‘Blue Beetle’ Review: Xolo Maridueña Shines in an Origin Story with Heart, Charisma and a Whole Lot of Ánimo!

Blue Beetle is the first Latino superhero in the DC universe to be brought to the big screen, so no pressure, right? It’s a tumultuous time to release a superhero film. Are folks superheroed out? Or is the lack of fresh, new stories the reason for the lackluster audience turnout of recent DC entries like Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods? Heck, even Marvel is having its own oversaturation and fatigue. Yet, Blue Beetle aims to take us back to a simpler time with a stand alone origin story film (remember those?) – is that in and of itself enough to break the superhero mind mesh we’re all feeling with these stories? Director and writer, Ángel Manuel Soto sure tries. 

The film follows Jaime (Cobra Kai’s Xolo Maridueña), a recent grad of Gotham Law searching for his purpose post-graduation. He goes back home to Palmera City to celebrate with his mom Rocio Reyes (Elpidia Carrillo), dad Alberto Reyes (Damián Alcázar), Nana (Academy Award nominee Adriana Barraza), sister Milagro Reyes (Belissa Escobedo) and Uncle Rudy Reyes (George Lopez). He finds that finding his purpose and a job is not that easy – even if you’ve followed all the rules. While he’s figuring out his next steps he happens to find himself mixed in with Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine) and her aunt Victoria Kord (Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon), head of Kord Industries, and not in a good way. Jaime, in Peter Parker fashion, finds himself randomly chosen by an ancient relic of biotechnology: the Scarab. But is this a gift or a curse? Jaime will soon find out and go on an adventure of discovery, loss, and new beginnings all with his family beside him.

Blue Beetle has been around in various capacities in not only DC Comics but other publishing entities since 1939. If you’re a comic book nerd, then you’ll know the history. For the rest of us, all you need to know is this Blue Beetle is adapted from 2006’s most recent iteration following Jaime Reyes while weaving in the previous Blue Beetle, Ted Kord. And we’ve been here before. New superhero. New origin story. After more than a couple of dozen films in the superhero genre, something new has to be brought for audiences to stay engaged. In Blue Beetle’s case, the fresh perspective of a semi-known superhero story told through the lens of Jaime Reyes and his family looks to break out of the stereotypical origin story mold. Does it work? For the most part, yes. 

Soto and co-writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer chose to take the origin story back to basics. Blue Beetle focuses on the audience getting to know Jaime and his family and is the foundation of the film, for better or worse. The story is able to breathe and let the audience settle in with the Reyes family. We get to see and feel the strong ties between Jaime, his supportive parents, his nana, Milagro, and his Uncle Rudy all while Jaime is discovering his relationship with the Scarab. The scarab takes hold of Jaime in front of his family so there’s never an option to hide this power and breaks from the usual origin stories in other superhero films where the title character goes to lengths to hide his secret identity and newfound powers.It was nice to have it out in the open and let the audience experience Jaime, his newfound powers through the perspective of his family. The use of familiar needle drops to Latino hits welcome you into the lives of the Reyes family and you’ll even get hints of Latino-isms hidden within the production design (bag of Takis on the shelf!). Although, there’s no specificity of what culture or background the Reyes family is coming from. Yes, they have Latino-isms that are familiar, they speak Spanish and are of humble beginnings and eat tacos. Blue Beetle keeps this element vague and feels more like it was trying to not be so specific to appeal to a wide Latino and general audience. This is fair and not necessarily a knock, but it would have been interesting to go full on like Black Panther and mesh different elements of the Latino culture to create something new in this superhero space or find its grounding in a specific background to give itself an identity the audience can enrich themselves in.  

The film establishes the familial connections to give a strong base of who the Reyes family is and what they stand for within themselves and to Jaime. Alcázar does the heavy lifting in being the emotional, vulnerable father to Jaime – always telling him it’s going to be okay and to remember to have ánimo. Ánimo is not easily translated into English because it’s a feeling of encouragement and cheering up and fits the Blue Beetle and Jaime’s story well. It is weaved in throughout the highs and lows to keep Jaime and his family centered and moving forward when he faces adversity. 

