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Blue Beetle movie review: Xolo Maridueña leads as DC's first Latino superhero in a poor setup and age-old plot
Blue Beetle introduces Xolo Maridueña as DC's first Latino superhero who will fight the one willing to kill him and take over his powers. Read Pinkvilla review for more insight!
Name: Blue Beetle
Cast: Becky G,Susan Sarandon
Rating: 2
Plot
Jamie Reyes, a 22-year-old pre-law student belongs to a small loving family who accidentally stumbles across alien biotechnology called The Scarab that turns him into a superhero. Now, he has to fight the villains trying to misuse the power of Scarab and also save his family in the process. Will he take over the role of the most powerful iteration of a superhero who saved the world from bad people?
What Works?
Well for starters, the movie is full of humor. From the first 10 mins, Blue Beetle will tickle your funny bone. Thanks to Rudy (George Lopez) who carried the film with his great acting. While the movie tries to establish the base from the start, Xolo Maridueña known for his role in Cobra Kai, shows up on the screen as the perfect Latino boy with a happy family. He belongs from an immigrant background and is the only one with a degree. Naturally, there is a huge 'Family' factor that comes into play just as Vin Diesel aces his monologue in Fast and Furious.
Talking about the action scenes, it was delightful to watch Jamie Reyes as Blue Beetle fighting off the bad guys. He is just a human who gets a hold of alien biotechnology and has no clue how to operate it. The whole sequence which is quite limited in the beginning shows us the humorous side of accidentally becoming a superhero. Another factor that worked was the family's involvement throughout the story. Blue Beetle in comics does derive his power from the love of his close ones. Watching Nana holding the big guns was surely the most savage part. Diversification played a major role in this movie. There is a connection to the culture and embraces unity. Adding to this, there's a social commentary that will hit you because of how close it is to reality. You might fall in love with Xolo all over again after this movie.
Watch the trailer of Blue Beetle:
What Doesn't Work?
For starters, if you are a DC fan who reads comics, this movie might come off as a poor adaptation. Blue Beetle (Jamie Reyes) is supposed to be the most powerful iteration of the character and this film doesn't do much justice to it. Director Angel Manuel Soto told Comicbook.com in an interview, 'Let's do whatever the f-ck we want with it' when it came to picking the comic-accurate story. The end product? A mixture of random stories with no proper explanation. At a point in the movie, you find yourself in disbelief, wondering what's happening on the big screen. In this year alone, DC has given us Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash; while both received mixed reactions, this movie ensures to put a strike on the uncooked stories that fail to connect with the audience.
Blue Beetle is an amalgamation of several superheroes from both Marvel and DC. If you are a fan, it will be so easy to pick up the traits throughout the movie. From Iron Man to Thor, bits and pieces of AntMan and Shang Chi; DC's new superhero movie fails to leave an impression and ends up becoming a tasteless soup of many remarkable stories into one. Moreover, from the beginning, the story falls flat and tries hard to go up but ends up keeping the same frequency.
Not to forget, there's a whole sequence of the villain Conrad Caraplax (Raoul Trujillo) and his backstory which is similar to Iron Man's first part. Funny enough, the whole costume gives out Ultron vibes. Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), the mastermind plays the age-old bad guy who wants to become powerful by creating military weapons (Ahem! Marvel's first successful superhero movie).
Overall, the movie leaves nothing to predict and is a pure giveaway, even the dialogue. The classic scene of a suppressed nobody being called out by a random name stands up for himself in front of the mastermind with the iconic line 'My name is not Sanchez, it's..'. Such lines can be seen coming from miles away. So, it is safe to say that Blue Beetle might not end well for DCEU and James Gunn will have to bring in big guns to save the boat from drowning.
Blue Beetle: Star Performance
Xolo Maridueña as Jamie Reyes leads the superhero movie with his charm and timely humor. He portrays the character well and is the best choice for this role. He has a personality that is likable and also strong enough to fight the bad guys.
George Lopez as Rudy takes the award home for his amazing comedy. He adds humor and gives you something to look forward to. Other actors were decent and supported the superhero throughout the film.
Blue Beetle movie review: Final Verdict
Blue Beetle was a movie I was looking forward to but it failed to deliver what was promised in the trailer. This movie surely is choice-based and how you perceive it. For me, I would definitely say that you wouldn't miss a lot if you skip this movie. You can watch Blue Beetle from August 18 in theatres near you!
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