Chalk up another win for DC. This film is funny, exciting, and heartfelt, full of loveable characters that are easy to root for. I had a great time!
Jaime Reyes has just returned home from college with big dreams of taking care of his family. But financial struggles have hit hard, and his goals aren’t panning out like he hoped. When a wealthy corporate scion offers him the “job” of guarding a mysterious object, Jaime is perplexed but ready to take on just about anything. He just didn’t realize that was going to involve the Scarab, an alien weapons system with a mind of its own, one that’s decided he’d be its perfect new host.
I didn’t know much of anything about Blue Beetle as a superhero—either Jaime or the original incarnation of the character—but I’ve been excited about this movie for a while. I’m always in favor of more representation in blockbusters, the trailer looked fun and cool, and I enjoy getting introduced to heroes who are new to me. And Blue Beetle delivers handily.
Jaime makes for an interesting superhero. He’s a good, honest guy who gets caught up in way more than he bargained for, especially since the Blue Beetle armor is frequently controlled by Khaji-Da, the alien consciousness at the heart of the Scarab. Early in the film, we see Jaime flailing as Khaji-Da zips him all over the city in the name of integration tests, and he sometimes argues with her when she wants to use the suit to deal with threats in a more permanent way than Jaime is comfortable with. He doesn’t know what he’s doing, but he knows he wants to do the right thing, and he knows he doesn’t want his family caught in the crossfire of whatever he’s gotten mixed up in.
With a lot of heroes, plenty of time is spent juggling their secret identity and their civilian life, but Jaime and his whole family have quite the trial by fire on that front. The Scarab bonds with him in the Reyes’ kitchen, and when the suit flies for the first time he blasts a hole through the roof. This means his family is involved from the jump—his parents, nana, uncle, and sister—and while this puts them in danger pretty quickly, it also means Jaime isn’t alone as he tries to figure things out. The Reyes family is ride or die, and everyone is prepared to pitch in and do their part. Uncle Rudy doesn’t have the resources of certain comic book billionaires who invent useful superhero technology, but he has the practical skill to bring his innovative ideas to fruition, even if he has to give his inventions a good kick before they start working. Jaime’s sister Milagro can be snarky and pessimistic, but that doesn’t mean she won’t go to bat for her brother. And you don’t want to mess with Nana!
The good guy/bad guy conflict is a little by-the-numbers, with our main villain being something of a stock corporate baddie who will stop at nothing to get the Scarab for her own purposes. But the action is cool, the family dynamics are superb, and the film is equally great at fun banter and heartfelt moments. I laughed, I got emotional, and on the whole, I had a blast.
I haven’t seen Cobra Kai, so this is my first time seeing Xolo Maridueña, who’s excellent as Jaime. His performance is charming, relatable, and a little awkward (in a good way,) and it’s wonderful to see him grow into the hero we all know he can be. Everyone cast in the Reyes family does a great job, especially Belissa Escobedo as Milagro and George Lopez as Uncle Rudy—“Batman is a fascist!”, I love it! The familial chemistry is on point from start to finish, loud and messy and loving. Susan Sarandon gets the job done as the villainous Victoria Kord, and Bruna Marquezine plays well off Maridueña as Jenny, Victoria’s niece who wants to prevent the company from gaining power they shouldn’t. The film also features Harvey Guillén in a small but pivotal role—I still haven’t seen What We Do in the Shadows (I want to watch the original film first,) but I really loved Guillén as Alistair back on Huge.
Warnings
Comic book violence, language, brief drug references, and thematic elements.
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