Blue Beetle

Hi everyone and welcome, today we will be talking about the film Blue Beetle. Fun Fact, Jaime Reyes is the 3rd person to take up the blue beetle mantle and made his comic book debut in 2006. This film came out in 2023 and stars Xolo Mariduena, Bruna Marquezine, and George Lopez and was directed by Angel Manuel soto. SO without further ado let’s get right into it.

Blue beetle  see jaime Reyes returning home to Palmera City after graduating from college. After an interaction with Jenny Kord, she promises to get him a job at Kord industries which unfortunately is ran by her aunt Victoria kord. Jenny steals a scarab and gives it to Jaimie and the scarab ultimately bonds with Jaimie. The beetle scarab gives Jamie access to an arsenal and he must keep the scarab out the hands of Victoria Kord while also trying to stop her from using it to make weapons.

Blue Beetle is a Superhero film. It has similar vibes to Iron Man, Antman, or Young Justice.

You may be Knowledgeable about some of the actors in this film or maybe you aren’t. Xolo Mariduena was in Cobra Kai, Bruna Marquezine was in Breaking Through, Becky G was in Power Rangers, George Lopez was in the George Lopez Show, Susan Sarandon was in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Harvey Guillen was in The Magicians, Angel Manuel Soto also directed Charm City Kings.

I have been feeling some fatigue from DC, 1. Having bad movies, and 2 always feeling the need to have superman, batman, or Wonder Woman in there films and so I was excited to watch this film since its a new hero and one that I was familiar with. I honestly had little faith because of the track record of DC but I will say that this movie was great and really gave Jaimie Reyes time to shine.

Xolo Mariduena was perfectly cast as Jamie Reyes. He did a great job portraying this kid who gets thrown into the middle of a family squabble and gets a super powered suit and doesn’t really know what’s going on. We could really seeing him learning how to become a superhero and how to work with the scarab to have the best outcome in their fights. It was cool to learn some of the things jaimie is into by his references in the movie like final fantasy, mortal kombat, and back to the future . I loved seeing xolo bring this role to life and I know there is so much restructuring at DC but I hope that this character can stay.

I love that Jaimies family was so close and always supported each other through ups and Downs. Some of the moments were truly sad like his dad dying, some where funny like his uncle in every scene, and some just made me so happy he had a great support system like seeing his grandmother gun down some bad guys after they tried to come for him. This film showed that through the ups and downs the one thing jaime could always count on which is his family.

Also Jaimes suit ups were dope to see. I think suit ups are something small in these films but can be done super creatively and I think they did a great job with it. Not only was the shot comic book acccurate and looked good but they actually took the time out to show how he gets in the suit and with the first time we see it look pretty painful

Susan Sarandon was great as the villain Victoria kord who was ruining her brothers legacy and actively fighting her niece Jenny. She gave off true Karen energy and proved that she truly was a threat with her right hand man Ignacio. Im glad in the end that Ignacio remembers that she is the one that has caused him so much pain so he decides to sacrifice himself to take out both of them.

This movie I feel like was a movie that everyone can enjoy but also added in some references that latinos in America would understand especially if they immigrated here from another country or are first gen. Some of the people that immigrated here have faced an uphill battle with trying to make their place and I think this movie shows that its hard but with the support of your family it makes it a little easier and worth it. I think its so important to show these different stories because in the past we have had so many superhero movies from the perspective of a white person but America is a melting pot and its interesting to see what other races have to deal with in their day to day.

Supposedly Palmera city is supposed to be in Texas but from the looks of it I would’ve assumed it was  Miami. It was cool to see a new city in the DC universe and I love how they make sure you know this is in the DC world by having a big ole lex corp building. The one thing that bothered me about the city was with the CGI it didn’t look like a real city. Like obviously it isn’t real but I think the goal is to make the viewer feel that it is real which is not something that they did. I did love how his uncle kind of pointed out how batman has Gotham, flash has central city, Blue beetle has Palmera city as his hub and city that he needs to look over.

Blue beetle has been one of the best displays of introducing a superhero into a world where other super heroes already exist. For some reason other films feel like in order to do this they need to have a million cameos and this film shows that is not needed. We see buildings and people make references to let you know he this is apart of a bigger world but they dont dwell on it to remind you also that this is not their story. This was blue beetles story and this film did a good job of letting this character spread its wings on its own and letting the viewer get to know more about Jaimie and this beetle but also not learning too much so they could explain more later. The movie feels like it’s part of a bigger picture but still isolated.

My favorite part of the film was Nana, Jaimies revolutionary Grandma. Every scene with her was great and she truly kicked ass. I loved every thing about her especially when she tells the family to save the tears cause we got to save jaime and then at the end let them know when it was ok to mourn. She was a ride or die for her family and proved that age aint nothing but a number.

Blue Beetle surprised me in the best of ways. I think it has flew its way into being one of my favorite DC movies. I think the action was great and the story really had me invested. I truly hope we get more of not only blue beetle but also his family.