By Jennifer Ariesta
It’s been a long time coming, but finally a Latino superhero gets his time in the spotlight in this DC comics adaptation. Blue Beetle is the latest DCEU outing directed by Angel Manuel Soto and starring Cobra Kai’s Xolo Mariduena in the lead role. The movie arrives following a slew of superheroes misfires at the box office, begging the question: is the superheroes age really over? Well, Blue Beetle proves that this genre might still generate some sparks, even if it’s saddled with an all-too-familiar formula.
Blue Beetle revolves around Jaime Reyes (Mariduena), a down-on-his-luck college grad who accidentally gains the power of a magical scarab, giving him an exoskeleton suit with extraordinary abilities like conjuring energy blasts, superstrength, and flight. With his newfound power, Jaime must battle evil corporate overlord Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), who’s not only driving their hometown’s poorest citizens out of their homes – Jaime’s family included – but also looking to use the scarab to power a dangerous new technology.
Heartfelt and earnest, Blue Beetle is a sweet origin story that emphasizes characters over spectacles. Jaime and his family live in Palmera City, a metropolitan with a huge gentrification issue that directly impacts our hero. This means the film’s main conflict hits close to home, literally, and the film wisely spends a lot of time to put the family front and center, making us care about their fate. The closeness shared by the Reyes family is so endearing to watch and often gets you in the feels. Everyone from Jaime’s grandma to his sister gets their moment to shine, proving they’re more than just accessories to the plot. The Latino representations also feel authentic, including some specific details that families will be able to relate to.
While it nails the familial dynamic at the center, the film surrounding it is pretty banal. The film calls to mind Phase One MCU fares like Iron Man and Captain America: The First Avenger, with a dose of Spider-Man and Venom sprinkled in, back when things were down-to-earth and the stakes relatively small. While some might enjoy the nostalgic factor, it definitely won’t win over new converts with its run-of-the-mill conflict, action sequences that feel been-there-done-that (how many more buses must suffer in the wake of a superhero hijinks?) and a painfully generic villain. Despite Sarandon’s game performance, a lackluster adversary is indeed Blue Beetle’s biggest weakness – an extension of DCEU and MCU’s ongoing problems in the villain department.
This film might not move the needle much in the current conversation about comic book heroes’ relevancy, but thanks to the electric chemistry between its central characters, this one gets to fly a bit higher than recent DC outputs.
