The fight scenes in BLUE BEETLE were inspired by THE RAID and INJUSTICE 2

DC director Blue Beetle movie, Angelo Manuel Sotohe recently talked about the fight scenes in the film and explained that he got inspired The raid action movies and the Injustice 2 video game. When it comes to the weapons in the game, the director mentioned The fifth element AND Final Fantasy VII. During an interview with Discussing Film, Soto said:

“I wanted the action and violence to be a little more visceral. While I love the fantastical and magical side of things, this is the beginning of Jaime Reye’s heroic journey and he still doesn’t know all that he can do. So one of the things we wanted was for this film to have a little more hand-to-hand combat We used a lot of references like The Raid and Gangs of London movies for hand-to-hand combat, which Jon Valera, our stunt coordinator , he drives very well. We managed to create something that represents the kind of flesh-and-blood intimacy that can exist in violence. But, at the same time, we play with different alternatives that are fantastic and the fulfillment of a young person’s desire. For example We referenced many combos in Injustice 2 during fights and with weapon displays – Blue Beetle’s blaster was even inspired by Mega Man!

“There’s a scene where Jaime says, ‘Khaji, show me something,’ and he pulls out a gun that we chose to look like the ZF-1 gun from The Fifth Element. Then we play it again near the end when Jaime goes “Something I want? All right!” and pulls out Cloud’s sword [from Final Fantasy VII] Why? Because we are players! We were like, ‘Wow, what would I like to create?’ I’ve always wanted to have a buster sword like they do in Final Fantasy. Being able to play with those nods, including some of Dragon Ball Z. Playing with a lot of other references that I’m not going to preempt – that was really fun. I felt like I was twelve again!”

The fight scenes in The Raid are damn spectacular. These are some of the best fight scenes ever seen in a movie. It’s hard to believe that they actually pulled off that kind of action, but I’d be super impressed if they did! Regardless, the film still appears to offer solid entertainment.

The film’s story centers on Jaime Reyes, the alter ego of the Blue Beetle, a vigilante who has a beetle grafted onto his spine that gives him enormous powers and the ability to emit blue energy. You can see the transformation happen in the trailer, and it’s like family-friendly body horror. Here is the synopsis:

Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find home isn’t quite the way he left it. As he tries to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Beetle. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime as its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with incredible armor with extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero BLUE BEETLE.

Blue beetle stars Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) as Reyes; Bruna Marchezine as Penny, the female lead and love interest; Belissa Escobedo as Jamie’s younger sister Milagros; as well as Harvey Guillen; AND Susan Sarandon as the villain Victoria Kord.

The film will only be released in theaters on August 18, 2023.