The DCEU has been a little hit-and-miss ever since its inception with Man of Steel. That caused the new owner of Warner Brothers David Zazloff to bring in some new creators and a pair of men to run this new DC, and they are James Gunn and Peter Safran. The first film in their new attempt at a connected universe is Blue Beetle. The rebooted version from a few years ago is not the original from Charlton Comics. Even though there are some references to Ted Kord and the older versions of the character in the film.

Jaime Reyes (Xolo Mariduena) is returning home from college. He is met at the airport very vigorously by his family. A group of Mexican immigrants who came to America to find the American Dream. Things haven’t worked out for them as much as they had hoped as their home is being repossessed and the matriarch of the family has lost his job. The young man has come back home to a difficult time for his family and his education hasn’t done much for him as he’s helping his sister clean rich people’s homes. Through a confluence of events, he gets an offer to come to meet the daughter of Ted Kord, Jennie Kord (Bruna Marquezine) at Kord Industries which is run by her enigmatic aunt Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon) She has uncovered a special scarab that her niece has stolen and gives to Jaime. What happens next is the typical superhero origin story, with one exception it’s very funny.

As mentioned before this film is the rebooted version of this classic DC character. As such the origin story is about a struggling Latino family, not a rich industrialist. So that fish out of water story is what makes this story so very entertaining. Throw in the crazy and wacky uncle,  Rudy (George Lopez), with a penchant for fixing things and a weird way of looking at the world. He is a big influence on his nephew and with his Toyota Tundra which he effectively calls “Taco” helps him out quite a bit. 

Like all superhero stories, the main character has to navigate the world he has been thrust into.  It’s a bit like driving a car with how the main character has to learn the ins and outs of his superhero costume. Which is an armor that covers his entire body and has an interesting set of powers attached to it. Including thrusters that help him fly, laser beams out of his arms, and many other weapons. This suit is stacked with all kinds of tricks which help him fight the bad guys, or in this case a bad woman, and her henchmen.  

With Blue Beetle being about a Hispanic character there is a lot of Spanish being spoken in the movie. In turn, the Spanish are put on the screen as subtitles. These subtitles give the audience watching a lot of conversations that are quite hilarious. The characters have a great rapport with one another which allows the dialogue Spanish or otherwise to be very funny. And at a lot of inoperable times. Like in the middle of action scenes or awkward moments. The Latino spirit in the film is amazing and I loved every minute of it.  Especially from the grandmother and the Lopez characters respectfully.  

The thing about superhero films is they have a lot of action, but in this case, it is very good and well thought out and planned by the director, Angel Manuel Soto, and they have to be relatable and touch a chord with the audience watching in the theater. This movie does that. It’s funny, heartwarming,  and does justice to the character it’s trying to portray. All these things make this a good film. In the DCEU Canon, it would be one of the better films they’ve put out. Instead, it’s the first in a new cinematic universe overseas by Gunn and Safran.  The Hispanic audience will especially love this movie for all the true-to-nature references and authentic traits shown in the film.

Blue Beetle is one of the best movies I’ve seen that shows the Latino experience. It properly depicts this culture in a way these people would be proud of. Throw in all the superhero stuff and the fish-out-of-water nature of the story and Gunn and Safran has a winner on their hands. August is a slow month and the WB could use another winner besides the massive hit that is Barbie. Xolo Mariduena has done great on Cobra Kai but he’s exceptional here as a young superhero trying to find his way. His family is fantastic as well, especially Lopez who understands his role in this film perfectly. I laughed and enjoyed this film thoroughly.

4 stars

Dan Skop Allen