DESPITE THE DJ’S MUSIC TRYING TO drown him out, the wedding guest sitting at my table kept going on and on about himself. The gentleman was an imposing figure, easily over 6 feet tall and stocky, with massive hands that gave his arms a sledgehammer appearance. I was not sure what industry this man had worked in, but he had been some high up executive. At least that is what my friend sitting next to me had told me. This man was telling us about the changes he had made at his company. I was appalled by the number of negative comments he had about his co-workers. He even went so far as to essentially say he went to a better college than anyone else in his department. At one point, I glanced over at his wife to see how she was reacting to her husband dominating the table conversation. She just sat there with a smile plastered on her face; I could not tell if it was an automatic response, or she enjoyed hearing her husband bragging about himself. It was boring to me, sitting there like a captive as he went on and on about his so-called achievements. What I found telling was the fact several of his achievements involved the reduction of employees, as if laying off workers was an accomplishment.      PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO BRAG ABOUT themselves do not impress me. I understand there are times when one should toot their own horn, but I feel a person’s actions tell me more about them than anything they can say. I remember this student in one of my college classes. She was “down to earth,” displaying a gentleness and kindness towards her fellow classmates. We struck up a friendship, that allowed me the opportunity to see more into her intelligence. Despite carrying a full course load of classes, she was tutoring younger students in English. If that was not enough, she was working on an outline for a story she hoped to write and publish. I was struck by the way she talked about the things she was doing; there was no bravado involved, simply hoping she could make a difference in someone’s life. No one in class knew about any of this and in fact, she asked if I would not mention any of her extracurricular activities to the other students. It is people like her that confirm my belief that actions speak louder than words. I think that is one of the reasons I liked the way the writers spun the story in today’s film review.      A NEW DRUG HITS THE STREETS of Paris that gives the user superpowers. It appears those who use it aren’t thinking of doing something good. With Pio Marmai (I Kissed a Girl, The Trouble with You) as Moreau, Vimala Pons (The Wild Boys, Elle) as Schaltzmann, Benoit Poelvoorde (Coco Before Chanel, The Brand New Testament) as Monte Carlo, Leila Bekhti (A Prophet, The Third War) as Callista and Clovis Cornillac (A Very Long Engagement, Eden Log) as Gigaman; this action, adventure comedy took some time to let the story unfold; but I was intrigued with the premise. I enjoyed seeing a different perspective on the superhero genre. What helped was the filming of this picture; there was a dark grittiness to the scenes that added an extra layer of intrigue. Maybe it is my own personal feeling, but I do not associate grittiness with the city of Paris. The acting was convincing and authentic to me. I will say the special effects were not on the level of a Marvel film; however, what there were was not a distraction. This was an interesting viewing experience. There was an extra scene at the end of the credits and though I saw an English version, this film was originally done in French with English subtitles. 

2 ½ stars