Blue Beetle Movie

[Robotman]

Saw a couple of negative reviews. Seems wiser to wait for a bit and see some more reviews plus the audience reactions. I never go opening day anymore; I wait and see if I should, or just wait and catch it on streaming.

it seems like the negative reviews are from reviewers who seem tired of the superhero genre in general. A lot of “we’ve seen all this before” complaints. It’s a superhero origin story so there’s bound to be similar story beats from other movies.

So it probably won’t appeal to moviegoers who have any sort of superhero movie fatigue or if the cultural significance of the flick isn’t important/interesting to them.

Still mostly positive reviews. A lot of praise for the cast.

Even with today’s good reviews it’s still only estimated to make around $30 million on its opening weekend. Still not looking great. Maybe that number will go up tomorrow.

[Pinsir]

#BlueBillion is coming soon folks...

[CliffHanger2]

Snyder's tweet about this movie got more interaction than the effing movie trailer....WTF....

[achilles]

it seems like the negative reviews are from reviewers who seem tired of the superhero genre in general. A lot of “we’ve seen all this before” complaints. It’s a superhero origin story so there’s bound to be similar story beats from other movies.

So it probably won’t appeal to moviegoers who have any sort of superhero movie fatigue or if the cultural significance of the flick isn’t important/interesting to them.

Still mostly positive reviews. A lot of praise for the cast.

Even with today’s good reviews it’s still only estimated to make around $30 million on its opening weekend. Still not looking great. Maybe that number will go up tomorrow.

I can't speak to their view on the genre, but their complaints all seem of a piece; that it's a movie that breaks no new ground at all, and is merely a rehash of tropes that have been beaten into the ground already. And that it looks cheap, that no one on the cast does a particularly distinguished job.

The positives also seem to be of a piece; in this case his family, (which also get negative mentions because it apes Fast and the Furious with its constant references to "family"), and Latino representation.

And I've learned to be suspicious of early pro reviewers after Indy and The Flash.

[achilles]

More negative reviews. It's starting to look more...mixed. Again, to state the pros and cons of the movie as commonly referred to in the reviews:

Pros:

Latino representation.
His family.

Cons:

Entirely unoriginal.
His family, (this one seems to break on the perception of the reviewer, some seem to like it, some seem to think it doesn't work.
Latino representation, (some argue that the movie does nothing with it).
Cheap feel.

I suppose we'll soon find out. Well, not me, I've got an oncoming tropical storm to prepare for.

[Username taken]

Blue Beetle is certified fresh!

This should help DC get back on track.

[j9ac9k]

The positives also seem to be of a piece; in this case his family, (which also get negative mentions because it apes Fast and the Furious with its constant references to "family"), and Latino representation.

Lol - yeah, imagine people watching "The Godfather" for the first time now and saying they ripped off F&F for talking about "family" so much.

[Robotman]

Just got back from watching Blue Beetle. Loved it! Xolo and the cast are great and it is indeed unapologetic Latino. It’s just a solid superhero flick all around. I won’t go into spoilers but it was a lot of fun. Ted may not be physically in it but his presence is definitely felt.

I can understand why some critics gave it a negative review though. If you don’t care about the cultural significance of the movie or the references and are maybe not a big fan of the genre, it’s just a solid superhero movie which at this point we get multiple times a year. The main complaint is “we’ve seen it all before”. Not Blue Beetle’s fault. It’s just the state of the superhero movie world.

[tabo61]

My favorite DC movie of this year hands down.

[Bunch of Coconuts]

While I understood the complaint from a critic POV or a non-comics fan POV, I never understood why comics fans would complain about superhero origin movies.

Like half the fun of being a superhero fan is learning how they got their powers, suits, tech, or other abilities and what drives their initial motivation to become a hero.

[kidfresh512]

While I understood the complaint from a critic POV or a non-comics fan POV, I never understood why comics fans would complain about superhero origin movies.

