The Greatest Showman (2017)

Why is this movie so boring? I like a good musical but it's just really uninteresting. The music is drab. I don't know what everyone sees in "This Is Me." Pasek and Paul are responsible for La La Land and Dear Evan Hansen; they can't all be good, I guess. I get that it's a family movie, but it feels like a kids movie. There are so many good family movies nowadays that are not so kiddy. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is, but it is not made for us. There was so much opportunity to develop some of these characters, but they never really do. Zendaya, for example, doesn't have enough lines. The opening is the glitziest part of the movie. You expect the circus to have more spectacle.

Logan (2017)

We lucked out at Berlinale, catching the premiere of Logan. Gianna waited in the standby line and with a little bit of luck, got us 3 tickets to the 10pm screening. We thought the cast was the 7 o'clock, but they were at our screening. We saw Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart and the rest of the cast and crew. I actually sat 8 rows behind them in the orchestra. It was very cool.

But now the movie...this is the final film in the Wolverine trilogy, and allegedly Hugh Jackman's swan song in the iconic role, after almost two decades. The ageless Wolverine has aged. The immortal Wolverine is...mortal?  Yes, he's still the same hot tempered, badmouthed bad ass. But after 8 films, Jackman has matured his character. In a series largely about evolution, the character of Wolverine has evolved emotionally. What really sets this film apart from the previous X-Men movies is that it's a film, in the words of Hugh Jackman post-credits from the stage (that's why it's premiering at Berlin). It stands on its own. If you know nothing about X-Men, you can still appreciate this film for what it is.  It is a character driven movie that doesn't rely on the super-ness of the characters. It's not a superhero movie. It doesn't rely on the fight scenes, though they are plentiful (perhaps too gritty and plentiful)--it certainly earns its R rating in terms of blood). The movie has an R-level tone of seriousness.

What I like most about X-Men is the political overtones. This film doesn't really use it. And I am ok with that. This film is something different. It plays out like a Western, driving across the Great Plains. It scoffs at the comic book origins of Wolverine, and paves its own way. It will be a landmark in the Marvel canon, hopefully having changed the superhero genre for good because I, for one, have gotten tired of the Avengers.