Movie weekend: Slumdog Millionaire and Wolverine

[Spoiler alert for Slumdog Millionaire and X-Men Origins: Wolverine]

This weekend, I finally managed to watch 'Slumdog Millionaire' and I have to say it was a bit unexpected. Beforehand, I thought the movie was more of a love story than a drama and now I know it's not. Explains the Oscar win, though.

During parts of the movie I was upset and appalled because I know that the story of these three children is not unrealistic. There are millions of children who are homeless and all of that seems so foreign to me. I don't think that someone who grew up in an industrialized nation can ever know or understand what it is like to grow up without parents, living on the streets, having to take care of yourself at such a young age.

I really liked how they set up the scenes, switching back and forth between Jamal's childhood, the gameshow and the interrogation. I thought that was a great way to tell the story, even though at the very beginning, I couldn't quite make the connection between the questions and the events in his childhood. The acting was really good, especially the children did a great job, considering their age. All in all, 'Slumdog Millionaire' is definitely a movie I can recommend anyone to watch, there are numerous things you can learn about life in India and it's more than just entertainment.

Last night, I saw 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine', which obviously is completely different to Slumdog. I have to say that I really liked all of the X-Men movies so far, I especially liked the third one because I felt that the situation the X-Men were in was a bit similar to the situation gay people are in. If someone came up with a cure for homosexuality, I'm sure the reaction would be similar - some would want to be cured, some would struggle with the decision and the pressure from their families and friends and some would still want to be gay. So I was easily able to identify with the X-Men, and also with their status as outsiders.

'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' focuses on the story of Wolverine, obviously. The movie starts out at the very beginning, when Logan/Wolverine is just a little boy and discovers his otherness. I really liked how the relationship between Logan and his brother Victor was set up and how they showed them drifting apart. The movie was well-balanced between action scenes, dramatic sequences and dialogue. I was really impressed by how much muscles Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber had packed on, it made their fight scenes more impressive in a way. The theme of 'You're not an animal' versus Victor attacking on all fours stuck with me too, because it just showed well the difference between the two brothers.

All in all, I have to say that I liked Liev Schreiber's acting even more than Hugh Jackman's, Liev really freaked me out when he was on 'CSI Las Vegas' too, because he just plays his creepily calm so well. So if you liked the X-Men movies, you'll probably also enjoy Wolverine! It's not a movie that will get you thinking, but it's definitely good entertainment.