Review by C.J. Bunce
It’s odd that no Latino character has yet headlined a superhero movie, but that changed this year as Jaime Reyes led the big-screen adaptation of DC Comics’ Blue Beetle. Played by Xolo Maridueña, this superhero and his story run through all the tropes–from trying out the supersuit to a climactic face-off with an arch-enemy. This isn’t the Ted Kord character from comics of decades past, but an update. But with that update Latino family culture in 21st century South Florida brings a different perspective to big special effects action movies in DC’s latest comic book adaptation. In theaters earlier this year, Blue Beetle is now streaming on Max.
For the most part, in an age of too many superhero movies and series, this is a garden-variety superhero story. Yes, it is one more origin story and a bit of a coming-of-age story at that, but this time at the college grad-age level. The armored superhero battles are so well designed even the kids will enjoy the cool action scenes (note there’s a little too much profanity for a “family” superhero movie, and other unnecessary rude bits that don’t add anything positive to the story). But what’s different is the culture of the hero and his family. The family-centric story will no doubt conjure comparisons to the Black Lightning TV series from DC and the Ms. Marvel series from Marvel.
Is this a real family depiction or merely caricature of Latino families? That’s for Latinos to chime-in on. But viewers will find a lot of good going on here. To begin with, Ted Kord, the original Blue Beetle of the comics, has gone missing. His ex-wife, Victoria Kord, played as one-note evil by Susan Sarandon, is building the OMAC army, also from the comics–those tech-infused soldiers like moviegoers saw developed in another DC movie, Bloodshot.
The supersuits and tech look good. As telegraphed in the trailers, this superhero is a mirror image of Marvel Comics’s Spider-Man, complete with the MCU’s Spidey version of the Iron Man suit and Rebbeca Gomez aka Becky G’s voice in his head subbing for Jennifer Connelly’s E.D.I.T.H. for Spidey. The costume is also a near duplicate of the bugman Yellowjacket from Marvel’s Ant-Man. The difference is some integration of technology, like the exoskeleton used in the Matt Damon movie, Elysium.
Blue Beetle features a great surprise character in Adriana Barraza as Nana, Jaime’s grandmother. At first she’s sewing away, doing grandmother things. But when her grandson is taken hostage, she really opens up a can of whoopass, surprising her family, hinting at a past as a revolutionary. She’s a high point of the movie for sure. Damián Alcázar is also great as Jaime’s father, although the DC writers echo too much of the Zack Snyder Superman movie mythos here. George Lopez is a fun feature as Jaime’s paranoid hacker uncle turned man-in-the-chair. Bruna Marquezine co-stars as Jenny Kord, Ted’s daughter, a love interest for Jaime and no doubt a possible character to continue in a sequel (hinted in the first post-credits coda).
In the villain camp Raoul Max Trujillo plays cyborg/OMAC character Carapax, also known to comics readers as Indestructible Man. At first he’s a mere henchman for Sarandon’s villain, but the battles between Carapax and Jaime are what kids who play with action figures should be here for. For adults it’s just unfortunate that the superhero battle stuff has been done so many times before. The twist here is a wealthy white villain pits one Latino against another. And that, too, is addressed well in the final scenes. It’s interesting the writers chose to have the triggering event of the film turn on a Latina worker using the rich people’s restroom.
Blue Beetle captures another community and community story that is under-represented in the superhero mythos, featuring the third incarnation of the superhero. It’s not as well written as Venom, or as much fun, yet it’s much better than the likes of Morbius or The Fantastic Four. Consider it on par with Black Lightning, Bloodshot, Ms. Marvel, and DC’s Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds. You won’t see Blue Beetle on many best-of lists, but it’s a fine mid-level superhero movie to fit into your calendar, with plenty of fun and flashy bits. Add it to your watch list if you’re collecting superhero movies. It’s streaming now on Max.
