Blue Beetle
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: August 18, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 52 Critic Reviews
Positive:
29
Mixed:
21
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Film ThreatAlan NgAug 22, 2023
Blue Beetle is worth seeing, but it has many missed opportunities. Read full review
60
ABC NewsPeter TraversAug 18, 2023
The thrills in the first Latino superhero epic from DC Comics are mostly generic but the personal relationships between protagonist Jaime Reyes (a charming Xolo Maridueña) and his irresistibly rowdy and resilient relatives make all the difference. Viva la familia! Read full review
60
UproxxMike RyanAug 17, 2023
Blue Beetle kind of encapsulates what is good and stale about these movies right now all in one package. Read full review
60
NMEJames MottramAug 17, 2023
As summer blockbusters go, it’s only ever really mildly diverting. But bringing us a first Latino superhero in a DC movie, ably played by the charming Maridueña, is still to be applauded. Read full review
60
Little White LiesDavid JenkinsAug 16, 2023
It’s not that Soto has no moves in his arsenal when it comes to achieving a mere modicum of originality, it’s that the formal structure of these films is now so tired and dreary that, even with a few, nifty customisable elements, everything looks and feels like a rehash of something else. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicKaely MonahanAug 16, 2023
I'm happy to report that Blue Beetle doesn’t suffer from the ponderousness that weighs down so many other DC movies. It's lighter, more fun, and delivers the jokes, bright colors and nods to ridiculousness that you want from a superhero movie. And speaking of the superhero, the Blue Beetle emerges as relatable and easy to cheer for. Read full review
60
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyAug 16, 2023
There is something pleasantly nostalgic about the film’s straightforwardness. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithAug 16, 2023
While bemoaning how tough life has become in the made-up Palmera City, Jaime’s sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo) remarks that "progress is not for us!" In a genre increasingly subsumed by numbing bombast, Blue Beetle’s abundance of personality might just be progress enough. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeAug 16, 2023
But there’s a perkiness that’s hard to resist and a base-level competency that’s hard not to appreciate, a small beam of blue light in an otherwise dark time for superheroes. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeAug 16, 2023
Sarandon is, sad to say, not the best thing in a film that only occasionally rises above the anarchic mediocrity we expect from the DC Extended Universe. Read full review
60
EmpireDan JolinAug 16, 2023
Blue Beetle owes a lot to the sheer wit and warmth of its supporting cast, which will earn it far more approval than its so-so CG antics and origin-story familiarity. Read full review
55
SlashfilmWitney SeiboldAug 16, 2023
Overall, the details of Blue Beetle are fun, and the characters may inspire a few warm familial smiles, but the whole is frustratingly shabby and rushed. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineJustin ClarkNov 14, 2023
Blue Beetle plays out with all the revelry of a contractual obligation, hitting every note of the hero’s journey with no variation, murky action sequences, and little in the way of imagination, despite the titular object itself granting Jaime the ability to manifest anything that he imagines. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 21, 2023
The primary sin isn’t that Blue Beetle stinks the way really bad movies do but that it is so deeply mired in mediocrity that it’s tough to find a reason to care about its existence. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithAug 17, 2023
Though it may have some novel elements, the franchise already feels tired, and isn’t much more promising than recent DC efforts “Black Adam” and “The Flash.” This beetle doesn’t have much juice. Read full review
50
CNNBrian LowryAug 17, 2023
Blue Beetle tends to fare best in its smaller moments, which merely reinforces the concept’s limitations thanks in part to the sheer glut of similar fare driven by streaming. The cultural specificity is also an asset but feels rushed in a format that, unlike the pacing of a series, creates a greater imperative to get to the next battle. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleAlejandra MartinezAug 16, 2023
The movie has a big heart, ambitious references, and moments that make it an entertaining watch, but it can curdle thanks to the constraints of the superhero genre. Read full review
50
The Daily BeastNick SchagerAug 16, 2023
Arguably the most derivative offering the tired genre has yet to offer, borrowing elements from so many forebearers that it plays like a conventional pastiche. Read full review
50
IndieWireDavid EhrlichAug 16, 2023
The Reyes family is a fun group, and “Blue Beetle” is at its best whenever it lets them lead the way. Read full review
40
The New York TimesMaya PhillipsAug 16, 2023
This unremarkable story, along with cheap-looking visual effects and Soto’s colorless direction, is a prime example of somnambulist filmmaking that lulls the audience into a mindless stupor. At least the Reyes family is a force to be reckoned with; their chaotic ensemble scenes are the most delightful, and truly unexpected, of the movie. Read full review
40
BBCNicholas BarberAug 16, 2023
Nearly everything about it is stale and derivative, all the way to the teasing extra scenes during and after the end credits. Instead of feeling like the birth of a thrilling new franchise, it feels like the last gasp of a worn-out old one. Read full review
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