Maridueña brings warmth, charisma, and sincerity to Jaime and it is expressed in the way he cares about making his family proud and getting them out of their situation. The film would not work if Maridueña was not able to encapsulate all these different aspects of the Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle character. For a superhero, it was nice to have the hero be saved instead of doing the saving – at least for a little bit. As for the rest of the family, Carrillo is a loving mom to Jaime, Milagro is the annoying little sister that Jaime loves. Milagro is the opposite of Jaime in certain aspects – she does not conform to what is expected of her, and she mentions she did not go to college because she does want to be in debt. Which is fair, but it felt like her inaction to do something or choose a path meant that Jaime is in a position to carry all of the family. He’s the one that went to college and is looking to move his family out of Palmera City. There wasn’t more to dig deep into in Milagro’s story and felt a one note for Escobedo. Lopez as Uncle Rudy was more predictable if you’ve seen The George Lopez Show and are familiar with his comedic style. It felt outdated and tired with the same 90s style of Lopez. Given that Uncle Rudy is a big part of the story it would have been welcome to see someone new from the comedic space to fill this role and usher in a new face alongside Maridueña. 

Let’s talk about the Nana in the room. Abuelitas are foundational to a lot of Latino families and families in general. They are the matriarchs who often keep the family together and Blue Beetle really seeks to take all Nanas to the next level and Barraza was up for the challenge. Nana’s are not typically in the mix with superhero films except as an emotional crutch and so it was nice to see this subverted and give depth and even more literal strength to Nana. She’s the true hero of her family when they need her the most and carries them through the dark times which was heartfelt but how this is executed was a little hokey (machine gun Nana!) and it’s where Blue Beetle struggled in nailing down the tone of the film. 

Sarandon as Kord plays a very one note villain and is written as such. We get glimpses of the hurt caused by her father choosing her brother Ted as the successor to the Kord Industries powerhouse, but it felt sour trying to comment about the sexist choice of not getting picked. Her story falls into a familiar cliché in what we’ve seen with other villains and was disappointing to not have any added depth. If the filmmakers were not going to add to her arcarch, then they should’ve had Sarandon play a straight villain instead of what we got and not give a half-formed justification for her actions.

The film is telling a heartfelt story with family at the center and hammers in that message throughout the film but at times it feels forced or oddly placed with the more emotional beats of the story. The moments that should land an emotional punch are put on pause for an action sequence or a transition back to Kord. Luckily, the film’s action sequences are dazzling, aided by a mostly practical suit Maridueña plays in. If they tried to go Green Lantern with this, it would have fallen apart quickly. We don’t need any more shoddy CGI, please and thank you. It’s in these details, the suit, the production design, and the music that give Blue Beetle a real sense of style and world building – even if it’s vague in the details of the time it’s in. But it doesn’t really matter with action sequences that are dynamic and fun and a very welcome thing to have a basic mano-a-mano combat against Victoria Kord’s henchman, Carapax (Raoul Trujillo) who has his own tragic backstory. 

Bobby Krlic’s original 80s inspired synth score added an extra layer to the action scenes and throughout the film. There’s a beautiful scene where Jaime and his family are in their makeshift flying contraption and it’s flying in the sky set to Krlic’s score, the anticipation and mood are building and lead into the action sequence. It was just so cool, modern and nostalgic. As a fan of the 80s/90s films, it’s really hard to capture that spirit in contemporary film, but Soto and Co. manage to nail down the aesthetics and feeling of this era. And it’s in these action sequences where Jaime transforms into getting to know himself and The Scarab that inhabits him and forges a bond against the villainous Kord. 

Blue Beetle is not a perfect origin story and this entry leaves one with a semi-empty feeling like many other recent superhero films. It’s either trying to do too much where it loses all emotional resonance or cohesion or it sways in the other direction like in Blue Beetle’s case. It’s a stand alone film where some elements are vague in its place/time in order to fit into the future DC universe if James Gunn chooses to include it. It would benefit from having a definite place so Soto and Co. can infuse more depth and richness into the character of Jaime Reyes. But still, Maridueña is the guiding light in this dysfunctional tale of family and provides an intriguing first entry to what hopefully equals more appearances in the DC Universe.

Grade: B-

Warner Brothers will release Blue Beetle only in theaters on August 18.