I'm not going to try to convince you all that you need to give Blue Beetle a watch because it's a different kind of superhero movie, and I'm not going to make ridiculous claims about it being a reinvention of the many other movies we've already had from Marvel and DC in recent years, but I am going to go to bat for it. It follows a standard formula, granted, but it actually feels like something fresh and energetic at a time when other films in the same wheelhouse all started to stagnate.
Xolo Maridueña is Jaime Reyes, a young man who ends up becoming inextricably entwined with an alien scarab entity/device that gives him superhuman powers. His family all try to help him get the hang of things, but that becomes a lot trickier when Jaime is hunted down by the powerful Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), and her main henchman, Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo). There's also the presence of Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine), the woman who actually caused the scarab to end up on Jaime in the first place, which allows for a potential blossoming romance amidst the expected action beats.
Directed by Ángel Manuel Soto and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, this shows what can happen when you don't throw a team of people on to one project, having them all trying to put extra ideas in the mix and running the risk of too many cooks spoiling a recipe. Soto and Dunnet-Alcocer know what they need to do, and they also know how to make the most of their opportunity to depict some Latinx representation in blockbuster fare. The Reyes family (parents, uncle, sister, etc) bring their own unique perspective to the unfolding events, and the strength of their familial bonds becomes a major strength for our hero. The life lessons here are obvious, but they're no less enjoyable, and come as something of a relief after seeing so many features in which a hero has to sacrifice parts of his life in order to be a saviour of the people.
Maridueña is a really good lead, easy to like and easy to be amused by as he tries to get to grips with his new powers. I know he's been in other things before this, but this might be my first time seeing him onscreen. I'll happily look out for him in anything else. Marquezine is also very good, pairing up nicely with our lead, but the real delights come from those playing the rest of the Reyes family. George Lopez is as much fun as you'd expect, Belissa Escobedo is the typical fun/annoying sibling, and Damián Alcázar, Elpidia Carrillo, and Adriana Barraza are a perfect fit for their respective roles. Sarandon is a very entertaining villain, Trujillo delivers physical menace for almost every minute that he's onscreen, and there's also room for Harvey Guillén to show his face in an enjoyable cameo.
The special effects are consistently excellent, the score (by Bobby Krlic AKA The Haxan Cloak) is fantastic, and the soundtrack is full of great choices, not least of which is the use of a Cypress Hill hit accompanying a satisfying action sequence in the big finale. Pawel Pogorzelski delivers clear and beautiful cinematography that keeps the whole thing more colourful and visually appealing than the majority of the DC films that tried to stay more in line with the "Snyder-verse" portfolio, and there's something to be said about the joy of watching someone fighting against enemies who aren't threatening to destroy Earth. Blue Beetle has his own life threatened, as well as the lives of his loved ones. That's more than enough to motivate him to keep battling against overwhelming odds. Sometimes a whole world isn't the planet that we live on. Sometimes a whole world is made up of the friends and family around you.
This deserved much better than the fairly lukewarm reception it received, although I know the other factors that all contributed to the unfortunate situation. Do yourself a favour and check it out now. You don't need to have swallowed a whole encyclopedia of comic book characters, you don't need to worry about spotting connections to any other movies, and you can just enjoy an excellent standalone superhero story with characters who actually feel like real human beings, even when surrounded by all of the special effects and advanced tech on display.
8/10
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