Film Review: "Blue Beetle" (2023).

"Jaime Reyes is a superhero, whether he likes it or not." This is Blue Beetle. This superhero film directed by Ángel Manuel Soto, written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, and based on the DC character of the same name created by Keith Giffen, John Rogers, and Cully Hamner. It is the 14th installment of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Super Hero - Blue Beetle.

By late November 2018, Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Films were developing a film based on the titular character with Dunnet-Alcocer penning the script, which was set to be the first DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film. By December 2020, DC Films was planning to release several mid-budget films a year exclusively on the streaming service HBO Max, rather than in theaters, as part of new DC Films president Walter Hamada's plan for the DCEU, with Blue Beetle listed as one such project in 2021. In February 2021, Soto was hired to direct. In April, Blue Beetle was included on DC's slate of films with a 2022 or 2023 release date. In December, Warner Bros. revealed that the film would be receiving an August 2023 release date instead of being produced directly for HBO Max. By late May, Xolo Maridueña, Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, George Lopez, Elpidia Carrillo, Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, Harvey Guillén, and Becky G were cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in late July. Filming took place at Wilder Studios in Decatur, Georgia, as well as Atlanta, Georgia and Old San Juan, Puerto Rico during the COVID-19 pandemic. Soto also took inspiration from the New 52 comics, Blue Beetle: Graduation Day (2022-23), Infinite Crisis (2005-06), Injustice 2 (2017), and the Mission: Impossible and Indiana Jones franchises. The visual effects were provided by Digital Domain, Rise FX, Rodeo FX, and Industrial Light & Magic with Kelvin McIlwain as visual effects supervisor.

The film stars Maridueña, Barraza, Alcázar, Trujillo, Sarandon, Lopez, Carrillo, Marquezine, Escobedo, Guillén, and Becky G. The direction from Soto and the performances from the cast eloquently rewrote the characters with the worst of latino cinema and culture. Maridueña lacked all the necessary depths to make his role of Reyes far from just your garden-variety Marvel protagonist.

For those who are fans of basic and paint-by-numbers superhero origin stories, the film will be perfect but for anyone expecting anything fresh or new, keep looking. A superhero flick that, despite several exciting interludes, feels more mechanical and less spontaneous than nearly every DCEU title that preceded it.

Simon says Blue Beetle receives:

Also, see my review for Charm City Kings and The Flash.