My enthusiasm for this movie was almost non-existent. I went to the screening since I remember liking the trailer I saw months ago, but mostly because nothing else came up. I had already cleaned my place the day before – I still had laundry to do, but procrastinating by going to the movies seemed like a better use of my time. Going in with low to no expectations can do wonders for the movie-going experience. So I wasn’t worried even if I’d never heard of Angel Manuel Soto, the director; with Miss Bala being the only project of Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, the screenwriter, that I’ve seen.

Even the star Xolo Maridueña is a bit of an unknown to me, I’ve never watched Cobra Kai, I just know who he is. Bruna Marquezine, Damián Alcázar (Prince Caspian), Adriana Barraza (Thor), and Raoul Max Trujillo (Mayans M.C., Sicario, Apocalypto) were unknown to me. I recognized Belissa Escobedo from Hocus Pocus 2 and Harvey Guillén from Reacher to name just one. Susan Sarandon and George Lopez were the only names to me.

Premise: The movie catches up with Jaime Reyes as he returns to his hometown Palmera City after graduating from college. A lot has changed, his family is facing some financial difficulties, his neighborhood is gentrifying, and in an effort to help his family while working on putting his degree to use Jaime finds himself in a fortuitous situation that will lead to him being chosen to become a symbiotic host to the Scarab, an ancient alien biotechnological relic that grants him a powerful exoskeleton armor, turning him into the superhero Blue Beetle.

Review: It became increasingly obvious that Blue Beetle was designed to be a fun family film with maybe the younger members of the family in mind. It’s not quite a Spy Kids movie but it’s close. A young adult version if you will. Don’t get me wrong I love the Spy Kids movies for what they are and this movie made me think of them, but a grown-up version. Blue Beetle has heart, the emotion – I teared up a few times, – and the family dynamic is…great. It’s a joyous movie that celebrates Latin culture well, but it falters when it comes to the superhero side of things, mainly the villain’s goal and that he’s fighting another version of himself.

The violence and the softened but still gory on-screen deaths would be the things that make this Spy kids-like movie – to keep the previous example – more adult but it’s the performances that make it so, except for one. Uncle Rudy was too much, he was in a low-budget Spy Kids movie, while the others weren’t. It was so jarring. He was so grating for me that I was tensed whenever he was on screen, which was a lot. It’s like he’s trying to be the main character in this movie instead of the supporting. Not everything he says or does is cringe but enough to be worrying once the pattern was identified and there’s two third of the movie to go. I don’t know if it’s the casting, the direction, or the script, maybe all three but Uncle Rudy was not it, not the secret sauce. He really brought this movie down for me. This role could have been played differently. He’s being a caricature when the others are desperately trying not to be. I’m not hating on him but him being the main thing that doesn’t quite work in the movie is pretty good in my book.

Xolo, Bellissa, and Bruna really shine in this movie as do most of the Reyes family cast, they made me care about the family and what happens. Xolo is a great Jaime, I’m most familiar with the character from Young Justice but I recognized him in Xolo. Belissa as Jaime’s sister was amazing, she seamlessly brought the dry humor and the sadness, she didn’t lose me once. Bruna is a great find and this is probably the role that I’ll recognize her from.

Blue Beetle is entertaining and fun, a good time at the cinema, yet just shy of being great.

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