My quick rating – 6.1/10. Blue Beetle is another superhero origin story, but this time we’re trading billionaire playboys and radioactive accidents for a recent college graduate who gets his hands on an alien scarab. Because getting a job after school wasn’t going to be difficult enough.
Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) returns home full of hope and plans for the future, only to find himself bonded to an extraterrestrial piece of technology that has rather different ideas about his career. Before he knows it, he’s transformed into the latest addition to the superhero club, complete with an armored suit, an impressive collection of weapons, and absolutely no idea what he’s doing.
The film has a decent amount going for it. Maridueña makes for a likeable and relatable Jaime, and his family keeps the story ticking along. There’s a nice emphasis on family here, which helps Blue Beetle stand apart from some of the more generic superhero outings. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t always know what to do with its central character once the Scarab enters the picture.
Jaime’s powers are a bit of a moving target. One minute he’s doing something impressive, the next you’re left wondering what exactly the suit can and can’t do. The special effects are similarly inconsistent. Some of the action sequences look fantastic, while others have moments that wouldn’t look out of place in an ambitious Saturday morning cartoon. It’s not exactly a deal-breaker, but a little more consistency wouldn’t have hurt.
The humor is another mixed bag. There are some funny moments, but the jokes don’t always land, and the film sometimes struggles to find the right balance between superhero action, family drama and comedy.
Thankfully, Nana is here to save the day. Played by Adriana Barraza, she’s easily one of the film’s biggest highlights. As I was thinking, when the credits hit, Nana is really something else. Her character brings plenty of personality, some unexpected laughs, and a few of the most memorable moments in the entire film. Honestly, I could have done with more Nana and considerably less time worrying about the Scarab’s ever-changing instruction manual.
George Lopez also provides some welcome comic relief. His performance adds more humor to the family dynamic, although, much like the film’s other attempts at comedy, not every joke hits its target. Still, when it works, it works.
Ultimately, Blue Beetle is an entertaining enough superhero movie with a likeable lead, an amusing family unit, and a few standout performances. It doesn’t reinvent the superhero genre, and its uneven effects and inconsistent handling of Jaime’s powers hold it back from being more memorable.
That said, there’s enough potential here for the character to become an interesting addition to the ever-expanding DC universe. Jaime Reyes deserves another crack at the superhero business, preferably with a little more consistency and a healthy dose of Nana.
It’s not going to knock the likes of Batman or Superman off their pedestals, but it’s a perfectly watchable origin story. And I’ll be honest, Nana nearly steals the whole bloody show.
