Birdman

This review may contain spoilers!

Birdman can best be described as a well written and performed film that has a visual style that lets the film down. I would give Birdman a 7/10.

Birdman is a masterful story that completely maps out the state of Hollywood cinema currently. The line between a theatrical actor who has to have some real depth to their performance for arguably fewer benefits is contrasted to the Hollywood blockbuster actor who recieves rewards for their performance in front of a green screen. Just brilliant in that regard. I also felt that the editing and transitions between scenes flowed perfectly; I also have to give special mention to the CGI within the Birdman scene.

Michael Keaton, who played Riggan, gave a wonderful performance in a leading role; his ability ot portray such a wide range of emotion and achieve varying levels of connections with many other actors speaks wonders to his amount of talent. Emma Stone, who played Sam, gave a very rough performance in yet another display that proves she will be a powerhouse actress in the next few years. Zach Galifianakis, who played Jake, gave a very stoic performance in which he wrangled in everyone's wild personalities; a surprisingly serious role for Galifianakis and quite an impressive one at that. Naomi Watts, who played Lesley, gave a very genuine performance in this film; her earnest thankful actress was certainly a change from the rest of the cast's performances.

Yet it was Edward Norton, who played Mike, that really showcased the best performance in the entire film. It wasn't just the fundamental question he brought of 'is a good method character actor appreciated anymore?' It's his fast paced, always acting presence. Norton stepped into a scene with humour and wit; but also with some incredibly serious bravado. He kept this film moving and certainly stole the show from Keaton.

This film had some horrendous pacing problems; the dialogue intensive script meant that there was no break. The audience felt bombarded by the continuous flow of the scenes. This came through in the cinematography, the long tracking shots that never really seemed to end and meant that the film never really did either. I also really hated the film's score; the solo drums has been a thing that people said got snubbed by the Academy. Not so. The drums were an instrument that added to this overbearing feeling of length, it lacked a diverse sound.

Andrea Riseborough, who played Laura, gave a very over the top confused role; her performance and character didn't seem to have much purpose other than add useless tripe to the film. Amy Ryan, who played Sylvia, was a very tired performance and didn't have a diverse range of emotion.