 While perhaps not entirely original, as it remains the classic cautionary tale of what happens once AI gets too big for its britches, it is nice to see a movie take a somewhat different spin. It does so by making the movie a conglomeration of a few different concepts and blending them together, complete with the aforementioned AI, a look at mankind being the potential real monster, loss and learning to trust/love again and, as one can easily pick up from the trailers, this one consists of another "escort mission" of sorts.
The film opens with an old-time-style (even though this is the future) ad about the advancements of Artificial Intelligence and, ultimately, how we've gotten them to the stage of being almost indecipherable from humans. We get the AI out of hand instantly when they detonate a nuclear warhead over Los Angeles, CA, in the year 2055. This ultimately leads Americans (referring to humans of the Western world) to struggle and fight for survival. Still, the AI also has friends with "New Asia" (Japan, Taiwan, Bhutan, Nepal, Southeast Asia and some of India) who continue to see them as something of an equal. Now that the environment is set, we turn our attention to undercover operative Joshua Taylor (John David Washington), who has unwittingly married his target, Maya Fey (Gemma Chan), whom the American government believes to be the daughter of their ultimate target known as "Nirmata," who is supposed to be the "Creator," responsible for the AI advancements that have seemingly taken things over. Long story short, Josh and Maya get themselves separated under devastating circumstances, but throughout the film, Josh continues his search for her under the belief that she is still alive. Five years later, Josh is approached by General Andrews and Colonel Howell to seek out and destroy a sort of ultimate weapon, supposedly capable of taking out their ultimate defence system - a giant ship known as NOMAD (North American Orbital Mobile Aerospace Defense). He reluctantly agrees when he realizes this mission could lead to reuniting with Maya, but then ends up over his head when he realizes that the "weapon" known as "Alpha-O" is just a kid he nicknames "Alphie" (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) who, despite her great abilities to manipulate machinery, just wants robots to be able to live in peace, thus giving Josh his internal struggle unable to complete his mission, but for all the right moral reasons. This one comes to us from writer/director Gareth Edwards, who feels about as upper-middle ground as possible in directing fantasy/sci-fi movies. He was also responsible for 2014's 'Godzilla' (a breath of fresh air after 1998's version) and 'Star Wars: Rogue One' (probably the ultimate stand-out movie of anything that came out after the prequel trilogy). But as much as I enjoyed those movies for myself, they certainly were not without their share of critics, and though they may never be solid gold, they're generally pretty damn good and never actually what I'd call "bad." This is no exception, and it is well worth the price of admission. Strangely, this movie didn't perform better for an audience who constantly gets sick and tired of the same old superhero blockbusters. This may not have stuck out as ultimately brilliant, in as much as it takes from other concepts. But it was nonetheless entertaining with likeable characters, a flare for the dramatic (even with robots), and visuals that remind us that the sci-fi genre isn't entirely tapped out yet. If I were to ultimately compare it to anything in the way it feels, I'd probably go with 'District 9' in that the film drops us into this world of the future that seems like it could be real one day, based on the ignorance of us asshole humans. Unlike 'District 9', however, I don't entirely see this one being up for a whole lot of Oscars (other than maybe some technical ones), even though I do enjoy the idea here. This isn't one of those big-time go-to sci-fi classics we'll be returning to, but I recommend checking it out to see what it's all about. If nothing else, it provides a relatively intense sci-fi adventure for those seeking something like that, though I may not label it as "fun" like I usually would. This is one to throw on when you've got two hours of nothing to do and just wanna relax with a decent story. There may not be much of a "Wow" factor here, but it's still pretty good. 3/5
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 There's something I love about going to a movie, not knowing a damn thing about its original source material. This makes way for me to enjoy what the movie has to offer without my brain analyzing it for what they did "wrong" or what they've "changed". It payed off with Marvel for 'Guardians' and 'Ant-Man' (primarily the first one), and DC managed it with 'Shazam!' (again, primarily the first one). 'Blue Beetle' serves as further evidence that sometimes it's the unknowns that make us fall in love with the superhero genre all over again.
For those who were like me going into this, completely clueless, 'Blue Beetle' seems to manage to take everything so stereotypical of superhero movies and manage to twist it in a way that reflects the best of everything. Take Spider-Man's personality and quips, then put a Symbiote on him that comes equipped with Stark-Tech... then make it a DC property, and give it the multiculturalism of giving us, not only a Mexican superhero, but make much of the story surround his family, giving the hero something to fight for, and us something to route for and ultimately care about. It all begins when Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon) and other members of Kord Industries find an alien artifact known as The Scarab in remote Antarctica. Her intentions, much to her niece, Jenny's (Bruna Marquezine) dismay, is to ultimately use the Scarab's symbiotic alien tech as a weapon, creating an army. So like, the premise of 'Ant-Man', but using Symbiotes. While attempting to stealthily steal the Scarab and sneak it out of the wrong hands, Jenny hands it off to the unassuming Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) for safe keeping while she hides in plain sight. Jaime just got back to his loving family from graduating from Gotham Law University; among them, father, Alberto (Damián Alcázar), mother, Rocio (Elpidia Carrillo) sister, Milagro (Belissa Escobedo), uncle Rudy (George Lopez), and Nana (Adriana Barraza). Before the aforementioned hand-off happens, Jamie is offered a potential job from Jenny upon meeting her, which is how he was in the right place at the right time when the hand-off occurred; there initially for a job interview. Anyway, the family pressures Jamie to open the secret box he was given despite strict instructions not to, one thing leads to another, and the Scarab chooses Jaime to bond with, thus making him the new Blue Beetle. The family seeks help from Jenny, who supposedly knows what this thing is and how it works, and therefore presumably knows how to get rid of it. This leads the family to work together with Jenny in order to find these answers, but in the meantime, Jaime has some bigger fish to fry with Victoria trying to reclaim the Scarab which is now part of Jaime, no matter what the cost. Tagging along with her is her brute guinea pig, Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo) who has a few tricks up his own sleeve, as he's an in-development "weapon". When I first saw ads for this, it really did strike me as more of the same, and I suppose in many ways, it really is. But even for as much as I've mentioned things we've seen before and ideas that have been executed before - hell, the guy even looks like a Stark Tech suit, there was something about this one that managed to rope me in. I think it was the family dynamic within. We're so used to seeing superheroes work outside of their family. In this, it's almost more like 'The Incredibles' in which the family's involvement is half the charm. We want to see the Reyes family succeed in everything they do. They're super charming and lovable, especially Nana! This is one of the better superhero films I've seen in a long time. Although it clearly takes from a lot of different things, somehow it blends it into something unique, allowing the superhero genre to keep hanging on by that thread it's slowly slipping down. In my pinion, this is what the genre needs to keep doing. Deliver us unfamiliarity instead of rehashing the same heroes over and over again. Box office success is one thing, but a good movie that floats under the radar is another. Not everything has to end up like 'The Eternals', or countless other failed names in the 90s. Honestly, give this one a shot if you're looking for some superhero rejuvenation. 5/5 |
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