A young man unwittingly finds himself becoming a superhero in this DC flick that is better than it turned out to be. 

Returning home from college, Jaime Reyes has learned some shocking news. The law school graduate has learned his family is facing eviction as they have struggled financially while he was in school. Jamie and his sister Milagro get jobs working for businesswoman Victoria Kord. However, when they lose their jobs after Jaime interferes by stopping an argument between Kord and her niece Jenny.

When Jaime goes to meet Jenny at Kord’s company, Jenny learns her aunt is planning to use an artifact known as the Scarab to create a new military program. Jenny steals the Scarab and gives it to Jaime. When Jaime discovers what was given to him, the Scarab soon bonds itself to him in front of his family. Soon, Jaime learns he is now the Blue Beetle. When Victoria discovers the Scarab is now in possession of a host, she intends to get it back at any cost.

The DC superhero film is one of the better ones. While films like Black Adam and Shazam: Fury of the Gods seem to have lackluster results, this is one of the better titles that will mark the end of the DC Extended Universe, to be replaced with the upcoming DC Universe to be run by James Gunn and Peter Safran. With the result here, Gunn is hoping to bring back the character in some form to the DCU. 

Xolo Mariduena makes his first lead role after making waves for five seasons as Miguel Diaz on Cobra Kai. He pulls off an impressive lead performance that seems natural. He comes from a struggling family who will stick together through thick and thin. They include his parents, grandmother, sister, and uncle Rudy, the latter played by a hilarious George Lopez. In superhero films, there tends to be the first sign of powers usually with no one around. However, they decided to have Mariduena’s Jaime merge with the Scarab right in front of the entire family and it leads to both fear and hysterics all at once. 

Feeling like a cross between Iron Man and The Guyver, our hero looks great and we learn he tries to harness his powers. The Scarab, known as Khaji-Da, is voiced by singer Becky G and she proves to be a good ally to our hero. On the other side, we have Susan Sarandon as the villainous Victoria Kord (who is connected to the original comic Blue Beetle), who had planned to use the Scarab for her own nefarious purposes does have a clone in the form of her One Man Army Corp soldier with Ignacio Carapax being the host. Played by an excellent Raoul Trujillo, the OMAC is quite deadly as he is fueled with a rage that tends to outmatch our hero at times. 

Blue Beetle is one of the better recent DC adaptations. To do something different fresh and have a family dynamic mixed in works with this one, all thanks to the likes of Xolo Mariduena in the lead role and George Lopez as the uncle. Some great action scenes help as well. Definitely a DC film worth seeing.

WFG RATING: A-

Warner Bros. Pictures a DC Pictures production. Director: Angel Manuel Soto. Producers: John Rickard and Zev Foreman. Writer: Gareth Dunnet-Alcoler; based on the DC Comics characters. Cinematography: Pawel Pogorzelski. Editing: Craig Alpert.

Cast: Xolo Mariduena, Bruna Marquezine, Adriana Barraza, Damian Alcazar, Elpidia Carillo, George Lopez, Belissa Escobedo, Raoul Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, Harven Guillen, Becky G (voice)