Jonah Naplan August 18, 2023
Every so often during “Blue Beetle,” the third DCEU movie to come out this year, we get a pleasant glimpse of what exactly makes this film stand out among the morose hoard of other comic book entertainment. In between the noisy action setpieces, the film, directed by Angel Manuel Soto, pauses, if briefly, to pay tribute to family dynamics and Latino heritage. Unlike some of the clunkier superhero ventures to come out this season, “Blue Beetle” has a powerful beating heart that you can feel pulsating all throughout its runtime. With consistent charm, fierce personality, and a compelling lead, “Blue Beetle” makes its name known on the big screen this weekend, smashing most expectations, but without necessarily paving new ground.
If Andy Muschietti’s “The Flash” explored how a grizzled hero identifies with themself decades after their golden age, “Blue Beetle” surveys how a novice grapples with their own tumultuous life and that of others. The protagonist is not a brooding caped crusader, or even a dashing, womanizer philanthropist, but 22-year-old Jaime Reyes (pronounced “Hi-me,” not “Jay-me”), played with an admirable exuberance and bravery by Xolo Maridueña of “Cobra Kai” fame. Jaime and his rambunctious Mexican family provide the heart and soul of “Blue Beetle,” a color often missing from the palette of most superhero fare.
When Jaime returns home from college to the fictional Palmera City, he is greeted with the devastating news that his father Alberto’s (Damián Alcázar) auto shop garage has been repossessed and his recent heart attack has dug the Reyes family into a financial hole. About to lose his beloved childhood home too, Jaime chases down job opportunities, despite his pre-law degree. Going to work at a resort with his playful sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo), Jaime encounters not just the attractive Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine), but also her merciless Aunt Victoria (Susan Sarandon) of Kord Industries, a mega-billions futuristic tech company that seems to be the commercial face of Palmera City.
After Victoria fires both him and his sister on the spot, the beleaguered Jenny offers him a job if he’ll meet up with her the following day at Kord Headquarters. Through a series of confused communications, Jenny steals a coveted blue scarab beetle that has the potential to create super-soldiers, puts it in the precocious hands of Jaime, and hopes that he’ll be able to smuggle it out of the building, away from the wrong-minded hands. Upon examining the scarab back home at the dining room table, surrounded by his nosy family members, the blue bug violently fuses with Jaime’s spinal cord, symbiotically linking itself to his body. In an “Oh no, what’s happening to me?!” type-of way, Jaime becomes encased in an impressive blue suit that can fly, shoot lasers, and whip out a shield thingamajig.
Contrary to other comic book movie origin stories that populate their scenes with few characters, and have their heroes discover their powers for the first time in terror by their lonesome, “Blue Beetle” puts both Jaime and his family members in a precarious crossroads, as they all collectively unearth the potential of his new abilities. The entire Reyes family is involved often and always in “Blue Beetle”—in moments of action, sadness, and triumph—each competing to be the most memorable. Jaime’s mother Rocio (Elpidia Carrillo) plays well off of Jaime’s father, who himself compliments the waggish performance from Adriana Barraza as the Reyes Nana, all of whom don’t shine a light to Jaime’s uproarious Uncle Rudy (George Lopez)—churning out the most rollicking one-liners when the film is in most need of a good belly laugh.
As Jaime studies—through typical trial and error montages—how to use his powers responsibly, the script by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer integrates its own geopolitics into a narrative that does a decent job of balancing serious with slapstick. Themes of emigration, sorrow, and poverty may not be the first things you’d expect to see in “Blue Beetle,” but it’s all infused so subtly that you barely even notice how much it’s impacting you. Like sneaking spinach into your brownies, Manuel Soto explores deep themes with the guise of comic book corn. A raid on the Reyes home particularly leaves a mark, as do several deep-cut monologues about freedom as a right, freedom as reality.
Yet even as “Blue Beetle” is delivering such committed performances from the ensemble, it’s disappointing to see that Susan Sarandon’s villain never matches the same energy. Sarandon is the weakest aspect of the whole film, and all of her scenes feel as though she’s acting in another movie. Her studious right-hand man Conrad (Raoul Max Trujillo) is a far more intriguing presence, commanding the screen even while “Blue Beetle” retreats to pulling from a bag of blockbuster clichés. Amidst a backstory that’s clumsily thrown in at the last minute, the tension between the two armored behemoths makes for some of the more visually interesting action sequences of the year, calling to mind similar framework from the third act of the first “Iron Man.”
Jaime Reyes himself feels refreshingly new. Seeming a lot like the Peter Parker of the DCEU at first glance, Reyes brings a certain charisma that comes with his confusion of being a superhero, unlike the meager tone deafness of Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher in “Black Adam.” Maridueña is never cloying, and in the name of retro cinema, he is also the exact same age as the character he’s playing—a rarity these days. Sometimes you feel his stretch to become the superhero face of Generation Z, and though I don’t think he’ll quite get there, his immortal sparkle and athletic build will likely preserve him for many more movies to come.
On the other hand, this film’s Hispanic representation will likely make “Blue Beetle” a landmark in the same way that the “Black Panther” movies embrace Black beauty, and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” explores Chinese culture. It’s not just the niche references to Mexican TV shows “El Chapulín Colorado” and “María Mercedes,” but it is also the obvious and poignant affection the Reyes family has for one another. Upon visiting the old Kord residence, Jenny confides in Jaime with melancholy that while her prestigious childhood home was a house full of things, his is a house full of love.
“Blue Beetle” may not be breaking any new boundaries in the comic book world (and I’m increasingly convinced few movies actually do), but as a standalone origin story, it’s darn near riveting, funny on multiple occasions, and packs a surprising emotional punch. While it’s not the most original pick of the litter, it’s one of the most heartwarming. Though it’s not the most integral DCEU project, it’s one of the more memorable. While it’s not a house full of things, it is a house full of love.
Now playing in theaters.