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Rating
Synopsis
Returning home from graduating college, Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) finds his family has been struggling while he was away. It turns out his father, Alberto (Damián Alcázar), lost his car mechanic job, and the house is being foreclosed on. Unfortunately, the best job Jaime gets is working as wait staff at the mansion of Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon). While he and his sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo) are fired, Jaime’s luck changes after meeting Victoria’s niece Jenny (Bruna Marquezine). She promises to meet him at Kord Tower, but when he does, she hands him a box to guard. Despite her warnings, Jaime opens it upon returning home, releasing a blue scarab that forms a suit around him. Victoria wants the scarab for her OMAC project and sends her bodyguard, Ignacio Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo), to get it. With everything at stake, Jaime must accept his role as The Blue Beetle!
Review
Between Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash, 2023 has not been a good year for DC. And now comes Blue Beetle, a movie based on a niche superhero that only hardcore comic readers are familiar with. I didn’t have high expectations going into this one, especially given how recent superhero movies have been. While there’s nothing here that we haven’t seen before, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. For one, Xolo Maridueña makes for a stellar lead, having a quiet yet relatable charm that makes him instantly likable. You genuinely want to see him succeed, and he goes through a great arc of learning to be a hero. The rest of the family do a fine job, with the biggest standouts being George Lopez and Adriana Barraza. Lopez effectively balances the humor and drama, and Barraza has some memorable moments.
Bruna Marquezine makes for a decent love interest and has good chemistry with Maridueña, but she can be somewhat bland. Susan Sarandon is ok as the film’s sort-of villain, but Raoul Max Trujillo steals the show, especially with his backstory. Unfortunately, as great as Maridueña is, he loses his human quality once he’s in the suit and behind a mask. It doesn’t feel like he’s there, but more that we’re watching stunt performers or a CGI character with his voice. As fun as the superhero stuff was, the movie’s best parts were all the scenes with Jaime’s family. It helps that, in the film’s climax, the family gets involved in the action and works together to help Jaime. Some of the film’s runtime could’ve been trimmed, but you could say that about many movies today. Overall, Blue Beetle isn’t the next great superhero epic, but it’s a decent watch.
Buy Blue Beetle from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AoN81H.
Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate link, which means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
