A Reel Review: BLUE BEETLE

BLUE BEETLE is the latest attempt from DC to get something, anything going after a tumultuous few years of flops, bombs, mulligans, and cancellations. The superhero, whose roots go all the way back to 1939, is not well known as his super-caped and masked counterparts, but does have all the right pieces for something special. 

 

Jaimie (Xolo Mariduena), is chosen by a mysterious scarab, which grants him an embedded super-powered armor. He is then pursued by the powerful corporate weapons company Kord, led by CEO Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon). 

 

Directed by Angel Manuel Soto, BLUE BEETLE sets itself up as a standard superhero origin story. Jaimie and his new powers don’t get along at first, and he is assisted by Victoria’s niece (Bruna Marquezine), and his entire family (Elpidia Carrillo, Adriana Barraza, Damian Alcazar, Rocio Reyes, and George Lopez). The pursuit of Jaimie’s new powers leads them to many secrets behind the scarab while he learns to get along with his new armor which has a mind of its own. 

 

What BLUE BEETLE does different for an origin story is that this time there are few secrets to be kept from Jaimie’s family. There is no secret identity to be messed with, as his family is right there with him from the start and act as his support team. It’s a statement on family and just how tight-knit Hispanic culture can be, and it gives BLUE BEETLE a strong identity. This really works and makes for some surprising emotional moments. 

 

Once the film moves past that, things sadly fall into cliché and bland territory. Victoria the CEO, while she has an axe to grind as a woman who has been stepped over, just comes off as a ho-hum power-hungry villain. Action scenes are a noisy blur, and characters over-react ridiculously by SCREAMING REAL LOUD every five seconds. Other story beats are predictable; rock music for action scenes, grandma dropping witty one-liners, and Victoria’s henchmen (Raoul Max Trujillo) eventually turning against her. 

 

Acting is mostly superb. Xolo Mariduena is excellent when he isn’t being asked to SCREAM all the time. Bruna Marquezine is a delight, and Elpidia Carrillo, as Jaimie’s sister, steals the show. Susan Sarandon doesn’t look like she understands a word of the comic-book heavy lines she is given. 

 

BLUE BEETLE may or not be involved in future plans for DC movies, and that is frustrating because there are enough good pieces here that could be improved upon for sequels or a shared universe. For now, BLUE BEETLE on its own is equally frustrating because for every one thing it does well, it does two things lousy. Maybe next time, DC. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it