COMIC BOOK CATCH-UP: BLUE BEETLE (2023) ** ½

Young college grad Jaime Reyes (Xolo Mariduena) has his world turned upside down when an alien scarab-shaped bioweapon attaches itself to him and grants him superpowers.  Naturally, an evil corporate slimeball (Susan Sarandon), who wants to use the bug to make her own private army, will stop at nothing to get it back.  After she kidnaps Jaime, she plans to remove the bug, which will kill him.   It’s then up to his eccentric family to rescue him and save the day. 

Blue Beetle is highly derivative, but mostly enjoyable.  The origin story is a mix of Spider-Man and Iron Man as Jaime’s bitten by a bug that allows him to transform into a super soldier in an armor-plated battle suit that comes equipped with a heads-up display and insect-like powers and weaponry.  Like Ms. Marvel, he also has a gaggle of rowdy family members rooting him on, including the annoying George Lopez.  His machine gun-toting granny is kinda funny though. 

The first transformation scene has some icky Cronenbergian touches, but it’s still well within the realm of a PG-13 rating.  The film also has kind of a Greatest American Hero vibe as the suit has all the powers and the guy wearing it is just an average Joe who somehow got stuck with it.  In fact, his first test flight is especially reminiscent of that classic show. 

All of this is more or less entertaining.  It’s also refreshingly low stakes for this sort of thing, which is nice.  I just wish the character of Jaime had a bit of an edge about him as he’s essentially a cookie cutter goodie two-shoes.  At least the suit is cool, and the cyborg battles are fun.  All in all, it's not bad, but it feels more like a TV show than a big budget superhero extravaganza.  (Although that’s not necessarily a bad thing.)  

I guess the big stumbling block is Sarandon’s villain.  Her character is one note and she’s sorely miscast.  Blue Beetle has a few other shortcomings here and there, but I can’t get too upset by them because the film contains a scene where a giant farting robot bug steps on bad guys while “Kickstart My Heart” plays on the soundtrack.  I can honestly say I’ve never seen that in a movie before, so… ** ½.  

DC EXTENDED UNIVERSE RANKING:  

Batman v Superman:  Dawn of Justice: ****

Man of Steel:  ****

The Flash: *** ½ 

Aquaman:  *** ½

Wonder Woman:  *** ½

Justice League:  *** ½

Shazam!:  ***

Suicide Squad:  ***

The Suicide Squad:  ** ½ 

Blue Beetle: ** ½ 

Black Adam:  **

Shazam!  Fury of the Gods:  **

WW84:  * ½ 

Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn):  * ½