Blue Beetle

Directed by Ángel Manuel Soto, Blue Beetle follows Xolo Maridueña’s Jaime Reyes as he becomes the title superhero after possessing a mystical artifact known as the Scarab. There’s little doubt, ultimately, that Blue Beetle fares best in its excessively lighthearted yet relatively entertaining opening stretch, as Soto, armed with a script by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, does an effective job of establishing the affable central character and his eclectic family life – with Soto’s relentlessly slick sensibilities, as a result, not quite as problematic as one might’ve feared. And while the Jaime’s initial transformation into the Blue Beetle is admittedly handled quite well, Blue Beetle progresses into an aggressively generic and padded-out midsection that slowly-but-surely drains the viewer’s interest and attention – with the movie’s arms-length atmosphere exacerbated by Soto’s reliance on garish computer-generated special effects and eye-rollingly comedic elements. (The latter is particularly true of George Lopez’s grating turn as Jaime’s wildly over-the-top uncle, Rudy.) By the time the endless, interminable third act rolls around, Blue Beetle has worn out its welcome to a degree that’s surprising even by the standards of the notoriously bottom-of-the-barrel comic-book genre – which is a shame, certainly, given the potential inherent in the picture’s opening half hour.

* out of ****