here was a time, about five years ago, where every film fan was trembling with excitement for the next superhero movie. Both the DC Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe were constantly putting out films that would leave fans eager to see the next project. More recently, superhero movies have lost their stranglehold on mainstream culture, making less and less at the box office with every passing release. Audiences have lost interest in both of these franchises due to a lack of genuine emotion in newer films, especially with studios like Warner Bros. producing a movie that will make them money, not a piece of art that affects audiences. However, some films come around that remind fans of what made the franchises successful in the first place. Earlier this year, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was a passionate breath of fresh air, and now we have BLUE BEETLE, one of the DC Universe’s best outputs yet.
BLUE BEETLE knows that the foundation to any good movie lies with the investment in the characters, and it creates an emotionally rich main family that feels torn from real life. The film starts with Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) returning from college to his family in his hometown of Palmera City (a DC Universe version of Miami). Since he left, many changes have occurred: his family is losing his childhood home due to financial hardship, his father has developed health issues, and Jaime is left looking for a job within his major that actually pays him a living wage. Despite this, the family he returns to is as strongly connected as ever with a sense of love and community that he could find nowhere else. The first third of BLUE BEETLE is integral to this story and is the entire reason the movie works as well as it does. Director Ángel Manuel Soto and writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer invite the audience to be a part of this loving family, and the fantastical events of the rest of the film have stakes and weight due to this approach.
Along with having great characters, BLUE BEETLE manages to be a great representation of Mexican culture in a way that American big-budget films seldom capture. Often when major Hollywood studios attempt to capture a non-white culture for “diversity,” the white writers craft a stilted screenplay that does not truly represent anything other than a Hollywood view of reality. Thankfully, BLUE BEETLE does the opposite: the culture represented feels authentic and made by people that care about the characters they are presenting onscreen. The dialogue often switches between English and Spanish at the drop of a hat, some of which isn’t even subtitled for viewers that only speak English. This film almost seems specifically made for Latin-American viewers who have wanted a superhero to represent them, and for this BLUE BEETLE deserves endless acclaim.
The excellent first half of the film then gives way to a more shaky second half, in which the plot becomes more in line with other DC Universe projects. Jaime is given a highly classified and important object by a newfound connection named Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine), and is told to guard it with his life. Instead, the object — a Scarab — attaches itself to Jaime and transforms him into a war machine that has a mind of its own. Once the Kord corporation figures out that Jaime is in possession of the Scarab, they try to track him down and capture him dead or alive. A ton of action sequences ensue, some of which are enthralling and others which are somewhat boring. However, the plot never feels forced because of the strong characters, so the film remains an entertaining time until the credits roll. The main problem with BLUE BEETLE is the exact same problem that plagues almost every big-budget superhero film these days — studio interference.
As soon as the film devolves to larger-than-life CGI fights and backgrounds, the pacing is somewhat dulled and the stakes start to feel reminiscent of films audiences have already seen. The budget for BLUE BEETLE was around 120 million dollars, and if much of that went into creating realistic fight sequences and more grounded plot events, the film could have been exponentially more enthralling. In early scenes where the visual effects sequences take place in somewhat real locations, the events remain emotionally investing and grounding. As the movie continues and relies more on blatantly fake settings, many scenes distract from the authentic family dynamic that makes the narrative special in the first place. One can only wonder how amazing this film would be if the talented writers and directors behind the accurate representation were allowed to do whatever they wanted with the scenes that are bigger in scope. Instead, it feels as if Warner Bros. keeps attempting to tear the reins out of the creators’ hands in the name of creating a safe and formulaic superhero film for the whole family.
Despite the unfortunate presence of a major studio that underpays the actual talent behind their work, the foundation of BLUE BEETLE is more than strong enough to create one of the more interesting experiences DC has given viewers in years. As soon as the movie ends, I made sure to check online and ensure that these characters would continue on despite the change of leadership in DC — luckily, new head of DC James Gunn seems willing to include Blue Beetle in future installments. The world built in BLUE BEETLE is far too rich and authentic to ignore, and Warner Bros. would be smart to take some notes from how the film builds character and family. By the end of the film, viewers will feel like they are a part of the Reyes family, and I cannot wait to see what happens with these characters next.
B+
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