Besouro Azul

"Blue Beetle" is simply B or even C grade super hero movie with some charm along the way. I don't think it will be realistic to expect something else to be honest. The trailers showed that pretty well in my opinion.

The tone of the movie is close to that of "Shazam!", given the fact that the family got bigger role in it again, that said the story is not all that good. Not that "Shazam!" got some epic story, but I think it was one idea better.

The cast is fine, maybe the best part of the movie is the family dynamic, except when they lean too much to the melodrama side. Xolo Maridueña as Jaime/Blue Beetle and George Lopez are the standouts no doubt.

The villain is everything you ca expect from B grade super hero movie, from the introduction, through his motivation, the fights and the conclusion is nothing particularly memorable.

I must say the suit looks great when is practical and not CGI all over the place. There are some cool fight scenes with our protagonist, most of which are shown in the trailers, which is kinda of a shame.

There are plenty of jokes in the movie, but for me, most of them doesn't land. I mean they are too childish. I guess the younger auditory will laugh out hard, but me and my cinema crowd were silent most of the time. Of course there were funny moments, but don't expect "Deadpool" level laughs if you are a bit older.

The movie is not bad, but it's kinda cringe, predictable and given the fact that the audience know this genre already, they expect something more clever, which sadly to report "Blue Beetle" is not.

There are already enough talks about the future of this character, is it part of the DCEU or DCU, will there be a sequel, or the character will transfer in the newly formed universe? If you ask me, there will not be a second movie, because this one will bomb hard, also, I'm not sure how you can do clean slate without the bagage of the previous universe, when you always lean to what was, not what it can be. In other words there is always a chance to see Blue Beetle again, but who will portray it and will the origin story be 1:1 identical is something I'm not sure about and I don't hold my breath for it.

In conclusion the movie is "okay", got its moments, but there is nothing really memorable, also there are two credit scenes, which are fine I guess.

DCEU's 2023 has been at a dipping point. With the disappointment of Shazam! Fury of the Gods, in which the first one I really loved, and the somewhat decent of a Flash movie, it seems like the way the franchise is ending doesn't seem like a bang. Fortunately, Blue Beetle has already come out oh boy did it not disappoint.

Now let me preface this: it is by no means a classic nor is it groundbreaking in the superhero genre. At the end of the day, I just want to have a good time in the theaters and, for the most part, it succeeds in what I'm aiming for: a fun time.

Xolo Maridueña as the titular young Iron Man-like superhero, alter-ego Jaime Reyes, was really good. He brings a lot of energy to his performance filled with charisma, awkwardness and relatability because of his love for his family.

Speaking of family, everyone was really good playing in their respective roles but George Lopez was easily the standout because of how funny his lines and reactions are towards Jaime.

And the theme of the family is really at the center of Blue Beetle, it's really hard not to ignore it which is similar to Shazam. But as the film moves on, it does feel like everything that was done to make this possible was filled with heart by the filmmakers and knew just to be simply entertaining, hitting at all the right beats to make you laugh and cry.

The pacing was surprisingly good as to how they were able to fill in the runtime which doesn't make it feel like two hours at all as you are watching it. It's like it took two to three days in the story, if you look at the second to the third act. That was really impressive.

Visuals are great and the action sequences are really good to look at. Props to the director of photography, who by the way did Hereditary and Midsommar - yeah, let that sink in.

Of course, the film is not without its faults. It is cheesy at times, does feel generic and doesn't seem like it wants to outshine the rest of the films not just in DC but everything superhero in general. But my personal issue would have to be how they handled Susan Sarandoncs character and the nemesis of Jaime. While I get where they are going, it felt like it needed to be more compelling and not just some cartoony villains.

But by the end, I walked out of Blue Beetle thinking how good it was to see an enjoyable film with the message of family that hit me emotionally. Would I recommend the movie? Yes.

It's sad, not unexpected, to say that it's a chore, as you've seen the story told here a thousand times before, no surprises or things new, this will really make you blue, all in all more than two hours, that will bore you through and through. The CGI is not that good, and it will not make you marvel, plus the story is predictable, and I might suggest - quite larval, the acting's amateur, so is the dialogue and score, it's a challenge after watching to applaud and not ignore.

If we're really unlucky they'll make another one that will take us to places increasingly common in the world of Superhero desperation.

As a Latino myself, I was looking forward to this film but, I was unfortunately disappointed. I was excited to hear that we had a superhero movie starring a Latino cast coming into the works but, it was executed poorly. There are times when they were trying too hard to portray a Latino family, a bit exaggerated and tried too hard to be funny. The acting from a few of the cast was fine, some of it felt forced. It seems like they didn't put as much heart into this film as they would a Batman film. With some work, this could've been a better viewing experience. Xolo was a great casting choice but could use a bit of work on some of his execution to the character.

For what it's worth, this is not an origin story yet is designed to be one, atleast for the main lead. After graduation, Jaime Reyes returns back to his family who are near bankrupt and on the verge to lose their home. Desperate to save the house, he looks for a job and lands at Kord Tower, after an invitation from Jenny Kord. Meanwhile, Kord Industries CEO Victoria Kord, is a greedy woman who wants to control an alien species Scarab for it's technological power, to create a deadly weapon. Jenny's attempt to steal this Scarab leads to Jaime getting hold of it and eventually becoming the host. What follows is, Jaime realizing his purpose and acknowledging his connection with Scarab.

Blue Beetle clearly has arrived a decade late, which is also what works in it's favour. There is no pressure of building in/adding on to the DC universe. All it aims for, is to be a simple silly fun entertainer, going over the top at every opportunity and yet succeed in entertaining. This is simply not the kind of film one should take seriously. The humor is hit and miss, thankfully the emotions work well. The Latino superhero does leave a lasting impression. There is not much about the Scarabs so the film directly focuses on Reyes becoming the new Blue Beetle while casually dropping the fact that there were others before.

Susan Sarandon's Victoria isn't evil enough whereas her own weapon Carapax isn't menacing enough and are barely serviceable. What does work is the goofiness of the Reyes family and right dose of father-son dynamic, because what's a DC superhero without that? The action set pieces are generic and like I said, the film still delivers on providing basic harmless entertainment. The post credit scene does set it up for a standalone sequel without burdening itself from being part of DCU's planned future.