It is hard to get very excited about anything new from the DC universe, given the tumultuous shakeup in leadership and creative direction that leaves fans uncertain what movies still play a part in the ongoing superhero saga. Blue Beetle, lacking any real connection to other movies in the loosely tied series (beyond one or two brief mentions of other heroes in the world), had the potential to dodge some of that chaos.

Unfortunately, it's not very good. It lacks substance, and it's heavily derivative of other superhero films.

Blue Beetle immediately borrows a plot device from Marvel's Ant-Man and begins the story with the original hero of that name, Ted Kord, already gone but with superhero technology just waiting for the right person to grab it. That person is Jaime Reyes (Xolo Mariduena), a pre-law graduate working as a housecleaner to support his family in a Mexican neighborhood in the Florida Keys. He stumbles into an encounter with Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine), daughter of the missing-and-presumed-dead Ted Kord, who has just stolen the all-powerful Blue Beetle scarab from a Kord Industries lab because she doesn't like the military applications her evil Aunt Victoria (Susan Sarandon) intends for it.

Jaime inadvertently helps her smuggle the scarab out of the building, opens the package and immediately absorbs the big blue bug thing, gaining powers beyond his control and an AI voice in his head that tries to guide him through its use.

I'm not sure how this incarnation of Blue Beetle works in the comics, but the original Blue Beetle was a creative tech guy like Batman, who invented the gadgets he needed and trained to use them. This one has a magical super suit that is some strange blend of science, magic and alien technology; it creates whatever Jaime can imagine, much like Green Lantern's power ring, and does most of his fighting for him -- the suit would probably be just as effective without him inside it.

But of course Jaime immediately masters its use anyway and becomes an adept fighter without any training or practice. So, basically, the Blue Beetle has Iron Man's suit with Green Lantern's wish-fulfillment powers, and when it is critically damaged it is able to magically repair itself just because the hero gets really angry ... so I guess it's like the Hulk, too. At the end, just when he needs it, the suit even reads minds like Professor X.

And that's not the end of Blue Beetle's appropriation of other movie's concepts. Jaime's interaction with his AI is a lot like Tom Holland's Spider-Man when he acquired Tony Stark's "Iron Spider" tech without benefit of a user's manual. The movie also borrows the wacky family dynamic from Miss Marvel, although with too much of the crazy and not enough of a reason to care. I mean, it tries to hit some emotional notes, but doesn't provide enough of a foundation for them to connect. It doesn't help that everyone in his family has superhero sidekick potential, from Jaime's crazy uncle Rudy's (George Lopez) instant mastery of all tech to his elderly nana's (Adriana Barraza) bad-ass tactical know-how and weapons skills.

Oh, and Jaime has an aversion to killing, but no one else shares his conviction. Even Nana Reyes racks up a body count. There's a villain (besides Aunt Victoria), but the sinister Carapax (Raoul Max Trujillo) turns out to have a soft spot for family.

Blue Beetle is a mess, giving little hope for the new direction of the DC universe.