Birdman - Review

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s ‘Birdman’ is a film designed to challenge, inspire, amuse and frustrate and damn, does it do it well.

We are presented with Michael Keaton taking on one of the greatest roles of his career, rejuvenating this actor back into the scene (Much like the premise of the film itself). Keaton plays an aging has-been actor, clinging to a belief that he is still important years after his Iconic character of ‘Birdman’ has been put to rest (Batman/Batman Returns ring a bell, anyone?). In an attempt to revive his relevance in todays society he decides to bring to life an ambitious adaptation of Raymond Carver’s ‘What we talk about when we talk about love’. In doing so he starts to come to grips with the grinding pressures of opening night as this, can be seen as make or break for this once beloved star.

The connections between Keaton’s character of Riggan and his own life are uncanny in the way it is portrayed, throwing Keaton into a role that (In my opinion) shoots him to the top of the ladder for the Oscar spectrum. The realism behind the scenes along with the performance presented on the screen hail the greats in something that can be seen as being quite spectacular. This will be a film surely to be analyzed in more than one sitting for the next month.

While Keaton shines throughout the film the other star is the cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki, whom previously won an Oscar for Gravity. With help from his floating Steadicam, and with help from nifty special effects and clever editing, he has made Birdman appear as one continuous take. We have been exposed to one-shot experiments before, but this surely has to be one of the best that I have ever seen, and by far the most original as the action spans not over just one day, but graciously flows into many, necessitating surreal scene transitions while still maintaining the single-shot construct.

 Alejandro González Iñárritu’s ‘Birdman’ is truly something beautiful and aesthetically stunning.  With a juicy batch of Oscar nominees appearing, it will be a tough race to see who beats out whom, but one thing can be said for sure as far as originality reigns, ‘Birdman’ should be top of the Pecking order.

Through Keaton’s performance, while also providing a mention to Norton, Watts, Stone and to the stunning cinematography, ‘Birdman’ deserves a solid 8.5/10.

Go see this film as soon as you can, but be prepared for a steady sit-in, if you are unfamiliar with Alejandro González Iñárritu’s previous pieces. In theatres January 15th (New Zealand).

Reviewed by Mase Shaw - Follow Mase on Twitter @MaseShaw