Blue Beetle (2023) – Review

Quick Thoughts – Grade – B – Blue Beetle will put a smile on your face and make you hope that the Reyes family will get another chance to shine in James Gunn’s DC. 

Director Ángel Manuel Soto and writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer made a very smart decision when they decided to write the origin story of how Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) becomes the Blue Beetle. By keeping the story similar to the origins of Venom, Iron Man, Spider-Man and Green Lantern, they created an easy-to-follow plot that allowed them to spend a lot of time developing the dynamic of the Reyes family, who provide the best moments in the film. The chemistry between Xolo Maridueña, Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, George Lopez, Elpidia Carrillo, and Belissa Escobedo is wonderful, and their interactions had the people in the theater laughing and clapping throughout. At its core, Blue Beetle is about family, and the Reyes are able to overcome familiar villains and several CGI battles that highlight the limits of fully-masked CGI heroes.

The story revolves around what happens when Jaime, a recent Gotham Law University graduate returns home to Palmera City, Texas, and finds out that his family’s car shop has closed and his childhood home is in trouble being vacated due to the insanely high rental rates put on them by the gentrification of the area. Since there are no jobs for “pre-lawyers,” Jaime gets a job cleaning the residence of Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), a villainous billionaire who wants to create an army of super soldiers (AKA one man army corps) with the aid of an ancient artifact known as the Scarab. After some hijinks involving Victoria’s niece Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine), the Scarab imprints with Jaime and it fully integrates itself into every vein, muscle and tendon. The alien technology also works as a super suit that can fly into space, absorb tremendous punishment and create anything that Jaime can imagine. This comes in handy when the villainous Victoria and her super soldier Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo) start hunting for the missing technology.

Joining Jaime in his origin story is his uncle Rudy Reyes (a scene-stealing George Lopez who delivers the best scream of 2023), a conspiracy theorist/inventor who aids Jaime and Jenny as they run from Victoria and try to figure out what exactly is going on with the Scarab. This all leads to a showdown at a James Bond-esque island where Jaime and his family battle Victoria and her endless collection of henchmen. It’s a decent final battle made better by some fun surprises involving Jaime’s grandmother (Adriana Barrraza) and his sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo).

Blue Beetle works best when the Reyes family is on screen, and the good news is that they get a lot to do. The cinematography by Pawel Pogorzelski (Hereditary, Midsommar, Nobody, Beau is Afraid) is expectedly solid, and Pawel does a fine job capturing the energy of what happens when alien technology takes over the body of a nice 22-year old. Overall, it’s a good time that allows fresh faces to shine and I really like that.

Final thoughts – Go watch Blue Beetle in a packed theater. It’s a good time.