It's unfortunate to feel like I’ve jumped onto a bandwagon that I fought against for some time, but I think I am officially fatigued with superhero films. It’s not necessarily this film that pushed me over the edge, it has just helped me come to terms with it. Blue Beetle offers a very generic story and a bland selection of characters. It is great to see that these franchises are branching out and diversifying their heroes to represent minorities but there is a lack of effort felt in the creation of this film. As this is the final film in the old DCEU, it felt more like an obligation to release it as to not have wasted production on another superhero film like they did with Batgirl.
The story is set in Palmera City, a fictional city in Texas with a strong Latinx / Mexican community living in it. We begin with the Kord company finding a gigantic sphere that is way too big to have been missed for millions of years. However, I will suspend my disbelief for Susan Sarandon. We see the Beetle, peacefully floating in the sphere, leading us into our opening titles.
I will admit at this point I was for some reason, reading the credits instead of the possible context I could have got of the origins of this supernatural artefact. After this, I don’t recall any further origins being detailed, where this came from and why it existed. As an objective and reputable loser, I have done no further research into the origins of the beetle, and unless explicitly brought to me, I will keep it that way.
After that, our protagonist Jaime is seen returning home to Palmera City, to learn that his family is going to be losing their home in a ever so classic gentrification subplot. These themes that are brought up are probably the most interesting aspects of the films to me and ones that I wish were explored deeper than they were. It is mentioned and brought up as if it may be a catalyst for the story, giving Jaime a motivation to be heroic, saving their homes and livelihoods. This wasn’t really the case, he was given the beetle in a hamburger box and spends the rest of the runtime, defensively fighting against Kord in their quest to get the Beetle back, to use for their OMAC (One Man Army Corps) program.
The story itself is on the generic side, big corporation, trying to get mystical artifact to obtain more power than they have now. This cooperation, like many others from these comic book stories, have an entire monopoly on just one city, no other ventures outside of that space.
The actual motivation of Kord is not explained very deeply, there is no details to suggest that these OMAC suits will be used for bad. Although we can assume that the American police would never abuse their power, especially not in mech suits.
Simpler stories can be effective when the characters are utilised well. However, I feel that the majority of these characters were pretty one dimensional and there was a huge lack of personality in their relationships. The acting wasn’t an issue for me, I felt like everyone involved brought what they could to the script they were given.
The sibling dynamic was probably the closest relationship in the film. Even that felt like Milagro was just there for the quintessential quip, pointing out the absurdity of the sudden super powers going on around her and her brother.
Rudy is there for the random tech knowledge, hacking, device building and scepticism for the corporation from the start.
Technically, its hard to fault the film. It was mostly solid in the VFX, camera and sound department. The camera and music were complimentary, not going overboard or trying anything new, existing as they do. The VFX should be solid on a project of this scale, but with recent entries into the superhero genre, there’s been quite a few corners cut. The environments, suit and fight scenes are done pretty well with this film though, making it an easier watch.
Not a whole lot to say on what feels like another standard superhero film used to keep the releases regular. I think there is an interesting story in Blue Beetle, with some interesting characters which were not used. From what I’ve seen, there are plans to continue with this character and universe in the future. Hopefully with some more time and stakes put into this story, it can pay off to be an important part of the DC universe as it goes forward.
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