An actor who famously played a superhero in hit movies twenty years earlier, tries to make it on Broadway in the strange yet fascinating Birdman. Review after the jump.
Unique and original movies are hard to come by, but for every thousand or so “big” films filled with explosions and dire dialogue which are all style and no substance, we do get something that stands out. Something unforgettable. Something like Birdman.
Riggan Thompson (Michael Keaton) was once a huge Hollywood star and the man who famously played the titular Birdman in three hit movies that generated billions. Unfortunately, that was over twenty years ago and his star has now diminished. In order to try and keep himself relevant, he has adapted a story for the stage and is putting on a production on the famed Broadway – a show that he will also star in.
It really is some exceptional casting to put Keaton in as Thompson, and it sort of echoes real life, with Keaton known and beloved for his portrayal in the Tim Burton directed Batman movies of the late 80’s/early 90’s. He is joined by a group of actors who are all on top form and have (arguably) never been better in the shape of Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis and Naomi Watts.
Edward Norton, who came to our attention in the Richard Gere thriller Primal Fear, plays Mike Shiner – a fantastic stage actor who can create more harm to a production than actually help it. The clashes between him and Keaton’s Thompson are both funny and riveting.
As the film moves along and we get closer to the opening day of the show, we get to witness everything going wrong from Actors being hurt by falling lighting equipment, Shiner ruining a preview with a drunken outburst, critics making their mind up before having seen the play and Keaton’s Thompson slowly losing his mind and talking to himself or his old alter ego Birdman to be exact.
It may be a little strange for some, but director Alejandro González Iñárritu is on point throughout and has created something special. Along with Oscar winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity), who shoots the film beautifully, especially using long tracking shots that fast forward in time in front of our very eyes, they have put their stamp of brilliance down once again.
Look out for the scene where Keaton’s Thompson gets locked out of the auditorium and has his dressing gown trapped in the door – it’s one of our favourites of the year.
We will finish up with simply saying, Birdman is a must watch and Michael Keaton shines – showing us that he simply cannot be forgot as a talent in Hollywood. The man who brought to life Batman and Beetlejuice needs more big roles and often.
