‘Blue Beetle’ was released in cinemas earlier this month and for some unfathomable reason, critics and superhero fans have their claws out ready to drag the superhero movie down. From brutal, and undeserved one-star reviews, to a portion of the superhero fanbase complaining about everything from the diversity of the cast through to the special effects, ‘Blue Beetle’ has had a rough ride so far.
Directed by Ángel Manuel Soto (‘Charm City Kings’), the film was originally intended for the streaming service HBO Max in the US, but Warner Bros. decided to give it a theatrical release instead. With Xolo Maridueña (‘Cobra Kai’) as the central character Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle, the film is the first superhero movie to feature a Latino lead and a mostly Latino cast. That in itself should be applauded and it certainly looks like it’s been appreciated with 39% of its opening weekend audience being Hispanic.
Has ‘Blue Beetle’ really flopped at the box office?
One of the biggest accusations thrown at ‘Blue Beetle’ is that the film has ‘flopped’ at the box office. It’s true that a $43 million global opening against a $104 million budget isn’t the strongest of starts but all of the commentary around the film’s performance so far appears to have missed a number of key facts. Firstly, due to the ongoing writer’s and actor’s strikes in the US, the promotion around ‘Blue Beetle’ has been fairly muted. None of the cast is allowed to do any promotion beyond was completed prior to the strike and when you have a film focusing on a lesser-known superhero with a cast that aren’t household names, that makes an uphill battle even tougher.
Secondly, in the US cinema attendance was greatly impacted in Southern California due to the recent Tropical Storm Hilary. There is a large Hispanic population there, which didn’t turn out due to the adverse weather conditions. After two weeks on release, ‘Blue Beetle’ is up to a global taking of $81.8 million so it’s conceivable that in the next week it will pass its budget and become profitable.
Why has ‘Blue Beetle’ been totally misunderstood by critics and fans?
I’ll admit, I’m not much of a fan of superhero movies these days. Back in the 90s and 00s, I loved the likes of ‘Batman’, ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘The Incredible Hulk’, but once Marvel began to dominate superhero films, I felt the quality went down as the special effects and budgets went up. The overly complicated MCU has made it nearly impossible to be a casual Marvel fan as viewers now need to understand the various strands in order to have the first clue about what’s going on. Barely any of the later movies stand on their own and there are crossovers galore.
For me, what ‘Blue Beetle’ benefits from is a surprisingly simple origin story. The film is as much about the importance of family as it is Jaime becoming Blue Beetle, and it takes its time establishing Jaime’s family before diving into action sequences. It’s the first superhero film in a long time that I felt I actually cared about the supporting characters and the chemistry between the actors – Maridueña, Damián Alcázar, Elpidia Carrillo, Adriana Barraza, George Lopez and Belissa Escobedo – is really strong. You believe them as a family unit and they work together well throughout the film. Perhaps it’s that back-to-basics approach that hasn’t struck a chord with part of the superhero fanbase, who are used to expecting overly complicated superhero films that rely heavily on action and almost completely disregard the story.
Another criticism levelled at the film is the motive of the villain Victoria Kord, played by Susan Sarandon. Hellbent on acquiring the Scarab to build her own army of super soldiers, Kord’s motive is straightforward and she carries out most of her dastardly deeds via Ignacio Carapax / OMAC (Raoul Max Trujillo), her bodyguard who she shares a somewhat sketchy past with. Honestly, I wasn’t bothered by Victoria in the slightest. Her character serves its purpose and I was pleased that I didn’t have to scratch my head to understand why she was doing the things she was.
‘Blue Beetle’ mostly benefits from a cast that fully commits to the material and knocks your socks off. Maridueña is a star in the making and I feel sad for him that this film has received the mauling it has. He’s charismatic, naturally funny and a strong presence on the screen. He’s ably supported by the rest of the cast including a scene-stealing George Lopez as Jaime’s uncle Rudy and an excellent Bruna Marquezine as Victoria’s niece Jenny and Jaime’s love interest.
What does this mean for ‘Blue Beetle’ in the future DCU?
‘Blue Beetle’ has also arrived after the poor performance of DC films ‘Black Adam’, starring Dwayne Johnson, ‘The Flash’ starring Ezra Miller and ‘Shazam: Fury of the Gods’, the second ‘Shazam’ film led by Zachary Levi. At the same time James Gunn and Peter Safran have taken over control at DC and they are in the midst of bringing their own vision of the universe to life. One of the first casualties was Henry Cavill who has been replaced as Superman by David Corenswet (‘Hollywood’) for the upcoming ‘Superman: Legacy’. Wisely, ‘Blue Beetle’ is completely separate from the previous DCEU films and Gunn has said that it could connect to the DCU moving forward. Given the film’s soft box office performance though, that looks like it might be a stretch even though ‘Blue Beetle’ clearly planned to have a sequel given the mid-credits sequence.
Why you should go and support ‘Blue Beetle’ while it’s on the big screen
‘Blue Beetle’ took me back to those superhero films that I loved in the 90s. I adored how uncomplicated it is, revelled in the mix of comedy and action, and was genuinely surprised by just how much heart it had. I’ve seen a lot of films this year and none of them had me leaving the cinema with a smile on my face like this one did. I’ll go as far as to say it’s the film that I’ve enjoyed, and that’s entertained me, the most so far in 2023. Sure, the story may hit many familiar beats for the superhero genre (yes, I’m well aware of the criticisms that the story is similar to ‘Ant-Man’, which wasn’t universally loved either by the way) but I admire Soto’s representation of a Latino family that feels authentic (not to mention largely converses in Spanish) and he’s delivered a damn fun movie.
‘Blue Beetle’ is in cinemas now. Watch the trailer for the film below:
