“Birdman”: A Review by Darian Bolin

In Birdman, directed and co-written by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Michael Keaton plays a character who is essentially a sensationalized version of himself, a washed-up actor named Riggan Thomson, famous for playing fictional superhero Birdman in a trilogy of movies over twenty years ago. He is growing worried that he will eventually not matter, that he will only remain known for being Birdman and will never be considered a serious artist. To remedy his fears, he stages an ambitious adaptation of a Raymond Carver story, which he has adapted himself and is starring in and directing.

The first and arguably most important thing to note about this movie is the impeccable cinematography. Birdman is presented to the audience as one continuous take, passing through time and location without a single cut. On paper, the idea sounds like it wouldn’t work. But here, it works beautifully, giving viewers the impression that they are watching a play themselves, or maybe even witnessing the unfolding events firsthand.

Also, front and center, are the acting performances, which are easily some of the best of 2014. Michael Keaton plays his role so well, it doesn’t even feel like he’s acting: he is Riggan Thomson. Zach Galifianakis shows some surprisingly acute dramatic acting chops, making you forget that this is the same actor who played Alan in The Hangover. Edward Norton and Emma Stone are in top form here as well, definitely earning their Academy Award nominations.

There’s a lot of deeply meta easter eggs scattered throughout the movie. Perhaps the coolest is Riggan’s retelling of why he turned down a fourth installment of the Birdman movies in 1992, which, if you have some knowledge of Batman history, is the year that Batman Forever was released, which was the first movie to not star Keaton as Batman. Interestingly, Keaton and Thomson/Birdman share a lot of similarities, even down to Birdman and Batman’s very similar costumes. Though Keaton didn’t assist in writing the screenplay, it very much feels like it was written just for him.

In short, Birdman is an immaculately-shot, superbly written, well-acted film that will be more than deserving of any Academy Awards it receives. The special cinematography alone should warrant a watch out of curiosity. And, if not, watch this movie if you don’t want to just watch a movie, but rather experience a movie.