You know when you come across something and its getting such a kicking that you feel sorry for it? Well that's how I felt about Blue Beetle. The film seems to be getting such a negative reaction that its doomed to fail. I wanted to see this film because I think that the current crop of DC films have been hugely disappointing.
The film is a more straight forward and traditional superhero movie which is a blessed relief after Marvel seem to have got most people think that they need convoluted and increasing number of plot strands. This has Jamie get given a burger box by Jenny and is told not to open the box but of course the film wouldn't happen and so he opens the box and is given the super powers. It seems like this is how superhero movies use to be but has fallen out of style for some reason. The thing that gets me annoyed is when the family has a go at Jenny for what has happened to Jaime when Jenny told him NOT TO OPEN THE BOX!!!!
Susan Sarandon is ok in the film. She doesn't quite have the menace that the character needed and came across as a weak villain. I like Sarandon and happy that she is employed but she seemed miscast in this. Bruna Marquezine was hampered by a character that seemed like a spoilt brat that wasn't listened to even though she had good ideas to Jaime's love interest in the second act. It's not Marquezine's fault but more with the fact that the script didn't seem to allow her to be anything else.
The response to the trailer seemed to doom it to its fate. At the end of the trailer the line is uttered "Batman's a fascist". I saw this trailer before The Flash and thought that it may not have been a good idea to have a trailer playing which said that the character in the film we are about to see is a fascist but I was prepared to hold off on judgement until I saw the line in context and in context the line is more comedic than anything else. This is because George Lopez's character is the comic relief for the film and so anything he says apart from the heartfelt moments are not to be taken too seriously so the 'Batman is a fascist' line is something that could be taken as a joke at the very least. The director didn't seem to help himself when it seemed like he was overjoyed when people were getting cross with that line.
George Lopez was for most of the film the best thing about the family but then Nana came into the story in a way I did not see coming. At first I wondered what the point of the character was as Rudy seemed to be playing the comic relief quite well and Nana was just there in the background of a scene like a lamp or a plotted plant but when the story kicks into top gear she is revealed to be this kick ass former soldier who knows how to handle the weapon and I loved the film from this moment on. I thought that Xolo Maridueña was good as the lead and if there were to have been more Blue Beetle films then I could see the character become stronger and more confident but in this 'first' film he doesn't quite have those character traits that a superhero character needs.
Blue Beetle is fine. It's not terrible and its not great. It seems a waste of time to get worked up about a film that probably wont have any impact on James Gunn's DCU plans. It works on its own terms and is the most enjoyable/best DCU film of 2023 which isn't the compliment that I wish it would be.
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