Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Blue Beetle review says the tired boy-obtains-superpowers-and-struggles-for- control-theme is surpassed by a big hearted, engaging Latino family.

Ay dios mio, I have such mixed emotions about Blue Beetle.

I was not looking forward to yet another CGI heavy superhero origin story about a naive young guy accidentally acquiring superpowers and awkwardly learning how to deal with them. Like we’ve never seen that before.

What I didn’t count on was the refreshing spirit to be found in the naive young guy’s family. Los Reyes will twist your heart, wrap it up in a pretty package and tie it up with a bow, then they’ll gleefully rip it open and start all over again.

It makes wading through all that corporate military industrial dominion garbage worth the slog. Less shameless, snarling CEO Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon with bad orange hair), more massive raygun wielding Nana (Adriana Barraza). I guess the latter does need something to shoot at.

Blue Beetle review — What it’s all about:

The plot is a bit murky when it focuses on the corporate villains. It seems Kord has been searching the South American jungles for years, looking for the an ancient relic of alien biotechnology known as the Scarab, or Khaji-Da. She believes it will power thousands of techno armor suits that she’s whipped up, and empower their wearers to be invincible warriors. (Sketchy, right?)

When fresh college grad Jaime (Xolo Maridueña of Cobra Kai fame) accidentally comes in contact with the Khaji-Da, it chooses him to be the ultimate techno warrior, inhabits his body giving him super powers, and this makes him the target of the evil Victoria Kord. Death and destruction ensue, some of it involving the Reyes family and their meager but treasured possessions.

It’s in this plucky, dedicated family that the movie finds its redemption. All the members have their engaging virtues, but none more so than Jaime’s sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo). Frankly, she has bigger cojones than ah shucks pretty boy Jaime. Perhaps Escobedo should have been cast in the Blue Beetle role.

While the film is far from flawless, it’s a step in the right direction for director Angel Manuel Soto (Charm City Kings, The Farm). If he takes my casting advice, he just might have a winning DC franchise on his hands.

Rated PG-13

2 Hours 7 Minutes

If Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Blue Beetle review sends you flying out to the cineplex, get times and tickets at Fandango.com.

Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Blue Beetle review says the tired boy-obtains-superpowers-and-struggles-for-control-theme is surpassed by a big hearted, kick ass Latino family.