Blue Beetle (2023)
Jaime Reyes has just graduated from Gotham Law University and is on his way home to his (fictional) hometown, Palmera City in the Florida Keys. He’s overjoyed to see his family, but the reunion is somewhat overshadowed when he finds out that their autoshop business has gone belly-up after his dad’s heart attack and the landlord has tripled the rent so they’re going to lose their house, too.
Meanwhile, Victoria Kord is on the hunt for the Scarab, a device sent to earth from outer space. She wants it for her new One Man Army Corps, or OMAC, and she’s already using her bodyguard, Ignacio Carafax as her test subject. The poor guy is kind of like the Terminator, but he looks mean so the robot parts suit him.
Jaime has to get a job, and it’s no shock that it involves the Kord family. It doesn’t go well, but on the bright side, after getting fired by Victoria, Jaime meets the nicer Kord, Jenny, who later sends him home with a Big Belly Burger box and tells him not to open it. He does, of course, well, technically, his sister, Milagro does, and after a freaky-as-all-get-out transformation in the Reyes kitchen, Jaime is suddenly Blue Beetle. Eeek.
Not only is Jaime now a superhero, but the Scarab who attached to him is named Kaji-Da and has a personality all its own, and it’s not shy about saying what it thinks. Oh yeah, and Victoria is livid that the Scarab is gone and wants it back so she can create the OMAC. She’s after Jaime in the worst way and she’s not too happy with Jenny, either.
Anyone who’s seen the trailer has a slight idea where this goes; among other things, who knew Nana was so handy with a laser gun. She’s quite the one for surprises.
Speaking of which, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie, and I’m saying that as someone who isn’t particularly familiar with the Blue Beetle comics. The movie is fun. It earns its wit. The Reyes familia dynamic is believable, which makes the death of one of them in a key scene a heartwrenching what-the-heck. The movie gives us time to get to know these characters and feel for them, which I really appreciated because it doesn’t seem to happen too often in films nowadays.
It also helps that the cast has great chemistry and the acting is note-perfect. Xolo Mariduena in particular was my favorite because he seems like a nice guy and while he does awkward well he knows when to grow out of it. He brought that to Cobra Kai and he brings it to Blue Beetle, albeit with added maturity.
Also, on a side note, it was nice to hear a snippet of my favorite Selena song, “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” which also happens to be a favorite of Uncle Rudy’s. The song comes on at a totally random moment but it’s cute seeing Rudy react to it. Anywhoo…
There were a few things about the movie that I thought were a little weak. First, the story is never quite clear what Victoria’s aim is for building the OMAC. Does she want her own private security force? Is she experimenting on the human race for funsies? Does she plan on selling these devices to totalitarian regimes? Is she The Brain of Pinky and the Brain, trying to take over the world every night? Who knows. All that matters is that Victoria wants the Scarab and she wants it bad.
Second, as Jeremy Jahns has pointed out, Jaime and Kaji-Da are very clear about keeping the body count at zero, but Jaime’s family has no problem blowing people to smithereens. I have to agree with Mr. Jahns that this was confusing and kind of muddies the message of kill versus no-kill, but no one seems to care and everyone just goes on their merry way. Maybe this was the movie’s way of clearing the board so the story could keep moving.
Third, the movie makes some lame attempts at political jabs. Is calling Batman a fascist, for instance, really necessary? Or Victoria being all in a strop because her brother, Tom, became Kord’s CEO instead of her? Or how about Nana emptying her laser gun on the bad guy while yelling, “Down with the imperialists!”? Yeah, that’s not totally out of left field.
What also colors things is that the filmmakers and press flatter themselves that Blue Beetle is the first Latino superhero. Um, no, not by a long shot, because that honor goes to Zorro, who was created in 1919 and has influenced later superheroes such as Batman. Plus the DC Universe alone has a whole truckload of Latino superheroes and villains. But yeah, “representation” or something. Tacky, guys.
Overall, though, Blue Beetle is a keeper. I sincerely hope there’s a sequel or at least more appearances by these characters, provided the egos of those involved are kept in check.
Blue Beetle is currently in theaters. Rated PG-13.
My grade: B-
Principal Cast: Xolo Mariduena, Bruna Marquezine, Becky G, Damian Alcazar, George Lopez, Adriana Barraza, Belissa Escobedo, Elpidia Carrillo, Susan Sarandon, Harvey Gullen, Raoul Max Trujillo, Jorge Jimenez, Gabriella Ortiz, Oshun Ramirez
Directed by Angel Manuel Soto.
Written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer.