Blue Beetle Review

 Overview:

Blue Beetle is a 2023 DC film featuring Jaimie Reyes as Blue Beetle as he fights against Kord industries for the Scarab. He tries to uncover the mysteries of the Scarab alongside his family in Palmera City.

Story:

The film begins in Antarctica where Victoria Kord and Ignacio Carapex are cutting into a large sphere searching for the Scarab named Khaji-Da. Meanwhile Jamie Reyes is arriving home to Palmera City after graduating from Gotham Law. It is revealed to Jamie that they are losing their house and Jamie's father Alberto Reyes had a heart attack. The comedy begins when Reyes family is about to head home when they meet Rudy Reyes outside the airport. when they arrive home Jamie announces to his sister Milagro that he will get a "Prime Job."

For a moment you think he actually did this... no. He scrapes gum of Victoria Kord's loungers with Milagro. A job

Jenny and Victoria Prior to Jamie stopping the fight.

 he shortly loses for stopping a confrontation between Victoria and Jenny Kord. 

shortly before Jenny was asking why Victoria had restarted the O.M.A.C. (One Man Army Corps) project at Kord industries. She replies "Jenny. The O.M.A.C. is the future of this company."  Jenny meets the now unemployed Jamie and Milagro and tells Jamie to come to

Kord Tower for a job opportunity.

When he goes to the tower to talk to Jenny, she is sneaking into a lab to steal the Scarab after discovering that Victoria is using it to create the O.M.A.C.

Jenny with the Scarab.

 When she takes it, a scientist called Dr. Sanchez notices its missing and locks down the building. Jenny avoids detection by giving it to Jamie disguised as a Big Belly Burger. 

 He places it on the table when he returns home, and his family convinces him to open it. Jamie takes it from Milagro, and it activates in the palm of his hand. It latches onto his face and his family freaks out running and screaming.

Jamie's family shouts to open the box.

Jamie holds the scarab.

The Scarab goes down his shirt and inside Jamie. The Scarab creates a suit for Jamie, says: "Activating Systems Check" and flies through the roof. Freaking out, Jamie is taken into outer space by the scarab. He shortly is brought back to earth by the Scarab and after slicing a bus in half returns home.

Jamie in space.

When Jamie returns home, he leaves and searches for Jenny and finds her under attack by Kord soldiers.

 later Jenny reveals that the Scarab is a sentient world destroying weapon that has chosen Jamie to be its host. Jamie asks where he could find answers to remove the Scarab and Jenny says that she knows a place, but they need a key. But it is at Kord tower which is on high alert after Jenny stole the Scarab. When they reach Kord tower with Rudy they break in and steal a Kord watch. But Carapex is there waiting for them when they leave. Battle time. Carapex and Jamie engage in a huge fight outside Kord tower. Jamie can't win alone so Kaji-Da takes control and beats the stuffing out of Carapex. 

Kaji-Da Blasts Carapex

However 

Kaji-Da being a weapon tries to kill Carapex. Jamie stops it from killing him. but then Carapex attacks again and catches him off guard, pinning him down. Rudy chunks a piece of equipment at Carapex with his "Taco" and knocks him back. Jamie, Jenny and Rudy escape to Jenny's childhood home. 

Jenny uses her father, Ted Kord's watch to unlock a secret room in the house. Ted Kord is revealed to be the 2nd Blue Beetle here. While Rudy discovers Dan Garrett was the original Blue Beetle. Upstairs Jenny tells Jamie that her mom passed away when Jenny was only 6. after that Ted obsessed over the Scarab and went missing.

Rudy comes upstairs and tells Jamie to come to Ted's computer. Rudy tells Jamie that you have to be dead to remove the Scarab. Jamie runs off to the roof and Rudy follows. They talk for a bit and then they see a Kord vehicle fly over them. Jamie realizes that it is headed to his house and activates the Scarab and flies to his home.

When he arrives, he sees his family captured by Kord soldiers. He protects them and fights the Kord soldiers and defeats them. 

Jamie armed with sonar blasters.

But while Milagro is running away, she trips. And a soldier grabs her. Her father Alberto hits the solider but is whacked by the butt of his gun. Jamie takes out the soldier, but Alberto goes into cardiac arrest. Victoria uses a weapon that renders Kaji-da useless. Jamie is captured and one of the Reyes neighbors calls 911. But it is all in vain. Alberto dies of a heart attack and Jamie is brought to a fortress. Milagro, Rudy, and Nana Reyes and Rocio Reyes (Jamie's mother and grandmother) are mourning the loss of Alberto when Nana shouts that they must save Jamie. Jenny says she knows a way. Jenny and the Reyes head 

Jenny and the Reyes open the bug ship.

to Ted Korg's secret base again and commandeer the bug ship. They fly to the island fortress where they are holding Jamie. On their way to the island, they ask what they could use to fight. Jenny replies "You wanna see dad's toys?" A little easter egg is here for gamers like me in the form of a weaponized Nintendo Power Glove. Here we see a Nana holding a minigun. Uh... totally normal right? Rocio reveals that Nana has a revolutionary past while she gives everyone orders on how to get in to the fortress.

Nana holding a minigun.

When they arrive, Rudy puts the ship into "Beast Mode" and beats up/ kills a bunch of Kord soldiers. Milagro and Jenny exit and plant bombs on the power supply. Meanwhile Jamie is being hooked up to a data transfer by Dr. Sanchez Carapex and Victoria. They are planning to upload data from Kaji-Da to hundreds of O.M.A.C. units. Including Carapex's. During the transfer Jamie blacks out. He wakes up in some sort of dream world and sees his father in front of a ton of candles. Alberto says that he knows what his purpose is. it was to be with him in that moment. He tells Jamie that his destiny is to be the Blue Beetle. Alberto fades away and Jamie becomes one with Kaji-Da. Meanwhile Jenny and Milagro destroy the power generators. Jamie breaks free while Carapex's suit is enhanced by Kaji-Da's code.

Carapex examines his new suit.

 Victoria shouts to Dr. Sanchez to stop him but instead of doing that he frees him and reveals his true name: Dr. Jose Fransico Morales Rivera de la Cruz.

Despite telling Jamie he will be fine he is killed by the upgraded Carapex shortly after. Jamie runs because Kaji-Da has to reboot after the download. Carapex gives chase and most of the Reyes are in the fortress taking down the Kord soldiers.

Jamie runs into Nana on the way out who blows a bunch of Kord soldiers away while shouting "Down with the imperialists!" in Spanish. Meanwhile Jenny and Milagro are caught in a rock collapse and Jenny is captured by Victoria. Jamie makes it to the bug ship where he sees Rocio. She tells him to work with Kaji-Da to beat Carapex. Rebooted, 

Jamie fights the Kord soldiers.

Jamie and Kaji-Da make their way into the fortress where they run into Milagro who is under fire. Jamie and Kaji-Da clobber the Kord soldiers. 
 After hugging Milagro, he spots Carapex and gives chase. They fight and break to the surface. Kaji Da tells Jamie that any weapon he can imagine it can create.  Using his imagination, he creates weapons to weaken Carapex. 

Jamie creates a buster sword.

 In the midst of the fight Jamie is pinned down by Carapex. Rudy is there and throws rocks at him so Jamie can escape. Carapex fires at Rudy and it appears he is killed. Filled with rage Jamie knocks back Carapex and pins him down. Jamie rips off Carapex's helmet and prepares to kill him. meanwhile Jenny is trapped in a helicopter with Victoria. Victoria attempts to shoot Jenny who uses a special type of bubblegum to trap her, and she destroys the Scarab code.  

Jamie fights Carapex.

 Jamie is about to kill Carapex when Kaji-Da stops him and shows Jamie Carapex's memories. it is revealed that Carapex's mother was killed by Kord bombs and Carapex was tortured into becoming the O.M.A.C. Jamie lets him free, and Victoria has crashed nearby. Rudy shouts to Jamie to come to the bug ship despite having thought to be dead. Carapex grabs Victoria and begins to overload the O.M.A.C power core. Dragging Victoria Carapex explodes killing himself, Victoria and destroying all of the O.M.A.C.s. The Reyes mourn the loss of Alberto shortly afterwards. When they arrive home all of the Reyes neighbors are there to support them. Jenny arrives and kisses Jamie and Jamie flies Jenny to her mother's house. In a post credits scene Ted Kord is revealed to be alive.

 Music:

The Blue Beetle score (created by Bobby Krlic.) Is one of the better superhero movie scores among Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse and other films. it is a soundtrack similar to the recent Spider-Verse film with the best songs being "The Sphere" and "Stratosphere Flight."

however, most of the selected tracks have Spanish vocals. the most recognizable track is "Kickstart my Heart" by "Motley Crue."  

Soundtrack cover

Characters:

Jamie Reyes / Blue Beetle:

Jamie without his helmet

 In the film Jamie Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) is shown to be a 22-year-old college graduate from Gotham Law. Jamie returns to find his family who had a lot of problems while he was away. only wanting a job to help his family he gets embroiled in the mystery of the Scarab. only wanting to get the Scarab out of him. He and his family lose Alberto to the evil Victoria Kord and her soldiers. Jaime becomes one with the Scarab Kaji-Da and fights against Carapex to avenge his father. Jaime manages to reform the weapon Kaji-Da who tries to eliminate Carapex in their first meeting.  Jamie is a good-hearted college grad who loves his family and has one wish: to help his family. Despite being told the opposite Jamie knows that his love for his family is his greatest strength. Xolo portrays Jamie wonderfully in the film and this is a great adaptation of one of my favorite superheroes.

Jenny Kord:

Jenny with the Scarab.

Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine) is the daughter of Ted Kord and Jamies's love interest. Jenny had a hard time as a child. her mother was a painter who died when Jenny was only 6 years old. Victoria is her aunt who took over Kord industries after her father's disappearance. Not wanting Kord to make weapons Jenny was against the O.M.A.C. project and tried to sabotage it. Jenny is alongside the Reyes as they deal with a difficult time after losing Alberto Reyes. Jenny is instrumental in the defeat of Victoria Kord and Jamie's rescue. Jenny is a pretty good supporting character in the film.

Ingacio Carpex:

Carapex holds an energy whip.

Carapex (Rauol Max Trujillo) is the first O.M.A.C. and was tortured into doing it by Victoria. In a flashback Carapex's mother is shown being killed by Kord bombs. He constantly tells Jamie "The love you feel for your family makes you weak!" he is a cold lieutenant who kills Dr. Sanchez for helping Jamie escape. Jamie leaves him alive despite the pain he has brought him. Carapex turns over a new leaf in his final moments and overloads his O.M.A.C. power core and destroys himself, the island and Victoria. Carapex is a perfect villain for this film. (Text glitched.)

Conclusion:

Poster of Jamie

"Blue Beetle" is a nice family focused superhero movie. The acting fits perfectly as does the Score, and the characters light up the screen. the DCU has had its fair share of problems recently, but this movie really turns it around. Jamie Reyes is a superhero whether he likes it or not. but this film is super! Final Score: 9.1/10⭐ BONUS: the first 10 minutes have been released on YouTube! I have included the video here! (Note: it is PG-13.)