As could have been predicted, the Blue Beetle movie is not doing well at the box office. The general public has turned against DC superhero movies, and even when they’re good — like Blue Beetle — they still flop. It’s a damn shame, because I really enjoyed this new superhero movie. It’s not perfect, but I had a fun time at the theater.

Movie Rating: 8/10 – Very Good

Blue Beetle has had an odd journey to the big screen. There have been rumors and test footage for a show for years, all with this modern costume, but they never materialized beyond an episode appearance on Smallville, I think? Then they greenlit this movie for HBO Max, then decided it was so good that it would go to the big screen, then decided to ditch the old DC movie universe and start fresh, then decided that Blue Beetle would be the first movie in the new DCU without actually being made by the DCU people. It’s been wild! And here we are!

Join me after the jump for my full review and thoughts on the Blue Beetle movie. Expect FULL SPOILERS for the whole movie. And feel free to share your own thoughts in the comments below.

6. Very enjoyable, if basic, movie

I really enjoyed watching Blue Beetle. The biggest knock I have against the film is that it is very reliant on superhero origin story tropes and cliches. We’ve got the handsome young hero, he stumbles backwards into some powers, and then he has to learn to use them in a pinch to take on a villain with the exact same powers. They’re tropes and cliches, but the movie does them very well, so it’s not a drag on the movie. It works as a general foundation.

Xolo Maridueña is a star in the making, and he’s great as Jaime Reyes. He’s relatable, he’s fun, and he handles whatever the movie throws at him. So putting him through the typical superhero origin story works nicely. I’m on board with Jaime right away. So all the building blocks of the movie are solid, if basic. Then there’s a good amount of humor, a solid amount of action, some cool super-powers on display and it all comes together in a nice ending.

Though now that I think about it, the movie doesn’t really answer the problem it sets up in the beginning in regards to Jaime. Kord swoops in to save the family’s home and replace Uncle Rudy’s truck…but they don’t give Jaime a job to settle that storyline for him? The movie doesn’t really advance everything it sets up for Jaime at the start of the film.

Blue Beetle isn’t a job that takes advantage of his college degree.

5. The family was the best part

To make a good superhero movie in this day and age, you need charm and heart. And Blue Beetle has both of those in spades when it comes to the Reyes family. Some people online say they’re just a bunch of Hispanic cliches, but I don’t know about that sort of thing. I just enjoyed this clan of well-meaning, good-hearted people supporting Jaime. I liked that they weren’t just background characters, that they actually went on the adventure and played a real part in the movie.

If you’re going to do a standard superhero origin movie then you need something unique and special to really stand out, and the Reyes family does that for Blue Beetle. They had an extra layer of charm, heart and humor to the whole thing, making the movie worth a watch. You can really feel the sense of family, you can really feel the strength behind them. It works great for the film.

4. Blue Beetle is a little underdeveloped

Honestly, I think the Blue Beetle himself is a little underdeveloped, possibly because so much time was spent on the family. Jaime gets his powers and never really explores them. He’s always in some sort of panic mode while using them. He never gets a chance to just slow down and smell the flowers when it comes to being the Blue Beetle. Then he gets taken by the villains and is off the board for a while, so that further takes away from exploring the character. On top of that, there’s nothing really in this movie that makes it a Blue Beetle movie over any other superhero film. The previous Blue Beetles get a mention and we see their costumes, but that legacy doesn’t factor into anything Jaime does. There’s no exploration of the Scarab’s alien origins. There’s no reaction from the larger city or community to the Blue Beetle existing.

Blue Beetle is just the character they chose for this movie, but they don’t really delve into the Blue Beetle, if that makes any sense.

3. I liked the villain redemption

I did not think very much about the villain, Carapax, for most of the movie. First of all, his real name is ‘Carapax’? That’s not just his villain codename? That was weird. Oh wait, I just Googled him, and he’s from the 1980s comics…and his armor/costume was really well captured on screen. Huh. I guess that’s definitely the sort of name they’d give a villain in the 80s. Anyway, as a villain who just repeats the hero’s powers, he wasn’t all that impressive, even if the actor did a good job. But then I really liked his redemption in the end. I love when a villain can be reasonable, so I really loved him deciding that Victoria Kord had gone too far and that he needed to make things right. That definitely worked for me. And it definitely raised the ending up a few notches instead of the bad guy just going to jail or something.

2. Lots of sequel potential

From bringing in Ted Kord to dealing with the Reach, there is a lot of sequel potential for Blue Beetle. The legacy of the Blue Beetles is an interesting one, and I liked how they touched up on it with Rudy. He knew about the Ted Kord Blue Beetle and how he was a man of the people. That’s a nice touch, and something to be explored in a sequel when Ted comes back. On top of that, a sequel could explore the Reach and the origins of the Scarab. Where did it come from and why is it aliens? Granted, this would probably pit Jaime against another armored villain, this one looking even more like him than Carapax, but it worked for the Venom movies, right?

1. I would love to see Jaime in team up movies

I am fully on board with Jaime and the Blue Beetle being the first, unofficial movie of the new DCU, led by James Gunn. I have to imagine the new movies, starting with Superman Legacy, will be better and probably very different. But there’s nothing in Blue Beetle that should keep it out of the new films, and Jaime should be great standing toe-to-toe with the bigger characters. He’s got the youthful charm and Xolo Maridueña was great in the role. Considering the world that James Gunn is building, there’s no reason not to slip him into some cameo spots or guest appearances. There’s no need to cut Blue Beetle off from the franchise. It’s not going to make a lot of money, but’s more the fault of DC as a studio than Blue Beetle as an individual movie.

Let Blue Beetle spread his wings and exist in the new franchise! Let him soar!

——————–