Blue Beetle - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Blue Beetle



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
DC is in an interesting place right now. They’re wrapping up the scraps of the old DCEU with The Flash and Aquaman II, and James Gunn’s new universe is coming into play, and Blue Beetle is sort of stuck in the middle like an 8 year old watching his mom and dad fight over custody. The film was originally crafted and created with the DCEU in mind, but as it became abundantly clear the DCEU was dying, James Gunn later announced that Blue Beetle was going to be the first film in his newn universe. THEN came the painfully excruciating news that Beetle’s box office was going to be TERRIBLE (somewhere in the $12-$15 million range opening weekend, which it did decently better than that at around $25 million. Which is still a pretty painful opening weekend along with Shazaam! 2) and the Gunn started to back down on it being the involved in his universe. So my analogy of the kid watching his parents go through a divorce and play tug of war with who is going to have custody seems appropriate for Blue Beetle, as sad as that may sound.

Luckily, Blue Beetle isn’t as bad as predicted by some, but nowhere near a smash hit either. The story follows the 3rd generation of DC’s Blue Beetle, one Jaime Reyes (Xolo Mariduena), who has just come home from graduating college to spend time with his parents before heading out into the real world. He’s the first of the Reyes line to have ever gone to college, and they’re enormously proud of him, but a gigantic cloud looms over the happy celebration. His Dad (Damian Alcazar) has had a stroke and lost their shop due to the medical bills and the landlord has tripled the rent, leaving the family in uncertain times. Jaime immediately sets out to save his family’s home by getting a job with his degree, but can only get a lowly job as a servant in the home of filthy rich military contractor Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon).

After getting fired for inadvertently getting into an argument between Victoria Kord and her niece Jenny (Bruna Marquezine), Jaime is thrust back into the world of the unemployed. Jenny kindly offers to set him up with another job at Kord Enterprises if he’ll come down to the headquarters, but once again, Jaime steps into the middle of things when a panicked Jenny hands him a mysterious package and tells him “not to open it” (yeah, that ever happens in movies). Poor Jaime heads home without a job, and at the behest of his curious family opens it only to find an odd blue scarab looking “thing” inside. Suddenly activating out of the blue (pun not intended), the scarab attaches to Jaime’s back and morphs into a fully sentient super suit around him. It doesn’t take long for it to come out that Jenny had stolen the scarab from her aunt, and now Victoria Kord and the entire weight of her vast resources are out to reclaim what was stolen. And NO ONE will stand in her way.

Blue Beetle follows your classic super hero origins story. Boy stumbles into a mess, boy is given a powerful artifact with unknown (or at least undisclosed) origins and powers, and is “chosen” by the artifact to become the new host. Boy becomes a kick butt super hero, and uses his powers to defeat the mustache twirling super elite who want to use the artifact for profit and evil. Rinse and repeat the same family drama and “my love makes me stronger not weaker!” one lines, and you have Blue Beetle.

Blue Beetle is both frustrating and a breathe of fresh air. On one side of the coin we are finally detached from the overly dark and Nihilistic world of the Snyderverse. I loved many aspects of Snyder’s visions, but it got sooooooooooo over the top dark that it wasn’t “fun” anymore. On the flip side, Blue Beetle is a gigantic mess of sloppy Hispanic cliches (coming from a half Hispanic household they took everything about a Hispanic family and amplified it to comic book levels of absurdity), George Lopez (who hasn’t been funny since 2005), over use of the old “family is thicker than blood!” trope, and just hit frappe on the blender. Flip that coin over once more though, and you get the massive energy that everyone is giving. The film tries sooooooooo hard (and not in a bad way) that you are actually rooting for the movie to succeed, even when it doesn’t. Everyone from Xolo to even Lopez is trying their heart out to make this succeed and it shows. The visceral excitement from every actor is palpable from the moment the film starts, and I’m actually really happy that they tried to bring in one of the B-list DC characters and do the Iron Man routine on them (Iron Man was a B level Marvel super hero until Marvel hit gold with Robert Downey Jr.), but it just doesn’t work always.

