Unknown Origins is also known as Orígenes Secretos because it's a Spanish movie! The trailer is a little deceptive. This isn't a superhero movie per say. It's more a serial killer, crime, detective movie about a series of murders based around superheroes. And it is really good.
First off I'm going to suggest that you watch it with subtitles. The dubbed version is awful and doesn't capture the comedy or quirkiness of the characters in their native Spanish. So now that we have that out of the way, let's delve a little deeper into the movie itself.
It's Madrid in 2019 and Detective Cosme Elias is retiring from the police force. Yet to sign his papers, he ends up at a pretty grim crime scene with his replacement Inspector David Valentín. Unable to even figure out what has happened, Cosme's comic-book store owner son, Jorge, sees the images and suggests that the killer was trying to recreate the origin story of The Hulk.
A second murder, depicting the origin story of Iron Man seems to solidify the theory. But as Cosme is retired, Valentin is now paired with Jorge as an expert on the subject. As polar opposites of each other, the two clash regularly but with great comedic effect. Especially as their boss, Norma (Verónica Echegui) is a Cosplayer and a friend of Jorge's.
And that's one of the great things about Unknown Origins – the peppering of laugh-out-loud comedy. It's definitely not what you expect from a gruesome-ish crime movie but it works very well here. In fact, the characters go to great lengths to point out all the cliches usually associated with these types of films.
Yet, Unknown Origins isn't a spoof movie. It's a bonafide crime movie about stopping a serial killer. What it does is poke fun at other less realistic films in the genre. So when the detective asks about fingerprint results, the coroner quips ‘This isn't CSI'. Because in the real world, getting a match isn't a 30-second process!
What I got from Unknown Origins was an unexpected surprise. It was packed with bonkers characters, a brilliant script, a solid story with a twist, a few laughs, a couple of ‘ughhhh' moments, and overall was thoroughly enjoyable.
