Brown Eyes, Blue Skin, and Bleak Disappointment: DC’s Blue Beetle – A Review

With Marvel taking a major hit earlier this year, losing Jonathan Majors as their lead villain amidst their already lackluster output and deteriorating social standing, DC is in an interesting position. Their chance to win over audiences and overthrow the cinematic giant seems more plausible now. We’ve already seen two attempts before Blue Beetle, with yet another set to release in December. With that said, is “Blue Beetle” really the film to overtake the MCU?

At first glance, “Blue Beetle” feels new and enticing because most audiences haven’t had the opportunity to become acquainted with the character outside of comics, video games, and minor television appearances. The same can be said about the actor portraying the titular character, Xolo Maridueña, who before this film was mainly known for his roles in various television shows like Netflix’s “Cobra Kai” and NBC’s “Parenthood.” For both of them, it’s not a very promising introduction.

The film feels a lot like its predecessors, somewhere between Spider-Man, Iron Man, Black Panther, and maybe even some Flash for good measure. There are a lot of shortcuts taken early on that try to do the work of characterization for the film. Perhaps to make its narrative easier to digest, perhaps because there wasn’t much to adapt in the first place. Its major struggles skirt along the surface, mainly due to the natural limitations of the origin story, which can only really occupy a small spectrum of nuanced tales.

We begin with Jaime Reyes, a recent college graduate with a degree that’s useless without a master’s program, greeting his Mexican family at the airport. His father runs a failing auto shop, his sharp-tongued sister doesn’t go to school, his comedy relief uncle doesn’t have a family of his own, and his mother and grandma are mainly there to flesh out the rest of the family. Its attempt at being universally relatable seems to be its ultimate misstep. Double dipping into clichés, Mexican stereotypes, and overall lazy storytelling. Aside from being a superhero origin story, Jaime Reyes must also come to grips with the effects of gentrification and poverty. The Reyes risk losing their family home because their landlords raised the rent, and of course, it’s all the evil rich white people’s fault. This subplot is epitomized by the main villain Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), the corrupt CEO of the namesake tech company, Kord Industries. Sound familiar?

This is a common issue that extends far beyond the scope of just DC. Marvel and Disney as a whole are guilty of exploiting various cultures to market to wider audiences and present themselves as cutting-edge and inclusive. Most recently, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” exploited Mesoamerican history to create a backstory for their main villain, Namor. While Blue Beetle’s use of Mexican-American culture as a character backdrop is not as egregious, it still demonstrates a degree of ignorance from producers and writers who continue to appropriate and make these contrivances commonplace.

By far, the most frustrating aspect of these choices stems from what parts of culture they choose to adapt and bring into the collective headspace of the audience. The pseudo-Mexican struggle, as the audience can understand it, doesn’t reach far outside the realm of generic poverty through lines, and white people pronouncing accented names incorrectly. The heavy use of Spanglish further estranges them from their so-called roots and further disambiguates the family. These are Mexican-specific “struggles” that have been adapted before and haven’t become any more interesting since producers found out they could capitalize on them. It’s the lowest common denominator, that doesn’t create a compelling ensemble cast simply because it’s relatable to the lowest common denominator. That being said, these mistakes seem to be more a virtue of ignorance than an abject disregard. There isn’t some sort of malicious undertone to this malpractice, more likely someone recycling their own experience and adapting to pre-written conventions.

This is a shame because there are moments where “Blue Beetle” can be quite compelling. Jaime’s interpersonal struggle is sympathetic and somewhat inspiring, preying on the all-too-familiar existential fear that college graduates experience after receiving their diploma, whilst incorporating elements of kindred responsibility. His family is also charming, portrayed with a healthy codependence and reliability that, while admittedly second to the plot, feels genuine most of the time.

The Reyes family plays a central role in the narrative of Blue Beetle, acting as the supporting cast and the main theme. However, that concept is rarely justified by the story or the protagonist. The biggest hurdle Jaime must overcome throughout the film is balancing his relationship with his family while adjusting to the mantle of Blue Beetle. Jaime, who feels like a nobody, doesn’t feel deserving of his powers and can’t understand why the Scarab chose him. This is an interesting take on the Spider-Man syndrome, stripping the choice of superdom away from the main character and instead leaving everything up to destiny. Jaime’s stance as a minority in an area currently removing his kind from their ancestral grounds could add complexity to his internal dilemma and moral conundrums, where there is none. However, there’s never a fundamental choice he has to make that feels substantial enough to call for adequate development. None of his potential is realized in any meaningful way.

Not unlike a similar scene from Black Panther, a near-death Jaime sees visions of his diseased father telling him “It’s not his time to go” and that he has to go protect his family. A teary-eyed Jaime begs his father to stay but realizes his purpose and accepts the Blue Beetle as himself. It’s a competently made scene but unfortunately underscored by a mediocre setup. In that respect, it feels completely unjustified and half-baked.

The majority of the film can be summarized using the same standard superhero colloquialisms. All the beats you’d expect are played in an elegy of emptiness. As stated previously, there isn’t a lot of new or interesting ground for the superhero origin story to cover unless major risks are taken, and while DC has been known to take a few creative risks here and there, “Blue Beetle” certainly isn’t one of those times. All the clear inspirations it’s lifted from don’t really make sense when Frankensteined together. As the first true American superhero film to feature a Mexican as the lead character, it’s truly disappointing. While there is an argument that these kinds of films are a necessary baby step toward making racialized films commonplace, it’s hard to imagine that there is no better alternative out there, waiting in the wings.

DC’s “Blue Beetle” is out in theaters now.