Reviews

Well this movie was quite a ride, I'll give it that.

This isn't all spoilers, and I be sure to specify.

Birdman is a movie about a watched up actor trying to be relevant again, but it also takes a look about many things. What does it mean to be popular? And what kind of popularity is best. How far will you go to save your career, or should you ignore the naysayers around you?

First of all I'll say the acting was incredible! Michael Keaton did pretty good, and it was great casting, and was probably on purpose, as he played Batman back in the early nineties. Edward Norton and Emma Stone really stole the show for me. Edward Norton's character was so out there and the way he portrayed it was so fun to watch. Emma Stone did great, including one monologue near the beginning where she captivates you. We are going to watch her amazing acting our whole lives, unless she changes careers. Zach Galifianakis did amazing, and is completely 180 of what you expect from him. I am not as surprised, sometimes the funniest actors can be great serious actors(Jim Carey, Robin Williams.)

The fact that must of the movie is made to look like on shot is fantastic. This isn't just cool looking, it helps with the claustrophobic feeling that you are supposed to get from Michael Keaton feeling the pressure to be relevant again, the constant drum soundtrack helps with this as well.

Lets talk about the presentation of the story. While I like the story and it's message, I don't like how they presented it. This is where spoilers start. I feel like they tried to combine to much stuff into one movie. The whole messages of how to deal with popularity and critics, and not worrying about other opinions and trying to do what you love as an artist, got lost in Riggin's(Keatons) own story. I felt as the movie kept switching between a very straight forward approach at it's meeting, to a very artsy approach. I appreciated individual scenes, and what the characters said, but then got lost with a different subject or turn in the narrative. The voice in his head was enough to show his past Birdman life pulled on him, we didn't the whole question of whether he actually had powers. That then made the ending very confusing to everyone, and think it is confusing because it may just be a bad way to handle it. The taxi man driving him back to the theatre after he "flew" shows that he didn't actually have powers, why have an out there ending where he might actually have powers? It would have been darker, but maybe the movie should have ended with when he shot himself, or with Sam embracing him in the hospital. Maybe I just need to see the movie a second time.

In the end, it won best picture, so it is worth a watch. Do notice the hidden messages in the movie.