Blue Beetle — So far in 2023, the audience has witnessed a slew of superhero film successes and failures. While Marvel’s Ant-Man sequel film and Secret Invasion series were both largely disappointing. The most recent episodes of Guardians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, on the other hand, were huge hits.
Meanwhile, DC Studios has not had the same kind of success. Both Shazam: Fury of the Gods and The Flash have been unimpressive, failing to live up to the expectations set by their predecessors. Blue Beetle’s launch, on the other hand, may have been prophetic, with glowing reviews.
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Good news for DC Studios
As previously noted, DC Studios had a bad year, with Shazam: The Fury of the Gods mostly forgotten. The negative reviews demonstrate DC’s incapacity to sell their films.
The Flash had the potential to be a huge smash, but years of production troubles, as well as personal disputes surrounding lead actor Ezra Miller, prompted calls to boycott the Scarlet Speedster’s solo feature debut. Many individuals are also concerned about the use of CGI and the constant cast changes.
The Blue Beetle crew remained silent in the run-up to the premiere due to the timing of the Hollywood strikes, but the feedback has been favorable thus far. In fact, of DC’s big-screen movies in 2023, Blue Beetle has the greatest Rotten Tomatoes rating.
Reviews for the film
Blue Beetle’s positive feedback is given below. The latest DC film is best described as “entertaining,” with many praising the Cobra Kai star’s performance as “fresh.”
Armchair Auteur: “It’s a miracle that this film survived the leap from ‘throwaway streaming vehicle’ to ‘bonafide blockbuster release.’”
But Why Though?: “Blue Beetle is a film that earns a… grito. As a story, it knows who Jaime is and leans into the character beyond his suit and powers… While some characters have just become a mantle you can change from one person to the next, Jaime Reyes is Blue Beetle.”
Digital Spy: “There is a future for Cobra Kai star Xolo Maridueña’s DC superhero, and fortunately, the entertaining Blue Beetle leaves you wanting to see more – even if it can’t help suffering from familiar superhero issues.”
Guardian: “There’s a perkiness that’s hard to resist and a base-level competency that’s hard not to appreciate, a small beam of light in an otherwise dark time for superheroes.”
Punch Drunk Critics: “Quite simply the best DC movie in years, and should be the blueprint for James Gunn as he moves forward with the new DCU.”
The Independent: “Blue Beetle is broad and endearingly kid-friendly in its humor. It is also precise in its homages to Mexican culture.”
TheWrap: “A self-contained and smartly crafted film that ranks among the DCEU’s very best. Even though, admittedly, that doesn’t say nearly as much as it ought to.”
Total Film: “Stand down the undertaker: this spirited outlier shows there’s life in the old DCEU yet. Over to you, Aquaman 2.”
However, not everyone was thrilled with the latest DC film, with some arguing that Blue Beetle just maintained the franchise’s trend of mediocre films.
Telegraph: “The emotional beats are strenuous yawns, the crashing lack of novelty disguised desperately, but not well. It’s dim, and it’s dull.”
Uproxx: “It’s the kind of thing we’ve all seen way too many times before and felt extra disappointing here because there’s a lot in this movie that does feel unique, but then it feels squandered.”
What is the film about?
Blue Beetle’s arrival in theaters is more than just another effort by DC to threaten Marvel’s once-unbreakable box office dominance. It’s being billed as both an origin story for Xolo Mariduea’s Jaime Reyes and a new chapter in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe.
Younger viewers are introduced to DC’s first important Latino superhero on the big screen in this action-packed film. The Cobra Kai actor portrays a teenage hero who encounters an all-powerful alien Scarab, which attaches itself to him and selects Jaime Reyes as its new host.
Blue Beetle is marketed as a family-friendly comedy, which distinguishes it from the last batch of DC films that were box office duds. Despite its distance from the old, shattered DC universe, the film implies that its world already has superheroes like Superman, Batman, and the Flash.
Blue Beetle’s score
Blue Beetle has an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 109 reviews, which is up from 49% for Shazam: The Fury of the Gods and 64% for The Flash.
It’s a long cry from Black Adam’s 39% in the previous year’s crop of DC films. It is, however, somewhat lower than The Suicide Squad’s incredible 90% reviewer rating.
