Massimo Vozza
fandomDC Cinematic Universe looking forward to the official start of the era of James Gunn, the new creative director and co-president of DC Studios, not knowing exactly what fate awaits the work done so far (with the exception of Cavill’s Superman and Affleck’s Batman).
So the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, who has already directed The Suicide Squad for Warner Bros., will have to start over with a particularly chaotic situation of failed titles (like the previous The Flash) and other stands. – lonely ones who struggled to find a road that had not yet been trodden several times. The Blue Beetle is a prime example of this second case study.: beyond the ethnic and cultural excursion of the protagonist and his family (which carried even more weight in a film as imperfect as Black Adam), Latin American superhero directed by Angel Manuel Soto looks like a mixture of Spider-Man with Tom Holland, the Ms. Marvel series and the first Ant-Man. Among the foci that echo the first two of the three titles mentioned are certainly writing more gen z-oriented comic scenes, a (post)teenage story, as well as connecting with family: if, on the one hand, like Peter Parker, Jaime Reyes will come to the same point of no return, complete with speeches that refer too much to the famous “with great power comes great responsibility”, on the other hand chaotic relatives act as a support and at the same time a wall for a young man as has already happened with Kamala Khan (albeit with a more active role this time). Instead, the superhero played by Paul Rudd has a lot in common in terms of relationship with the protagonist’s love interest and characterization of her and her father’s backstory.
It’s also pretty funny that two of the three Marvel superheroes they looked at are also inspired by the world of “insects” (yes, spiders are arachnids, but the challenge is still clear) and that Blue Beetle’s suit is too similar to Spider-Man’s high-tech suit.one with mechanical “paws” and one with artificial intelligence (but in the DC movie it’s an alien intelligence for what it’s worth).
It’s true that stories about characters with abilities often tend to be similar to each other, and that DC and Marvel have been inspiring each other all their lives (if not copying ideas), but given the large number of entries in this genre over the past few years it’s getting harder and harder to be satisfied with the same warm soupespecially if it doesn’t present any quirks even in the production, and the lack of cohesion and narrative relevance with other titles in the same cinematic universe makes everything even less appealing.
At this point, the question arises whether a new start is really worth this franchise with a strategy that, looking at the House of Ideas on the success of individual film comics in recent times, regardless of production, seems to be already outdated and which only when accompanied by a strong authorial value manages to stand on own legs. However, the Blue Beetle does not walk, but weaves, despite the fact that the character can fly.being able to get even to space.
Blue Beetle is in theaters Thursday, August 17 with Warner Bros. Pictures Italia.
VOTE: ★★½