has for each other and how that love makes each of them stronger to take on the most difficult challenges or the pride that they have for their culture, their powerful relationship goes beyond what audiences are used to seeing in most comic book films lately. As a character, Blue Beetle offers the kind of hope that is meant to be personified by a character like Superman.
This type of inspiration could not have been represented better by anyone other than Maridueña. The actor who is most known for his lead role in the massively popular series Cobra Kai (2018-) proves that he has what it takes to be a movie star and packs energetic charisma and emotional depth into every single scene.
Each actor delivers a terrific performance except, unfortunately, for Sarandon, who adds absolutely no nuance to Victoria. Sarandon hams it up in the role, but it never feels like there is any emotion to back up anything that she says. This does Blue Beetle a major disservice considering that Victoria is a boring character, to begin with. Her only motivation is to get rich off of her army of super soldiers and remain in control of the Kord company. Audiences have seen this motivation countless times before, and it has simply gone stale.
Carapax is much more intimidating, but he, too, lacks personality. We get a glimpse into his tortured past via brief clips that are inserted into his final battle with Jaime in the third act, but at that point, it feels like it’s too little too late. If his backstory had a heavier focus, perhaps in the opening scene, the audience could have sympathized with his character more, and his emotional struggle could have been further fleshed out.
Whenever Blue Beetle appears to flow deeply into familiar territory in its final act, action is taken to diversify itself in ways that some viewers may not expect. These different layers exist to add heart to the festivities, which takes effort that many comic book films tend to avoid.
Blue Beetle takes the lessons from past superhero origin films and runs with them to tell a story that is familiar in structure but fresh in execution. The family element is the reason why it is special and will surely continue to define the character in future films. Even though Blue Beetle is not the official first chapter in the new era of DC films, it feels like a proper fresh start and represents the hope and inspiration that DC’s heroes have always characterized.
Review Courtesy of Evan Miller
Feature image credit to Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Comics via Latinx Spaces
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