SPOILER REVIEW! Blue Beetle and Why My Mexican Mom Loved It!

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Movie Mike's movie podcast. I am your host Movie Mike, and this is the spoiler review of Blue Beetle, which is one of my favorite DC movies probably ever. I think it's now a top five DCEU movie for me, and I'm going to get into all the details about why I love this movie. So continue listening if you too have seen Blue Beetle, or if you had no intentions of seeing it and you just want to hear all the spoilers, or if you're going to see it maybe later and you're one of those rare people who like hearing about every single aspect of a movie before you go and watch it. So we're going to get into all the spoiler details, and I'm gonna do this episode a little bit differently and give you my top five moments of the film that will essentially recap the entire movie with all the spoilers in it. But the overview of this movie, it's about Haima Reyes and the origin story of the Blue Beetle and how he becomes the Blue Beatle by accident. So how that happens is you have this company called Cord Industries, which Susan Sarandon is the co founder and CEO of this company, and at the very beginning of the movie, she discovers this ancient alien artifact known as the Scare of I was worried at the beginning of this movie because it had a very kind of generic intro, and I was okay with I think one of the most cliche things about this movie was her character just being the overarching mean villain throughout this entire movie, with this mastermind plan that really wasn't anything we hadn't seen before. And I had to look past that, because really, what happens with Coord Industries in this movie isn't much different than what we explored with Ironman and the whole dilemma of making military grade weapons and things that caused destruction and war. And that's really what we experienced in this movie because Susan Sarainda's character wants to make this army of super soldiers, and you have Jenny Cord, who is the daughter of the original Blue Beetle, trying to stop her, because she says, Court Industries is not making weapons anymore, but they are going to use the scareb to essentially power all of these super Soldiers and create this entire network. So what Jenny Cord tries to do is stop Susan Sarandon by stealing the Scareb. Jimen just happens to be in the right place at the right time, because at the beginning of the movie, after his post college plans don't really go as planned because he finds out that his family is going through all these financial troubles. His dad is having these health issues. He ends up working at Susan Sarandon's mansion, gets fired from that job, but then Jenny tells him she can come to Court Industries and he will get her a job. Happens to be there on the day that she decides to steal the scareb. She gives it to him in a fast food box, tells him to guard it with his life, but not to open the box.

00:02:44
Speaker 2: And what does he do. He takes it home and opens it.

00:02:48
Speaker 1: The thing just infiltrates his body through his face or maybe there was butt, and then the entire movie is at first Hymen and his family trying to get the blue beetle out of him, and Susan Sarandon's character trying to retrieve the blue Beetle back so that she can use it to power her army of super soldiers. But then, of course you find out that the only way for the Blue Beetle to be taken Adaheim is for him to die, so the mission shifts with ultimately them just trying to stop Victoria Chord from her mastermind evil plan. So let's get into what my top five moments of the movie were, and I'll just rank these one through five. At number one, I think that first fight scene really set the tone of this movie, and it's really where this movie.

00:03:32
Speaker 2: Started to feel different to me.

00:03:34
Speaker 1: I feel like that first beginning of the act, like I said in the spoiler free version, felt a little bit generic and a little bit I was worried that it was just going to be a movie that didn't really have a whole lot to say.

00:03:46
Speaker 2: And I think that's.

00:03:46
Speaker 1: Because the whole scene of Haim first being taken over by the Blue Beetle and Kashi taking him on this kind of fight test to see if he is compatible and trying out all these things that felt fun and lighthearted, but it didn't really give me that essence of what the Blue Beetle was going to become. But that first fight scene really set the tone, and it had a little bit of an edge to it, which I was surprised by, and I just really love what it showed about Heima's character that he had no idea what was going on. He let the suit kind of take control, and you really saw the power of the suit and what it was capable of. And you also get into the moral dilemma of he had a chance to kill the bad guy, but he decided that he didn't want to be a killer, which I feel is something that a lot of superheroes go through. Batman has an issue with killing, Spider Man has an issue with killing, Superman has an issue with killing. So that's nothing completely novel, but for some reason it really resonated with me in this moment because he does get to a point where he can take him out chooses not to. Then the evil guy comes back and essentially beats up Jimus so bad and is about to kill him, but then George Lopas's character Rudy and Jenny come to the rescue in a pretty fun way. So that is moment number one, and number two is the dad dying, And you kind of knew it was coming because of what they said about his heart issues. But man, that moment really really got me. And I have not cried in a movie ever, never have cried in a movie. I've gotten close. Whenever Tony Stark died. I got very close in that moment, but it was ruined because the lady next to me decided to get up at that point, and I was like, you're ruining this moment for me. So whenever Tony Stark was going to die was probably the closest.

00:05:34
Speaker 2: I'd got before this. I also got teary.

00:05:37
Speaker 1: Eyed whenever Aunt May died in No Way Home, But this is one that really really got me. And I think it's because recently, because I'm in my thirties now, my dad is in his sixties, I've.

