by ECI Released : 2023-08-17
Blue Beetle is the penultimate film in the DC Extended Universe before its reboot in 2025 with James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy. This is relevant because it is the realization that a reboot is coming that has led to DC’s recent films (Shazam 2, Flash) bombing at the box office despite Flash being a very good film in my opinion.
Blue Beetle stars Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes, a recent college grad who returns home to the fictional Palmera City in Texas. Once there he ends up interacting with an alien technology known as the scarab and becomes the latest superhero to don the Blue Beetle mantle. At the same time he must contend with the vindictive Victoria Kord (Susan Surandon) the head of Kord Industries who seeks the scarab for her company's own gain. In order to defend against this threat Jaime seeks help from his family and love interest Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine), the daughter of the previous Blue Beetle.
The film is a superhero origin story and thus falls into some predictable story beats, however the performances and comedy elevate the film's flaws and help make it an enjoyable watch. The film's biggest flaws lie in its scripts in particular in the vague/cliche motivations of the villain. The villains main motivations are almost identical to the villain of the 2015 film Ant-Man as they hope to utilize the technology of Blue Beetles scarab to create weapons for the military. Furthermore character development is shown via montage instead of properly developed via dialogue. Even though the film stumbles at times due to these reasons, it's an enjoyable watch for fans of the superhero genre and good enough to justify Blue Beetle's involvement in future DC projects.
