Blue Beetle 2023
This movie got pretty decent reviews, especially for a DC movie, though I was still a little cautious since reviews said it was targeted towards younger audiences. I think that focus may have made reviewers a little more generous since it was not trying to be critically acclaimed. However, this is pretty lukewarm superhero stuff, like lukewarm Iron Man specifically. There are some nice elements, like the perspective of a Mexican immigrant family, the focus on that family's bonds, and some mysteries that still aren't resolved by the end of the movie. However, there are so many tropes lifted from other movies. It is fair to say that the source material of comic books does exactly the same and maybe even moreso, but in feature movies, I expect a few sparks of originality. The movie tries to be light, but the humor generally falls flat, especially George Lopez really playing up the Latino stereotypes. Except for Susan Sarandon as a cardboard cutout of a villain, and Lopez, most of the cast is unknown, at least to me. Although a lot of the effects are good, many aspects just seem like they came from a cartoon, with this amazing, unexplainable technology being capable of almost anything, except defeating another guy in a similar suit, so there are endless scenes of them slamming each other around through walls, etc. Still, because it is an origin story, it is still fun seeing what this thing is all about and getting to know these characters, so it isn't all bad.
Written: 23 Dec 2024