August 21, 2023
Blue Beetle (2023)
Somewhere in Antarctica, Kord Industries discovers an alien artifact known as the scarab. Victoria Kord (played by Susan Sarandon) recovers the golden bug shaped asset and brings it to the Kord office building in Palmera City. Meanwhile, Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) returns home after graduating from Gotham Law University, reuniting with his family for the first time in a while, learning they’re going through some financial difficulties including losing the house. In an effort to help, Reyes’s sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo) gets Jaime a job as a maintenance worker at Victoria’s estate. They both get fired, however, when Milagro uses the family bathroom and Jaime intervenes during an argument between Victoria and her niece, Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine). Touched by his attempt to step in, Jenny tells him to come by the Kord Industries offices and she’ll get him a new job. When Jaime takes her up on the offer, she rushes him out the door in a panic, giving him a fast food box with the scarab in it. Peer pressured by his sister, Jaime opens the box, picks up the artifact and it “chooses him” to be its human host. Jaime and his family have to cope with this new superpower all while eluding Victoria’s henchmen to recover the powerful scarab.
First the good: I expected this movie to be absolute garbage. DCEU projects have been underwhelming more often than not, the Blue Beetle was a character I was unfamiliar with, the Nashville media wasn’t offered a screener – which is typically for a not-so-good reason – and this is the final film pre the James Gunn takeover. Everything in the universe suggested it was going to be a throw away movie. But it surprised me. Did it blow me away? No. But I enjoyed it and didn’t hate that I went to see it in the theater.
Maridueña was excellent as the titular character, Escobedo was the perfect choice for his sibling and George Lopez (Reyes’s uncle Rudy) provided some well-timed humor.
Now the bad: we’ve seen all this before. Short of the representation for the Latinx population – which was great – it’s almost like the filmmakers studied the Marvel Cinematic Universe and fit the memorable moments into this movie. Everything from Iron Man (the POV inside the mask, going to space and uncontrollably falling to Earth, etc.) to Spider-Man: Homecoming (the suit teaching it’s host how to use it) to Black Panther (meeting a relative in the ancestral plane) to Guardians of the Galaxy (“it’s not your time yet”) to Moon Knight (the scarab) to Black Widow (super hero landing) were just some of the MCU projects mirrored in Blue Beetle.
Finally, something I never thought I’d say: Sarandon had the weakest performance of the cast. She’s an incredible actor with loads of accolades including several Golden Globes and an Oscar. With that kind of talent, the audience shouldn’t feel like she’s phoning it in. Since she boasts an all-star resume, I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and blame it on the writing.
All in all, Blue Beetle was a fun night out at the movies. If a friend or family member wants to see it, go ahead and go with them. You’ll enjoy yourself, even if you’ve seen all the highlight moments elsewhere.
JKG SCORE: 5.5
***
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