00:05:51
Speaker 2: Just been thinking about.

00:05:53
Speaker 1: A lot that I don't know what life is going to look like when he is not around, when he or my mom are not and they're not super old, but you just start to think about it at this point in life when you see, you know, people around you start to lose their parents, which is new to me that I think it's because I've been thinking about that so long, and I've been making attempts to go home more attempts to call my dad more, just knowing that someday he won't be there to answer my phone call. And I think it's seeing other people go through that and knowing that all they want is more time back that at least I've been able to be conscious of that and make things a little bit more manageable when that time comes, and know that I at least made the strides, at least made the efforts. And it was always in my mind to talk to my parents more and make that time more, because really, all you want back is time with them. So now in my thirties, I've realized that, And maybe that's earlier than some will have the chance to think about that, but it's because I've had that in my head for so long now, of thinking of the thought of just losing my dad or losing my mom, that in that moment when Jiman loses his dad, I felt like that's what I was going to feel like. And the fact that he was just wrapped up in that big claw, couldn't move out of it, couldn't save his dad, and coming after a pretty heroic moment of him rushing to save his family taking out all those soldiers but then not being able to save the thing that meant the most to him.

00:07:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, I lost it.

00:07:34
Speaker 1: I just started crying. I wouldn't say it was like a heavy like eow, but it was just the tears started coming down my face and they wouldn't stop. And then it just kind of opened up the floodgates of me being emotional and not really recouping after that moment. And that leads me to my number three moment is the conversation he had with his dad after he has that vision of his father, when they're essentially sucking all of the life out of him, trying to retrieve the code to the Blue Beetle so they can power their super soldiers. And in that moment, Jima is unconscious and he goes into this kind of realm that's this purgatory, if you will, and he sees his dad sitting on this chair that has the plastic lining, which if you've lived in a house where everybody's concerned about preserving the furniture, that also struck home with you.

00:08:29
Speaker 2: But it's all the.

00:08:29
Speaker 1: Candles behind him and him realizing in that moment that his dad has passed because he didn't know at this point he was taken to this island. He hadn't seen his family, and he didn't have that kind of closing moment that the family did. He did see his dad have the heart attack and knowing that he wasn't going to make it because Kanshi told him that he was suffering cardiac arrests. But it was in that moment, just having that closure and knowing that his dad had passed and now he was there telling him that the reason for his existence was to be here in that moment to tell him to keep going, that it's not his time to go right now. Which this moment also reminded me of a similar moment in Black Panther where T'Challa had essentially the same interaction with his father and then you see Kashi and Hime essentially become compatible.

00:09:27
Speaker 2: He comes back to life.

00:09:28
Speaker 1: And is able to escape and not die in that process. So that was my number three moment, and number four was probably the reveal of the Grandma's revolutionary past, which this movie had a lot of comedic moments, and I would still say Rudy was my favorite character overall when it comes to the family, which this family really kind of steals the show throughout this entire movie, because you don't just fall in love with Heima's character, you fall in love with this entire family.

00:09:58
Speaker 2: And what a great.

00:10:00
Speaker 1: Ensemble cast and a great use of all these characters throughout this movie. But I think the moment that just really kind of won my theater over, not just the first time, but the second time, because I took my mom to go see it, and my mom does not really like superhero movies. She loves horror movies, comedy movies, and classic Mexican movies, but has never really sat down to watch a single superhero movie. And I was back home and watch Ahatchie earlier this week. I told her she would love this movie. Took her to see it, and she thought she was going to fall asleep at some point because she didn't think she was going to be that interested in it. But loved every single aspect of this movie, from the soundtrack, from the humor, and I think what she really loved was the Grandma character, maybe because she reminded her a little bit of her mom and her grandma. But I think it was that moment that you find out that the grandma had this revolutionary past was one of the best comedic moments, and then her handling that gun about the entire final battle scene was great. And it was also in that moment that I realized that my mom is the type of moviegoer that repeats back the funny lines, and it was just so cool to see her enjoy this movie and be able to take her to see a movie that represented us in a way that I felt authentic because to me, when I went to see it, I felt that same way. But my mom, being from Mexico and also loving movies as well, I wondered what her reaction was going to be, and she loved it. I think she ended up really enjoying the fact that there was so much Spanish throughout this movie really allowed her to enjoy this movie even more so. I love that scene, and I love that moment I kind of share with my mom while watching this movie at number five. It would be a combination of that final fight which there was just so much pent up energy and emotion and the family just you know, really having it with being just pushed.

00:12:01
Speaker 2: Around throughout this entire movie.

