If this is the first Latino superhero movie, the Hispanic community deserves better. When Los Angeles Police Detective Diego Hernandez (Raul Castillo) embarks on a career-making investigation of execution-style gang murders, his boss, Captain Gomez (George Lopez), assigns him a new partner, Martinez (Jose Pablo Cantillo). Diego’s twin brother Pedro reportedly committed suicide after being released from prison for crimes he committed when he was involved with the gang. Complaints that Martinez is a “Midwestern Mexican” who is not familiar with the local cartel fall on deaf ears, and the investigation leads the detectives to Shotgun (David Castañeda)—Diego’s former childhood friend-turned-criminal—and El Gallo (Sal Lopez), a drug kingpin who believes that California was stolen from Mexico and wants to reclaim it. Reading Pedro’s journals leads Diego to believe that his brother may have adopted the guise of El Chicano, a 1940s motorcycle-riding urban legend and bloodthirsty vigilante who wears a ceremonial mask and uses an Aztec knife to stalk evildoers in the barrio. And before long, Diego himself becomes El Chicano. Stuntman-turned-director Ben Hernandez Bray’s El Chicano has far too many scenes that are murky and woefully under-lit, frustrating any attempt to follow the action, resulting in an incoherent and confusing film. Part police procedural/part avenger drama, this frenzied, clichéd tale full of graphic violence is not recommended. (S. Granger)
El Chicano
Universal, 109 min., R, DVD: $22.99, Blu-ray: $34.99, July 30 Volume 34, Issue 5
El Chicano
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