Blue Beetle (2023)

 

 

Streaming Service: MAX

Movie Name/Year: Blue Beetle (2023)

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Length:  2h 7min

Rating: PG-13

Director: Angel Manuel Soto

Writer: Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer

Actors: Xolo Maridueña, Bruna Marquezine, Becky G, Damián Alcázar, George Lopez, Adriana Barraza, Belissa Escobedo, Elpidia Carrillo, Susan Sarandon, Harvey Guillén, Raoul Max Trujillo, Jorge Jimenez, Eyra Aguero Joubert, Gabriella Ortiz, Modesto Lacen, Oshún Ramirez, Isabella Aparicio, Ayden Rivera, Xol Gonzalez

 

IMDb Blurb: An alien scarab chooses Jaime Reyes to be its symbiotic host, bestowing the recent college graduate with a suit of armor that's capable of extraordinary powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero known as Blue Beetle.

 

 

Cat’s Point of View:

I remember when Blue Beetle was about to hit theaters in August, and I was so frustrated because of my level of excitement for this movie. We couldn’t write about our anticipation for it in our usual Top 20 article for that month because the strike was still in full swing. If we had been able to give it a signal boost then, based on the trailer, it would have easily landed in my Top 10.

 

Blue Beetle offered an amazing origin story for this DC character. This was one superhero movie that I felt that they got absolutely right. It’s often hard to say that – especially about DC live action productions. There’s always just something a little off about them as the studio has tried so hard to emulate others and losing itself along the way. While they’ve excelled with their animated films, they just have had a hard time hitting their stride with parts played by people rather than pixels. Even now, they’re in the midst of rebooting the whole thing again with their new boss-man. I have lamented the loss of some of the players of these roles in the process… but the flip-side is that the ones that had no business returning will also be off the future projects as well. (We can hope, at least.) I digress…

 

 

 

Back to Blue Beetle!

 

I loved the path of character development for Jaime Reyes, played by Xolo Maridueña (Parenthood, Cleopatra in Space, Cobra Kai). As an aside, I was already a fan of Maridueña based on his previous work; but when he was on the screen as Jaime, I only saw that character and even forgot for a moment I recognized him.

 

The family dynamic was great and really gave a great foundation for the events of the story to spring from. Blue Beetle never lost sight of how human Jaime was under this new hero persona and how his newfound role had “real-world” stakes for those close to him. 

 

 

I have to circle back around to the cast again. George Lopez (Lopez vs. Lopez, Fool's Paradise, How the Gringo Stole Christmas) was on a roll this past year with some great parts that both showcased his range but also his comedic ability very well. His character of the “crazy uncle” was one of my favorites of the whole movie.

 

Blue Beetle had a little bit of everything – drama, action, family connection, a greedy villain and the powerful strings they could pull, comedy, cool tech, and even perhaps budding romance.

 

We can only hope that DC will do better by its superhero stories and their actors in the future – but for now we still have some real gems like Blue Beetle to enjoy. 

 

 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score –  78%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 91%

Metascore – 61%

Metacritic User Score – 5.1/10

IMDB Score – 6.0/10

 

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4.5/5

 

Movie Trailer: