Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) produced extremely popular movies from characters previously little known to the masses, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) failed to succeed in the same way. Case in point: 2023’s Blue Beetle.

With a budget of $104 million, Beetle earned a worldwide gross of only $129 million. Even if new DC films chief James Gunn hadn’t already planned to “restart” the comic publisher’s properties, I can’t imagine they would’ve pushed toward a second Beetle flick given its lack of box office.

After Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) graduates from college, he returns to his South Florida hometown of Palmera City to be with his family. Despite his degree, Jaime struggles to get a job, so along with his younger sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo), he works security for a party held by wealthy technology magnate Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon).

Jaime loses this gig after he stands up to Victoria when she argues with her niece Jenny (Bruna Marquezine). This sets into effect a series of events that lands a powerful scarab with Jaime, and when activated, it attaches to him and turns him into a super-powered character called the Blue Beetle.

As a youthful comic reader in the early-mid 1980s, I don’t believe I ever read any adventures of Blue Beetle. Though the character dates all the way back to 1939, the character essentially sat defunct in that period.

To the best of my knowledge, this means my initial experiences with the Beetle came through various DC Universe Animated Movies over the last 15 years, though even there, matters don’t seem simple. As seen in this feature film, Jaime doesn’t exist as the first Beetle, so the cartoon iterations mixed Jaime’s adventures with those of another character whose identity I’ll omit to avoid spoilers since that Beetle eventually ties to Jaime’s.

In any case, despite those animated experiences, I went into this feature film without real knowledge of the Beetle, Jaime and the rest. In theory, that becomes a positive since I enter without strong preconceived notions about the property.

And perhaps that does act as a good thing, as I didn’t spend the whole movie contrasting the 2023 cinematic Beetle with my prior views. Whatever the case, I find Beetle to offer a competent superhero movie and not much more.

I do like that Beetle expands cultural horizons. Latinos remain underrepresented in superhero fare, and the film taps into Jaime’s family and roots in a way that adds flavor.

Granted, some of this can feel stereotypical. Nonetheless, the movie laughs with Jaime and his family, so the film doesn’t use the roles as the butts of mockery.

Personally, as a fan of Mexican singer Thalia, I delighted in the references to her 1990s telenovela Maria la del Barrio. At the very least, these comments allowed me to feel smug as one of only a tiny faction of gringos aware of that TV show.

Beyond this welcome cultural focus, does Beetle boast much to make it stand out from the superhero crowd? Not really, as most of the film seems a bit on the perfunctory side.

Really, Beetle can seem more than slightly “by the numbers”. It mixes action, comedy and pathos in a fairly standard array that never threatens to find a path it can call its own.

Not that a superhero movie needs to reinvent any wheels to succeed. However, outside of the Latino twist, I just fail to find much here that allows Beetle to offer anything unusual.

The actors provide more than competent work, though Beetle misuses Saradnon. The film makes Victoria a cookie cutter madwoman with dreams of power and not much more.

Whether because she views superhero movies as “slumming” or because she simply became restricted by her underdeveloped part, Sarandon fails to turn Victoria into an interesting role. On the other hand, the usually annoying George Lopez proves amusing as Jaime’s slightly-unhinged Uncle Rudy.

Beetle fares best in its second half. During that segment, we learn about the prior Beetle, and those developments entertain.

Also, the film expands a secondary villain in ways that surprise. Whereas most movies just leave baddies as simply bad, I like the decision to give this supporting role added layers.

However, the pretty good second half can’t completely redeem the spottier first part of the film. Ultimately, this leaves Blue Beetle as a more than watchable superhero flick but not one that really impresses.

Footnote: expect added material during and after the end credits.

Blue Beetle appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. From a natural 4K product, expect a top-notch Dolby Vision presentation here.

Sharpness always felt distinctive and tight, without any issues connected to a lack of definition.

The image lacked jagged edges or moiré effects, and edge haloes remained absent. Print flaws also remained absent.

While we found some of the standard teal and amber, the palette expanded into purples, blues, and reds. The disc replicated the colors as intended, and HDR added breadth and impact to them.

Blacks seemed dark and dense, and shadows seemed smooth and clear. HDR brought power and emphasis to whites and contrast. This became a satisfying reproduction of the image.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the movie’s Dolby Atmos audio added great dimensionality to the effort. With many action scenes, the mix used the various channels to create a lively, vivid soundscape.

This meant various vehicles and the Beetle zipped around the room in a smooth, convincing manner, while other aspects of battles and mayhem brought out well-placed material that blended together in a nicely integrated way. The soundfield meshed together to deliver a well-rounded impression.

Audio quality also impressed, with speech that seemed natural and concise. Music appeared vivid and full, with dynamic tones.

Effects fared best of all, as those elements seemed accurate and tight, with crisp highs and deep lows. As I expect from a movie of this sort, the soundtrack excelled.

As we head to extras, we get four featurettes under the banner Generations. This domain includes “Origins” (7:28), “Production Begins” (16:12), “In Full Flight” (9:03) and “A Hero’s World” (13:24).

Across these, we hear from director Ángel Manuel Soto, producers John Rickard and Zev Foreman, writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, costume designer Mayes Rubeo, suit maker Jose Fernandez, assistant costume designer Phillip Boutte Jr., trainer Danny Saltos, art directors Arte Contreras and Ricky Aguierre, set decorator Jennifer Gentile, composer Bobby Krlic, stunt coordination John Valera, and actors Xolo Maridueña, Raoul Max Trujillo, Bruna Marquezine, Harvey Guillén, Belissa Escobedo, Adriana Barraza, Becky G, Elpidia Carrillo, Elpidia Carillo, and Susan Sarandon.

“Generations” covers the character’s path from print to screen, story/characters, cast and performances, costume and visual design, sets and locations, the depiction of Latino culture, music, and stunts/action.

We get a mixed bag here, as the segments mix good shots from the production and decent filmmaking insights with a lot of happy talk. That makes “Generations” useful but inconsistent.

Within Scarab Vision, we find two featurettes: “Episode 1: Initiation” (6:35) and “Episode 2: Mastery” (6:50). In these, we get notes from Maridueña, Soto, Lopez, Escobedo, Foreman, Barraza, Dunnet-Alcocer, Becky G, Valera, Rickard, Trujillo, and VFX supervisor Kelvin McIlwain.

In these clips, we learn about the scarab and Jaime’s transformation, the Beetle suit and Maridueña’s performance, and the Khaji Da character. Some of this brings worthwhile material, but the reels tend to feel promotional and often seem redundant after “Generations”.

Finally, Blue Beetle’s Nana Knows Best lasts four minutes, 21 seconds. It involves Maridueña, Barraza, Escobedo, Soto, and Dunnet-Alcocer.

We look at Barraza’s character and performance. Expect a few details and a lot of fluff.

An introduction to an obscure character, Blue Beetle offers a mixed bag. It connects inconsistently, though at least it gets better as it goes. The 4K UHD delivers excellent picture and audio as well as a mix of featurettes. This turns into a mostly enjoyable superhero tale, if not one that creates anything fresh.