“Birdman” is by no means a subtle dissection of the life that Michael Keaton has led after his role as the iconic Batman on film. Once a very respected and comedy actor, his role as the dark knight kind of stifled his developing film career, and he unleashes his obvious bitterness and resentment toward the art of acting and the rise of fame over talent with “Birdman.” Alejandro González Iñárritu’s experimental drama is brilliant and absolutely mind blowing In the way it both mocks the superhero movie craze, while also conveying a sense of resentment toward its success. Keaton’s character Riggan Thomson sits in his dressing room before a play he’s gone nearly broke to fund, hearing on the news about Robert Downey Jr garnering millions to play a superhero. There with his own thoughts, Riggan dwells on how ahead of his time he was and how he may never be able to reclaim the ears thanks to his age.
When we first see him he’s an actor preparing to perform in an adaptation of his favorite play, and returns to the darkness of his theater, lifting off a veneer of illusion with a toupee that he still dons in public, for some reason. “Birdman” breaks down the ideas of fame vs. talent, film vs. product, and what power the new generation of digital information can acquire for any celebrity looking for resurgence. At first Thomson is barely a blip on anyone’s screen, but his stunt of appearing in his play in the buff by entering through crowds of onlookers grants him instant viral success. In another decade the stunt may have caused a minor stir, but in the world of instant news, he begins to regain his power thanks to his daughter Sam who films the stunt, and puts it online. The team of writers for “Birdman” really spares no one, taking down the Hollywood establishment, the humongous trend of superhero films, and how many respected actors have taken on the mantle of comic book characters.
It’s no big surprise that Keaton shares the screen with two other comic book movie stalwarts Edward Norton, and Emma Stone, both of whom seem to convey the same frustration at the loss of cinematic art in the face of attending to mass consumption. Thomson has subconsciously convinced himself that he is, in some form, his character Birdman. Birdman is, of course, a big screen superhero very similar to Batman with a blockbuster film franchise that’s gone on without Thomson. Despite his name being on marquees in Broadway, when Thomson is approached by fans, they point to Thomson proclaiming “He was Birdman!” Thomson can’t escape the moniker of Birdman, and doesn’t seem to want to. He sits in his dressing room speaking to a manifestation of his film character, who antagonizes him, and longs to reclaim his glory as a blockbuster star.
The Birdman alter ego is his temptation to get back in to the series and trade in his attempts at being a respected Broadway player, and it culminates in to a maddening journey that has him clash with his co-stars. Norton is wonderful as Mike Shiner, something of a caricature of himself, who monopolizes the play with his erratic behavior, prompting Thomson to wonder how far he will go to ensure the play is a success. Emma Stone’s performance is outstanding, playing Riggan’s daughter who bitterly attends to him as his assistant and anxiously tries to clarify to him why his play is barely making waves in the entertainment world, and why no one seems to care about his adaptation but Riggan. Stone steals every single scene she shares with her cast members, and Alejandro González Iñárritu is never shy about featuring as a maddening gate keeper with potential to hold power over her father at every turn. “Birdman” is a brilliant and incredible look at the actor’s experience, and a world that’s lost its ability to distinguish between famous and talented. It’s nothing short of a masterpiece.