Blue Beetle (2023) Review

DC is in a bit of a flux right now as they are between the end of DCEU and the start of the new DCU, but we have Blue Beetle now and I saw it last night and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees a young man become combined with an alien scarab that gives him special powers, this causes him to be hunted down by nefarious enemies. 

Main Character

Xolo Mariduena has been a young actor mainly known for his really good work on Cobra Kai. He plays Jaime Reyes here and he is great in the role. He brings plenty of vibrance to the role of Jaime and he nails the emotional scenes too. This is just a really likeable main character and I thought he did a really good job of being a lead for a character that I am pretty sure the majority of mainstream viewers no very little about. 

Supporting Characters

This has a large group of supporting characters and some of them work, some of them don't. Bruna Marquenzie plays Jenny Kord and is a big ally to Jaime Reyes, she was good in the film and I liked the chemistry between the two of them. It was nothing special, but it worked in this film and I think she has a pretty decent future ahead of her. 

This story really focuses on family, the main one being the Reyes family and all of them do a fantastic job in really building that bond. George Lopez is probably my favourite as his uncle and he provided the most laughs in the film. But all of them were great in their roles. 

But the villains of this film fell flat for me. Susan Sarandon plays Victoria Kord and she is just really dull, she doesn't really add much to this role. It's not that she is terrible or anything like that it is just she is the most forgettable part of the film. They try to give the other villain Carapax some character but it is way too late to get the impact that I think people wanted. 

Story

The best thing I can say about the story is that it is pretty functional. It does a good job with the Reyes family and how their bond strengthens Jaime and his ability as Blue Beetle with this linked to Jenny and her family it works too. But this is a really generic story, it would have been way better if it came out 15 years ago but we have seen everything here before in other films. It tries something towards the end of the film to rise it up but it doesn't quite work and makes the film feel a bit cheesy and predictable. 

Script

The script is okay, there is some decent humour and drama in there that makes this an entertaining watch. But sometimes, the humour feels a bit forced, I mean it feels like some of the weaker MCU films with comedy that doesn't quite work. The drama also is a mixed bag with some of it not really working in the context that they want. 

Style

The film looks pretty good. I like the design of the Blue Beetle suit, especially with it being a mostly practical suit, the film has some real exuberant colour and feel to it which is really great to see. Though, as I kind of mentioned before, the pacing and structure of the film doesn't quite work and is quite generic with a few lacklustre action scenes. 

Overall

Overall, Blue Beetle is an above average film. This is an entertaining watch, especially for a new character on the big screen, but it plays it pretty safe and never does enough to push itself into a better film. If you are interested in this film then I would say give it a chance, just don't expect the next Dark Knight. 

Rating - 6/10