Birdman

When i was about 13 years old, i remember seeing a poster of Batman, the new movie adaption from the comic book characters, this time directed by Tim Burton. I was too young to see it in a cinema, but i remember my uncle Björn told me how good Michael Keaton was as Batman. About a year later, i finally got to see what my uncle was talking about. I remember i have seen Michael Keaton before in some of his early 80´s films, but he was really good as Batman. Thanks to Jack Nicholson´s amazing performance as The Joker, this duo really put on a show for the audience. To be honest, i have not followed Michael Keaton´s career completely since his Batman films, maybe because i had so many other films that got me excited. I remember that he mostly did comedies in the 90´s, and the suddenly disappeared from the larger cinema releases. Maybe he did have screenings in some countries, but here in Sweden we did not see him very often, mostly on straight to dvd releases. But in 2005, that all changed with the horror film White Noise. Michael Keaton was back on the big screen. White Noise became a box office hit and it seemed that he was back on track. For a while, until some more sraight to dvd releases came along. Then in 2010 he came back to the big screen once more with The Other Guys, starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell, as he continued with some more major releases as Robocop and Need For Speed. It was a long time ago we have seen him in a lead role in a cinema release. Birdman seems to be his biggest film for many years, and so far both critics and audiences are going insane over this film. Directed by the amazing director Alejandro González Iñárritu , he have taken the whole world by storm with his latest film Birdman. Nominated in many categories in film festivals worldwide, chosen as one of the best films of 2014, is this really as good as everyone is saying ? Or is this film a big disappointment ?

Riggan Thomson ( Michael Keaton ) used to be a famous Hollywood actor in the very popular super hero films Birdman. Nowdays he is doing theatre productions, trying to survive as an actor. He constantly hear voices of Birman, who criticizes him for not trying to do what he knows best, being the actor he used to be. To try and get a chance for a bigger audience, Riggan work on writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver´s short story " What We Talk About When We Talk About Love ". Since Riggan does not like the actor Ralph ( Jeremy Shamos ), he makes sure he is hit in the head with a light, just so he can be replaced. Mike Shiner ( Edward Norton ) is chosen to take the role from Ralph, as Riggan feels this should be the right move. Riggan´s daughter Sam ( Emma Stone ), spend a lot of time at the Theatre, even though she is not happy with her life and how her dad treated her while she grew up. Sam works as her dads assistant,but they don´t get along very well. Riggan is too busy to think about this, since the play means everything to him. Riggan is going insane, hearing more voices from Birdman, telling him what to do. Jake ( Zach Galifianakis ), Riggan's lawyer, producer of this play, is worried about Riggan, but knows he must make sure that the play is finished perferct. After an early preview of the play, Riggan read the review of the play , where he is not almost mentioned, and Mike Shiner get all the attention. Riggan realise he needs to show everyone he is still the best, and no matter what he have to do, he will be the star of the play.

I am not sure how to explain this, but when i walked out of the cinema from Birdman, i did not know where to walk, what to do. I just felt like dancing with anyone who walked on the streets, hug them all, because i felt so much joy in my soul after watching Birdman. This is a masterpiece in all possible ways. Michael Keaton have never been as good as in Birdman, he is simply absolutely brilliant in every single way. I never thought he was this good as an actor, now i know i was wrong. Every scene, every dialogue he have, everything feels so deep that i can´t move out of my chair. But it does not stop here, Emma Stone is outstanding as Riggan´s daughter Sam. I absolutely love her all the way in Birdman, especially in one scene when she tells Riggs exactly how she feels about him not being a good father. She is so powerful in this scene, that i instantly could feel her emotions, remembering how my father left me and my sister almost 22 years ago. Edward Norton does one of his best performances ever, as the acclaimed Broadway actor Mike Shiner. From the moment he comes in on stage, you can feel his presence all the way. Every single scene Edward delivers top quality acting. As i mentioned earlier about Michael Keaton, i still can´t belive that he is this good. Remembering his acting days in the 80´s and in the 90´s, a lot have happened since then. It is almost as if he decided to leave the past behind, and show everyone that he is an actor of the highest league. I don´t think i have seen acting as good as this, since i saw The Place Beyond The Pines, and that was a while ago. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu have directed many really good motion pictures in the past, such as 21 Grams, Babel and Biutiful. To be honest, Birdman is his best film so far, and it may be one of the best films i have seen in many many years. I am still shocked over how fantastic this motion picture is, i did not expect to feel like this again. The dialogue is absolutely amazing, and is so deep that you can feel the emotions from the words. The cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki is so beautiful, and perfect in so many details, i don´t know how to explain it. Birdman is a motion picture that show us what life is all about, you take chances and you do anything you can to live life. Unless you try and fix your mistakes in life, you will never know if you can reach your goal. I did not give any film last year the highest rating, but there is a reason for that. No film was as good as Birdman, this is the best film of 2014. Go and see it in a cinema near you, don´t you dare say you can´t go and see this film. There are no excuses why you can´t go and see Birdman, you have to.....simple as that. Birdman is a masterpiece, everyone needs to go and experience how a film is supposed to feel like, you have never seen anything like this, there is no other way to explain it.

Rating: DDDDD