After Jaime Reyes graduates from college and returns to his hometown Palmera City, he is chosen to become a symbiotic host to the Scarab, an ancient alien biotechnological relic that grants him a powerful exoskeleton armor, turning him into the superhero Blue Beetle.
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Y'ALL. It seems like nobody here has read a blue beetle comic or seen the movie, and you're already shitting on it? Come on. This is the beginning of the new DCU, and any blue beetle fan can see from the trailer they're going to be doing some interesting stuff in this movie. Be nice.
I only remember Blue Beetle from Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The only thing I remember about the character as it was portrayed in the show was that it was blue. I hope that helps if anyone was having trouble understanding the character.
So, without knowing anything about the source material, I have no interesting in seeing this film and the trailer didn’t do anything to change my mind.
But that’s me … if you’ve seen it, what was it that drew you in?
That's cool! That sounds like the true experience fans are after in this comic movie era ... see, for the first time, their fav character brought to life.
Blue Beetle is closer to Cyborg from Tean Titans than Ant Man. At least it looks like this iteration anyway, which would be based on the third version of the character.
He gets his suit via a Scarab in his spine that sheilds him in nanotechnology.
He has the ability to neturalize magic, which is a prevalent power in the DC universe.
Flies with wings.
Can use electromagnetic abilities from the nanotechnology. Can also create sheilds.
I much prefer the second Blue Beetle; Ted Kord, who is more like Batman.
No. Ant Man can shrink while maintaining his original mass. Fun with Pym Particles.
This Blue Beetle, the 3rd, merges with an alien super weapon in the form of a scarab. The scarab uses nanites to give him super powers, flight, strength, minor invulnerability, and the power to craft weapons on an as needed basis.
The previous Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, ran around with Batman style tech maybe 20 years before, only not as good. LOL. He also had a flying beetle ship called the Bug. This version of the character was the basis for Nite Owl in Watchmen.
The other previous Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett, discovered the scarab in an arcaeological dig and it gave him mild invulnerability, flight and energy blasts.
Thoroughly enjoyed it. A wonderfully cast family-centered origin story with the right amount of humor and action. George Lopes stole every scene he was in.
As a Latino, you can feel the influence of having a director and key cast members being Hispanic throughout. I don't know that it's ever been done as well or genuinely, for a film in this genre.
Up through the 80s when he was knocked off for Nite Owl in the Watchmen, his own book at DC, getting shot in the head by Maxwell Lord (Wonder Woman 84 Maxwell Lord).
I even remember the Xaime Reyes reboot...
So let me just say, +1 - No notes. Everything about this movie is wonderful. Yeah, there was little too much of this:
But... once the bugs are worked out... yeah, it's all good. There's a lot to like here. You might think Rudy is the new breakout character... no, surprise! It's Nana.
A full on Bug sequence set to Kickstart My Heart? Yeah, I'm down for that. 80's Kord Tech built on a Nintendo Power Glove? Sure, why not?
Early mid credits sequence teasing a sequel, end credits sequence featuring a TV show gag used earlier in the movie.
Very pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this. Had very low expectations considering that it's probably going to be irrelevant to the new DCU, but it's refreshing seeing a normal superhero film with very little references to a tie-in universe
I was excited about this movie and ready to be let down, but it met my expectations and in some ways exceeded them. Yea, it falls into a lot of super hero tropes and some scenes were awkwardly set up (dad dying, the family didn’t run and was like 20 feet away, Jenny walking up to them from stage left saying ‘I can help’, among others, all felt a bit a bit unnatural), but the humor was excellent (the old man on the escalator swiping on tinder, George Lopez was hilarious, Nana), the story moved along quite well, and it was visually quite good, no moments where I was annoyed at noticing CGI).
All in all, I hope to see more blue beetle in the DCU.
The CGI and costume looked rough to my eyes, but I gave it more slack afterwards when I found out this was originally slated to be an HBOmax release. The superhero aspects also felt a little played out and dragged a little, but nothing that was an active detriment to the movie
Where the movie really shines, though, is the family. They are the heart of the movie and have phenomenal chemistry. I'm glad they're carrying over to the James Gunn universe, as it would have been a waste of elephantine proportion to lose this cast. As a quick aside, I wish we got a little more of the dad and a little less of a George Lopez, but their overall dynamic was still great.
My biggest issue with the movie, though: not enough Harvey Guillén! He's great in What We Do in the Shadows and when I saw him on screen, I was anticipating him to steal the show in Blue Beetle. Unfortunately, he did not get nearly as much attention as I'd hoped; but I pray he'll somehow return for the next one (though I doubt it).