Blue Beetle, a DC Comics character who has scurried through several incarnations over the years, now gets his moment in the cinematic limelight. Jaime Reyes, a Mexican adolescent residing in the fictional Palmera City, is featured in the film as DC’s most recent iteration. Reyes, played by Cobra Kai star Xolo Mariduea, has just returned from college, the first member of his family to do so, when he realizes the trouble is developing. His father, Alberto (Damián Alcázar), has significant heart issues, and they are on the verge of losing their house.
When Jaime joins his sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo) in a low-paying summer job, they come into contact with ruthless tycoon Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon) and her niece Jenny (Bruna Marquezine), and both get kicked out. Jenny offers to help Jaime find a job at Kord Industries, but when he arrives the next day, she gives a burger box in his hand and tells him not to peek inside. However, his mother (Elpidia Carrillo), Nana (Adriana Barraza), and Uncle Rudy (George Lopez) open it right away.
Inside is a scarab shaped like a beetle that comes to life, vanishing where the sun doesn’t shine and enters Jaime’s body. One of the coolest transformation scenes you’ll ever witness sees blue armor develop around him as he begins to sync with this high-tech weapon. He breaks through the roof, soars across the streets, and slashes a bus in half in one dramatic moment. Jenny eventually brings him and Rudy to her family estate. Ted Kord, the late inventor who created the Scarab, was an earlier form of Blue Beetle. “Like Superman or The Flash,” Rudy continues, “but not as good.”
Meanwhile, Victoria is building the OMAC, or One Man Army Corps, a privatized policing organization. Lt. Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo), a scarred soldier, is her guinea pig, but she needs the Scarab to make it work. You can see where this is headed because Carapax and Jaime are about to collide. However, the Scarab has merged with Jaime; if it is removed, he will die. Fortunately, not only Jenny and Rudy pitch in, but soon the entire family is on the move, including Nana, who, it turns out, has a revolutionary background.
Blue Beetle, directed by Puerto Rican-born Angel Manuel Soto, is a raucous family comedy that capitalizes on its Latino origins at its best. It has some bizarre elements (a bug-like vehicle that farts out clouds of gas at assailants), Mötley Crüe on the music, and a political subtext, as the narrative alludes to American imperialists advancing into Latin American countries.
It’s a shame Sarandon’s character (called “sexy in a Cruella/Kardashian kind of way”) isn’t more threatening, and the dialogue/narrative isn’t more original. As far as summer blockbusters go, it’s entertaining. However, providing us the first Latino superhero in a DC film (Blue Beetle), wonderfully performed by the adorable Mariduea, deserves to be appreciated.
One thought on “Blue Beetle: DC’s first Latino superhero | Movie Review”