An above-average origin tale with an appealing cast, Warner Bros.’s DC entry “Blue Beetle” has two things that differentiate it from other superhero movies. It’s a Latino story with a Mexican hero and his family, and it has a hissing Susan Sarandon as its super-villain. Jaime Reyes (a very likable Xolo Mariduena) is a recent college graduate who returns to the embrace of his family in fictional waterfront Palmera City only to learn that they are about to be evicted due to gentrification, that his beloved father Alberto (Damian Alcazar, “Narcos”) has had a heart attack, that his little sister Milagro (a very charismatic Belissa Escobedo, “Hocus Pocus 2”) has no ambition and that his Uncle Rudy Reyes (key to the ensemble George Lopez) is still crazy. The family is held together by Jaime’s mother Rocio (Elpidia Carrillo) and his beloved Nana (Mexican acting luminary Adriana Barraza).
Jaime and Milagro get jobs taking care of the grounds of the powerful Kord Industries Empire. At work, Jaime meets the tall and beautiful “successor” Jenny Kord (Brazilian Bruna Marquezine). Jenny steals an alien blue scarab, belonging to her evil Aunt Vicky Kord (Sarandon in fine form). Victoria Kord, who boasts a bodyguard named Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo) with a steel hand, wants to create some sort of “RoboCop” Fascist police force, using the “scarab power.”
Jenny tries to get the scarab away, only to hand it off to Jaime, who takes it to his family home and has the thing transform him into the Blue Beetle of the title. The spirit of the scarab, whose name is Khaji-Da (voiced by Becky G), transforms Jaime into a blue warrior with a blue scarab implanted in his back. The Blue Beetle is usually completely encased in a blue, armor like super-suit with helmet. At times, we can see the bewildered Jaime’s face. At first, Jaime goes crashing through the roof of his family’s house and flying up beyond the atmosphere. He can hardly control his super powers, which include the ability to transform his limbs at will, and at first he can’t control his transformations.
How much this “Blue Beetle” character, which was created by Keith Giffen, John Rogers and Cully Hamner, borrows from “Spider-Man” is worth thinking about. Jaime is definitely a Peter Parker type of hero and their origin stories are similar. Vicky Kord is a more realistic super-villain, who dispatches helicopters and troops with assault rifles to Jaime’s home. She has a plan to “separate” Jaime from the scarab. He will not survive. In a bit recalling the lineage of Tony “Iron Man” Stark, we learn that Jenny’s beloved father Ted Kord also dabbled in developing superhero powers. In the meantime, the jokes flow, especially from Escobedo, and a lot of the dialogue is in Spanish with subtitles and much of the talk concerns Latino culture and tradition. We even get a cartoon character of Latino descent.
It’s all refreshing in an American superhero film from a major studio, and while I can take seeing our hero thrown through a wall only so many times by a red, robotic Carapax, “Blue Beetle,” which is only a bit over two hours long, is fun to watch, especially with a crowd. Nana the Terminator is a bit over the top. But Harvey Guillen (“What We Do in the Shadows”) is amusing as a semi-mad scientist, whose name evil Victoria always gets wrong. Director Angel Manuel Soto (“Charm City Kings”) handles his duties well. The film was shot in part in Puerto Rico, where Soto is from. Screenwriter Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (“Miss Bala,” no less) pays tribute to superhero tropes, but also keeps the film both light on its feet and serious about Latino family culture.
(“Blue Beetle” contains superhero film violence, profanity and sexual references)
Rated PG-13. At the AMC Boston Common, AMC South Bay and suburban theaters. Grade: B+