As a fan of Blue Beetle I really liked that they stuck with the Jaime Reyes version, yet still made homage to the Ted Kord and Dan Garrett versions from the Silver and Golden age of of DC comics. I got a chuckle out of the Beetle bus, and the classic weapons reimagined, but the Jaime Reyes variant of the Beetle is actually probably one of the best imagined versions of the super hero out there. His weapons and powers are in a league all their own, and DC did a really good job at creating a 3rd gen superhero out of him in the comics. On screen, it’s a bit of a mixed back, but my ending comments will be this. Blue Beetle is a movie with more heart that 90% of the DCEU films out there, but unfortunately heart isn’t always enough, as it falters under the weight of poor direction and execution from the top on down. Fun enough, but not great.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for sequences of action and violence, language, and some suggestive references




4K Video: Video:

After The Flash’s abysmal CGI I was kind of worried about Warner Brothers 4K UHD release. But likely there was nothing to be worried ABOUT, as Blue Beetle delivers the visual goods. Shot digitally and transferred with to a native 4K master, the film looks absolutely dazzling in 2160p. I don’t have the Blu-ray to compare against (Warner is going down Paramount’s path of only releasing single disc editions recently), but I have a hard time believing that this 4K disc wouldn’t handily beat the snot out of the 1080p variant. The film splits up the production design between beaten down ramshackle homes in the ghettos, and a neon lit futuristic city world where the rich people and corporate elites live. The two blend pretty seamlessly, with the hispanic flavored homes looking warmer, more diffused on the focus, and more amber color grading juxtaposed with the Ipod sterile and shiny world of Kord industries and the Blue Beetle costume. One thing that did stick out is that the 4K made it REALLY easy to see the crummy rubber suit Jaime was wearing, to the point where I actually wondered if we had gone back to the late 90s and were emulating Michael Jai White’s Spawn costume (check out the scene where the claw captures Jaime/Blue Beetle for the first time. It stands out like a sore thumb). Otherwise the colors are absolutely gorgeous, with brilliant neon shades of red (for Carapax), Blue and gun metal gray to really add some pizazz. The black levels look incredible, with great contrast and plenty of shadow detail all around as well. Overall this is a great looking film that belies the obviously stretched budget they were forced to work with. Great looking disc.








Audio:

Easily the best part of the whole set is the absolutely chest kicking Dolby Atmos track. Taking no prisoners, Blue Beetle’s Dolby Atmos mix brings down the house with gut punching bass and a wildly immersive mix that pulls the listener straight into the middle of the action. There’s plenty of discrete overhead and side/rear usage throughout, taking full advantage of Blue Beetle’s rocket powered suit, energy blasters, and the roaring thud of helicopter blades as Susan Sarandon gleefully cackles from above. Dialog remains crisp and clear, located up in the front of the room with only a few times where I struggled to here vocals (usually Nana mumbling). Overall, this is a fantastic sounding mix that really is pure demo worthy WB ear candy.












Extras:

• Blue Beetle Generations - Told in distinct chapters, explore the journeys of actors and filmmakers bringing "Blue Beetle" to the big screen for the first time ever. Audiences will be immersed in the POV of filmmakers who showcase their experiences on set and in their creative studios making the story of this DC character a reality.
-- Origins
-- Production Begins
-- In Full Flight
-- A Hero's World
• Scarab Vision: - Xolo Maridueña hosts this series of scene study walk throughs that showcases how the scarab works and the role it plays in some of Blue Beetle's most epic moments.
-- Episode One: Initiation
-- Episode Two: Mystery
• Blue Beetle's Nana Knows Best - Witness Nana's transformation from an adorable 'abuelita' into a machine gun-wielding revolutionary, and stop in for a few of her most fun moments on set throughout production.

Final Score: ​

I wanted to like Blue Beetle more than I did, and if this was early 2005 or so, it might have been a much bigger hit. The film has a lot of problems (George Lopez being a huge one), especially with tone and overuse of Hispanic cliches, but my goodness does everyone give EVERYTHING they have. The film is earnest that you can’t help but root for it, especially with all of the homages to Dan Garrett and Ted Kord throughout the film (and yes, there’s an end credits teaser. Stupid Marvel has conditioned every super hero movie ever to have one anymore), but it can’t get over it’s own over bloated problems. The disc itself looks and sounds amazing though, and the extras are pretty decent as well, so fans of the movie will definitely want to pick it up. Everyone else, it makes for a decent watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Xolo Mariduena, Bruna Marquezine, Becky G., George Lopez, Adriana Barraza, Susan Sarandon
Directed by: Angel Manuel Soto
Written by: Gareth Dunnet-Alocer
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English , French, Spanish DD 5.1, English DVS
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 128 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: October 31st, 2023

Recommendation: Decent enough Watch