Can a film be both family friendly superhero adventure and social analogue for the (specifically) Latinx American Immigrant experience? Blue Beetle, it turns out, is. Aimed at an all ages audience, Beetle tells a fun if simple superhero origin story while tying its story beats into a narrative that explores the exploitation of immigrant workers by American capitalism, the importance of family and community, and the persistence of marginalized communities in the faces of oppression.
For me I felt it did the latter better than it did the former. As a superhero story Blue Beetle is fairly one note. It’s good but it doesn’t stand out from the crowd on that level. But where it does shine is in how it weaves in the allegories. The story of Jaime Reyes is the story of a first generation American and the film doesn’t shy away from that.
But don’t worry. Blue Beetle remains a lot of fun even as it weaves these ideas together. In fact much of the films best social commentary comes in its humour. The film is an accessible adventure that is generally entertaining for most ages and can be watched intergenerationally. It sometimes goes a little heavy handed into some of its jokes, especially around Nana, and the film takes a few shortcuts with logic around its world building. But it still delvers a fun movie and proves again that representation matters.
Blue Beetle
Starring: Xolo Maridueña, George Lopez, Susan Sarandon, Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, Raoul Max Trujillo, Harvey Guillén, Becky G
Director: Ángel Manuel Soto
Writer: Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer
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