00:12:03
Speaker 1: And I think Blue Beatle does have a lot of commentary on the rich and the poor and gentrification of how the rich. All they do sometimes is take from the poor, and they don't want anything to do with you until they like your property or until there's something that you can do for them. And you saw that a lot throughout this entire movie. Another moment that really resonated with me was Susan Sarandon's character at the beginning being very condescending towards Hima and his sister as she fired them, telling them to andale, Oh, there is nothing that gets me more than somebody condescendingly using Spanish towards me. And I think this movie really spoke on that, whether it was that scene of her dismissing them in a very condescending tone, or also when Jim goes for that job interview and them essentially directing him to where the deliveries are because they think, oh, this guy could be here for any other reason than to do a lower level job. I felt that moment too, and it was all of those pent up things that the family had been going through, losing the dad, essentially being pushed around this entire movie, and then finally his mom telling him to use all that pain we're feeling and turn it into power. And that is exactly what Hima does, and he takes all that emotion and also the fact that this evil guy has been telling him this entire time that your family is your weakness, and Hima tells him, no, my family is my strength, and that is what allows him to unlock the full ability and power of the Blue Beetle and defeat him almost to the point of killing him, where Kashi again has to remind him and it goes full circle that hey, we're not killers, and you see the past of this guy, and you let him live. And then he is the one who ends up taking out Susan Sarandon because she has been the one who has made his life a living hill. So that final fight was great, and then the family just getting their closure and the grandma saying that now is the time that we can cry. I want to see for the most yorad that is what she says. Coming after earlier when they did not allow themselves to let the passing of the dad keep them from fighting and keep them from moving on, they didn't cry then, but once the battle was done, once the fight was over, they finally allowed themselves to cry. They go back home to see it burn down, but then the entire community comes together after the funeral to help them build back their home. Jenny Cord comes back, and I love that moment of Rudy getting that new truck and pretending not to like it, and then of course you get the final closing scene with Jenny and him finally going in for that first kiss, which I thought they had a lot of chemistry throughout this movie. It didn't focus a whole lot on the love story, which I thought was a good move.

00:14:55
Speaker 2: I think if they end up making.

00:14:56
Speaker 1: A Blue Beetle too, they'll probably explore that a little bit more, which that leads me to my final point, will there be a Blue Beetle too? Because we get that mid credit scene and you hear that message from Jenny Cord's dad, who was the original Blue Beetle in this story, that he is still alive, so he is still out there, A pretty easy setup to making a sequel would probably explore.

00:15:21
Speaker 2: Them trying to find him figure out where he is.

00:15:24
Speaker 1: I could also see them kind of going the ant Man route, which there are a lot of parallels to ant Man and Iron Man in this movie, but it just reminds me more of ant Man, of them having to go maybe into some kind of quantum realm like they do to find her dad, and then he comes back and they have to go defeat some other villain, with Hime being the more powerful Blue Beetle, her dad having the more.

00:15:50
Speaker 2: Old school approach being a.

00:15:52
Speaker 1: Little bit outdated, and then I could probably see Jenny becoming kind of a wasp like character of also having a suit of her own, and it essentially becomes a three piece trio combined with Heima's family, who has also shown that they can put up a fight given some tools. So I think there is another story to be told here. I just don't know if we're going to get it, not only because of the box office performance of Blue Beetle, which again comes at a time where the actors can't promote this movie because of the strike, so the studio put in less money to do promotion on this movie. Came at a very competitive summer. Not trying to make excuses for this movie because I wanted to be successful. It's just the state of the DCEU, and all of the last eight releases.

00:16:41
Speaker 2: Have failed to gross four hundred million dollars.

00:16:43
Speaker 1: So that's a pretty harsh five year rut for Warner Brothers, which isn't all warranted. They've put out some pretty good and then also great movies in the last five years.

00:16:55
Speaker 2: Blue Beetle for me is a top five DCEU movie.

00:16:58
Speaker 1: Now, I would put it right behind Man of Steel, so my top five would still be The Suicides God from twenty twenty one, Zack Snyder's Justice League from twenty one, Wonder Woman from twenty seventeen, Man of Steel from twenty thirteen. At number four. Right in that top five for me is Blue Beetle. So again, James Gunn is going to do an overhaul on DC starting in twenty twenty five with Superman Legacy, so I don't really feel like Blue Beetle was a part of the old DCEU that is wrapping up with Akaman. The character himself, I feel could easily translate into another DC movie, whatever they decide they're going to do with it, because I think the character means a lot to so many people, and maybe they don't have to make a direct sequel, but somehow combine them into another DC property.

00:17:49
Speaker 2: I think it would be great. So maybe we don't get a Blue Beetle too.

00:17:54
Speaker 1: But maybe we get him in another project, but it would be hard not to see this entire family again. So come on, James gun keep Blue Beetle around. So that has been my spoiler review of Blue Beetle. Be back next week with another brand new episode where we talking about Grand Tarismo, our top five movies of the summer, and we'll get into some nostalgiel with a good Burger too.

00:18:17
Speaker 2: Trailer.

00:18:18
Speaker 1: Hope you have a great rest of your week, a great Labordig weekend, and until next time, go out and watch good movies and I will talk to you later.