Blue Beetle

I could come up with a million excuses why I'm late on my review for this movie. You've heard them already, so it doesn't MATTER. Let's get into it.

Blue Beetle. Let's be honest, this is not the movie any of us asked for. But it is the movie we deserve. What do I mean by that? We deserve a fun, super hero movie that isn't about saving the world, but a personal story with our main character. You can be reductive and say it's like Iron Man's origin movie or Ant-Man's, but that is going to make you miss out. Also, other than the fact that all the heroes where a suit of armor, that's the only similarity. Don't get forget that Tony Stark and Scott Lang were assholes before they put on a hero suit. Jamie Reyes is none of that and is instantly more likeable. 

Okay, let me also say this. The trailers for this movie do it a huge disservice. They make it seem like Jamie (Xolo Maridueña) is this poor down on his luck kid. In actuality, he just graduated from college (in pre-law?) and just can't find a job. We've been there. He's also trying to do right by his family because they are not doing well. Miles above what those others were. So again, I hate the misleading trailer. 

I found him absolutely charming and I shockingly liked George Lopez in this movie as the wacky uncle. The thread the needle on conspiracy theory believing and bumbling with a true heart and sounding board for Jamie. I didn't expect this and it was welcomed. In fact, I enjoyed his entire family and how they pull together. Also, my hot take. This movie was more about family that Fast X was. Just cause you say the word family about 100 times, doesn't make fetch happen.

One other note. This is the best we could have hoped Blue Beetle as a character would appear on screen. Ted Kord would NOT work. I like that he is referenced here and some of his gadgets, costumes and vehicles show up. This way the toxic fan boys might complain less about seeing their white super hero replaced by a Latino. Who am I kidding? They'll still complain. Ted Kord is trash, y'all. There, I said it.

If you saw the Flash movie, I'm sorry. I did too. I bring that up because the special effects here are GOOD, unlike that other movie. The only issue I have is the super hero movie trope of the good guy fighting a bad guy version of himself (i.e. two dudes in armor like in Iron Man, Black Panther, Ant-Man). It's the only complaint I have about this movie.

Oh, real quick. Susan Sarandon is straight up the villain in this movie, y'all. I feel like she had a lot of fun with it. She got to ham it up and it is something to behold. She's also so good at it you want her to get what's coming to her.

Finally, the musical score is really good. The marketing and the logo has this 80's vibe and all I could think is, "Here we go again with this 80's nostalgia bullshit". It works here, so my cynicism is not always on point. 

I absolutely recommend this movie. Of course, right before the power shifts at DC, they start making some enjoyable movies. I have no idea what to expect from James Gunn and the upcoming Aquaman, but at least for a shining moment, DC has made a few movies I've liked these past few years.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Look, I am always behind in how long it takes me to post about what I watch. It's now become a feature, not a bug. So let's just get right into it without you accusing me of ANYTHING.

Over the years, I have come to realize that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are probably my favorite property. It is easily top four with Transformers, Dragon Ball Z and Power Rangers. I can't explain it, nor WILL I. It's my prerogative. I have figures all over the damn place in my room and my favorites, by a mile, are my 1/4 sized set of the Ninja Turtles from the first live action movie. The property has been rebranded, rebooted so many times, it's hard to keep count. And I've watched nearly all of them. I enjoy each iteration.

When I heard this movie was going to skew the turtles on the younger side of their teenage years, I half rolled my eyes. I go hot and cold on Seth Rogen. I feel like I've aged out of most of his humor and I can find him very annoying. All that being said, I love this property, a movie was going to be in the theaters, so of course I was going to see it and give it a shot.

So what did I think? I loved it. It took me a while to get used to the animation style, it's like, Diet Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. We can see that this street graffiti look is here to stay and hang out for a bit, so we might as well welcome it into our lives. Once I got over the initial ugliness of some of the humans (Baxter Stockman for example), this movie really settles in. Also, before we go any further, the look of Splinter is oft-putting to me. 

I was not expecting an actiony movie like Turtles movies of the past. The action we did get was appropriate for teens just starting to get into real fights. I liked that they struggled against normal guys because they had not been in real combat before. It's a perfect example of what happens when you learn from watching videos, but then have to apply that in real life.

I also liked the arc of the characters and how they grow. It was fun watching Leonardo finally gaining the respect of his brothers as a leader. I also loved the choice of having him, not Donatello in recent iterations, fawning over April. Watching the other brothers finding their places on the team with their dynamic was also fun. There was also so much chemistry between them and it was good to not see them constantly bickering.

I was initially worried when they announced the cast of this movie and just how many characters were in it. I felt that for the first movie, they would take away too much screen from the turtles and just oversaturate the whole thing. Fortunately, they are not the focus and show up in chunks throughout the film. Honestly, they get a lot of big names for bit parts. Kind of a waste if you ask me. 

The voice acting was strong in this and I never knew that Ice Cube as himself, playing Baxter Stockman is what I was missing in my life. This was 90s era Ice Cube, which I think a lot of you would appreciate. I mean, he straight up talks about molly whopping people. Ice Cube was being Ice Cube and I'm here for it. Jackie Chan was a surprise choice, but he's had enough experience in the game that he can emote with his voice very well and he comes off as the caring father that he portrayed.

Just the theme of family and wanting to fit in definitely resonated with me, so I felt something watching this movie that I didn't think I would. I've grown softer in my later years.

Would I recommend this movie? Absolutely. Do I want to watch it again, absolutely. I feel like I might have missed some bits because I was distracted THE WHOLE MOVIE because Alamo was having an off day and I didn't get my food until 15 minutes before the movie ended. Why does this matter you say? Because I ordered ten minutes BEFORE the movie started. So I had to wait the whole damn movie to get fed and I came to the movie hungry. So I was in a MOOD and distracted, not able to fully enjoy this like I wanted to. Anyways, go see it... on demand somewhere because the shelf life of movies in theaters is obscene these days.