Its all about Blue Beetle in the land of DC. The first full trailer for the August release dropped today and holy smokes, is it good enough to wash the taste of Shazam! Fury of the Gods out of our mouths for good. At least it would be, if Zachary Levi could stop talking long enough to rinse out of the media cycle. The constant buzz has brought fans back to the first installation of the Shazam! series, and it seems as though the film may not be holding up quite as well as we once thought. In the aftermath of its sequel fans are returning to Shazam! and if the Rotten Tomatoes scores can be trusted, fans don’t seem to be all that keen on their trip down memory lane.
‘Blue Beetle’ slaps harder than my Abuela’s chancla
The trailer for Blue Beetle dropped earlier than expected today and this movie looks like a much-needed breath of fresh air. Between the great cast, the excellent family dynamic, and the top notch design on the Scarab suit, Blue Beetle has the makings to be the best superhero flick of the summer. James Gunn may not have had a hand in the making of the latest DC movie, but the director is calling for fans to get out and catch the premiere all the same (not that we needed the encouragement after that preview).
Blue Beetle will be the first Latino superhero movie to grace the big screen, and stars Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) as Jaime Reyes. A fresh-out-of-college Texas native, Jaime winds up the chosen vessel of a weapons-grade super suit with an on-board AI. The movie looks fresh AF, and could be exactly the pick-me-up that DC needs after a slew of less-than-stellar releases in the last year. Though it should go without saying, director Angel Manuel Soto wants fans to know that this movie is for everyone. While little Brown boys and girls will certainly rejoice to see someone like them saving the day, it isn’t what we look like or what we wear that defines us; it’s the actions we take and the things we do, and if DC stays true to their comic book inspirations, there is no doubt Jaime Reyes will prove to be one of the best new superheroes of the last few years.
Zachary Levi’s constant internet presence may be hurting ‘Shazam!’
Zachary Levi is finally getting his wish, though it’s not going quite as he expected. The star recently took to social media to implore fans to mess with Rotten Tomatoes score of Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and while the scores are changing, its surely not how he intended. Rather than help boost the sequels score, fans have been reviewing the first film and are finding that they may have given the title too much good grace in the first place. The folks over on Reddit think they may have found the answer for their rose-tinted glasses. Theories range from criticism of Levi’s acting, to the film verging on forgettable with its heavy reliance on comic book movie tropes and its “safe” approach to moviemaking. There’s no doubt that at the time of release Shazam! was a spot of hope amid a sea of lackluster blockbuster releases for Warner Bros., and now that the company is resetting the cinematic universe, fans are finding it easier and easier to blast some of the now-defunct DCU entries.