Like half the fun of being a superhero fan is learning how they got their powers, suits, tech, or other abilities and what drives their initial motivation to become a hero.

The only legit complaint would be if it is that characters second or third reboot. IE Batman, or Superman. We all know the story I never need to see an origin again.

[choptop]

While I understood the complaint from a critic POV or a non-comics fan POV, I never understood why comics fans would complain about superhero origin movies.

Like half the fun of being a superhero fan is learning how they got their powers, suits, tech, or other abilities and what drives their initial motivation to become a hero.

I agree it's like all the people who were happy they skipped spidermans origin in the MCU they acted like they did
it 100 times but it was only 2 times In 11 years really not that big of a deal.

[Gaastra]

Friday Midday: Early numbers show Warner Bros/DC’s Blue Beetle with $9.8M today and a $25M opening at 3,871. This is higher than what others are showing given the expectation that Latino and Hispanic audiences will show up tonight and during matinees. Remember that Blue Beetle has all the PLFs, Imax and premium upcharges working in its favor.

Looks like beetle can knock barbie out of first.

Warners can boast second place in the fifth weekend of Barbie at 4,003 theaters with a $6M Friday, -40% from a week ago, and a $20M-$21M 3-day, -39%. On the high end, Barbie gets to $566.7M by EOD Sunday.

RelishMix says about the online chatter that it’s “mainly positive as fans welcome a fresh superhero face — with Xolo Maridueña, a beloved figure from Cobra Kai bringing heat. While many are comping iconic characters like Spider-Man and Iron Man, they’re also praising the film’s cultural depth with some drawing young parallels to Spy Kids and Power Rangers.”

Blue Beetle‘s previews aren’t that far from Shazam: Fury of the Gods which did $3.4M before making $11.7M on its first Friday, $30.1M over three-days. That DC sequel, which cost $125M, was a major disappointment, its wattage deafened by the news of the new DC universe that James Gunn and Peter Safran are building. While a $30M start for Blue Beetle would be notable for a Latino-Hispanic movie –a great comp here is Alita: Battle Angel which opened to $28.5M ($37.2M over 4)–that opening for this DC superhero likely won’t trigger a sequel. Blue Beetle cost a reported net of $104M, and was originally conceived for HBO Max, but then the studio pivoted to theatrical after a solid test screening. Reviews haven’t been shabby for Blue Beetle at 79% certified fresh, higher than Shazam 2‘s 49% Rotten, but lower than Shazam‘s 90%. Shazam received an A CinemaScore, the sequel a B+. Shazam Fury of the Gods died at the domestic box office back in the spring with a $57.6M final.

https://deadline.com/2023/08/box-off...ie-1235522235/

[Bunch of Coconuts]

The only legit complaint would be if it is that characters second or third reboot. IE Batman, or Superman. We all know the story I never need to see an origin again.

I can agree with that to an extent.

But from Reeves as Superman to Cavill, that’s quite a large gap in years.

[Buried Alien]

Enjoyed BLUE BEETLE. I enjoy Xolo's work on COBRA KAI, so I knew he'd do a good job in the role of Jaime/Blue Beetle.

On the larger issue of what can make superhero movies fresh. Ironically, the best solution is probably also a seemingly "dumb" one: don't do an origin story, and don't do a big crisis, and don't do an endgame. Do "a day in the life" superhero story like the kinds many of us grew up reading during the Bronze Age. Imagine a new SUPERMAN movie loosely based on Alan Moore's FOR THE MAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING, a great, memorable Superman story, but not one that explores his origins or any big universal crisis. Imagine a new BATMAN movie loosely modeled on his earliest encounters with Ra's Al-Ghul during the Bronze Age. Imagine a new FLASH movie loosely modeled on some memorable, though inconsequential John Broome, Cary Bates, or Mark Waid story. We grew up reading those stories in inexpensive funny books, but the average movie viewers haven't seen stories like those in these movies yet.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)