Review - Blue Beetle (2023)

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and I just got back from seeing Blue Beetle, the latest film from DC Films, and the penultimate film for the DC Extended Universe. The film was directed by Ángel Manuel Soto, with a screenplay written by Gareth Dunnett-Alcocer, and stars Xolo Maridueña, Adrianna Barraza, Raoul Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, George Lopez, and Becky G. 

       Okay, so the movie centers on Jaime Reyes, who has returned home to Palerma City after graduating from college, and his encounter with an alien scarab, which bonds with him and gives him a protective battlesuit and an arsenal of weapons. Unfortunately, the previous owner of the scarab is Victoria Kord of Kord Industries, who wants to use the scarab's code to power an arsenal of high-tech combat suits known as OMAC. 

        Now, what made me enjoy this movie as much as I did was the interactions between Jaime and his family. Xolo Maridueña was absolutely fantastic as Jaime, and his energy throughout the movie is absolutely infectious. I also enjoyed Belissa Escobedo as Jaime's sister Milagro, and of course George Lopez as Jaime's uncle Rudy. Bruna Marquezine was absolutely fantastic as Jenny Kord, who helps Jaime learn more about the scarab and what it's capable of. 

       As far as the villains go, Raoul Trujillo was pretty intimidating as Conrad Carapax, who ends up wearing OMAC battle suit in this movie. Unfortunately, in spite of a stellar performance by Susan Sarandon, Victoria Kord ended up feeling like villains we'd seen in other comic book movies, such as Jeff Bridges as Obidiah Stane in Iron Man, Corey Stoll as Darren Cross in Ant-Man, and Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord in Wonder Woman 1984. Don't get me wrong, Susan Sarandon was definitely more intimidating than those other three that I mentioned, but her motivations are pretty much the same as all three of them. 

       The action, stunts, visual effects, and suit design for the Blue Beetle suit were all fantastic. And, something to remember is that this movie, when greenlit by the old WarnerMedia regime, was meant as a streaming exclusive for Max (known at that time as HBO Max). I think that we can all be grateful that Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav put up the extra money to make this movie worthy of the big screen, because it wouldn't have been nearly the same if it was a streaming movie. 

        Honestly, this is absolutely the best DC movie so far this year. Because, let's face it, The Flash and Shazam! Fury of the Gods were both colossal letdowns, with the performances of Sasha Calle and Michael Keaton being the only decent things about The Flash. Blue Beetle, on the other hand, is absolutely fantastic, and a ton of fun to watch. Seriously, I think that director Ángel Manuel Soto made a really fun comic book movie, and I hope that both he and lead actor Xolo Maridueña will be able to return for a future Blue Beetle project under the new DC Studios regime with Peter Safran and James Gunn. I'm giving Blue Beetle a rating of 4.95/5. 

         Okay, guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys later. 

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