Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

SPOILER-FREE MOVIE REVIEW

Today, I shall review the 2014 dark comedy-drama 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)'. What a film, guys. What a film. With 9 Oscar nominations (including noms in all the major categories), I had to watch it A.S.A.P.

'Birdman' is a satire on Hollywood, and the story follows Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), a faded Hollywood actor famous as his role as the superhero Birdman some 20-odd years ago. Ironically, that same amount of time ago, Michael Keaton played Batman in the two Tim Burton movies. That was probably the thing that sparked my interest for this film.

The basis of the story is simple, but what they did was to add a fresh new twist to it - and the story becomes so good and so intriguing that it keeps you absolutely glued to the screen to see what was going to unfold next. Another plus point is the dialogue between the characters, which is excellent. I especially liked how Riggan's daughter Sam (Emma Stone) bickered with him and other characters, as well as showed her true character traits in one particular scene.

However, well written dialogue only works when you've got the right cast to execute your message. In 'Birdman', they absolutely nailed it with the casting choices. In my opinion, this is Michael Keaton's best performance of his career, and it's the same for Emma Stone. Edward Norton was also terrific, as was Zach Galifianakis and Naomi Watts. The characters have great chemistry with each other, especially with Riggan and his daughter.

On to the part of the film I loved the most - the directing and cinematography. My word, the cinematography is absolutely insane. I really liked how the cinematographer used long, continuous shots rather than incorporating cuts into certain scenes. That one long shot creates such a unique and brilliant effect which I have never seen before. It makes you feel as if you're actually there together with the characters.

'Birdman' is a very, very stylish movie. This is because of the brilliant direction by Alejandro G. Inarritu. His vision of the story and the drama is unbelievable, and the themes incorporated are very suitable as well as a tool for viewers to start thinking more about something that happened. That ability to make viewers think about scenes is brilliant - and the amount of thinking is just enough too, unlike 'Interstellar' where I was left thinking so hard about all that time-space relativity shenanigans so much that it ruined my movie experience.

Perhaps the biggest talking point of the film is the ending. Many will find the ending abrupt and perhaps misleading, but I felt that it was a very stylish touch by the director. I liked the ambiguity of it, as well as the fact that it made you ponder about the outcome of the scene. Hence, every viewer will have a different perception of the ending and that is just amazing. It reminded me of the ending to my favourite film of all time, 'The Graduate'. Both of their endings share something in common - both leave each member of the audience with a unique perception of the outcome.

Sadly, not everything about 'Birdman' was terrific. I was far from impressed with the movie's soundtrack, which consisted of mainly odd  continuous drum beats. I found it really annoying, and in my opinion, it didn't suit the scenes at all. That though, is the extent of my negative criticism for this film.

In conclusion, 'Birdman' is a stylish and unique film. The cinematography is unbelievable and the acting superb. This is also probably the best original screenplay I've seen since Quentin Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction'. The 9 Oscar nominations were totally deserved, it's just a real shame that Michael Keaton didn't win best actor. Nevertheless, 4 wins (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography) as well as major Golden Globe wins would be adequate credit for a job very well done.

'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' easily ranks amongst my top 10 favourite films of all time, and that list includes the likes of 1994's 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 1967's 'The Graduate'. I've also already bought it on Blu-ray.

9.5/10.