8.5/10

Rating: 8/10 (5 February 2015)

To say I was excited over the world for this movie would be an understatement. Here's just a couple of facts to give you an idea. I never, ever watch trailers or read plot synopsis before watching a movie. All I had going into this movie was a vague premise, a 30 second clip I accidentally had watched and the gargantuan hype surrounding it. With only that in mind I actually had a dream about this movie the day before watching it! So with all this excitement I knew that the second I would come out the question I would ask myself was: did it match your excitement? The answer to that question is: it just missed the mark by minuscule lengths, but boy what a piece of art to behold!
There really is no two ways around describing how awesome the cast is, how solid and palpable is the direction, how smart and brilliant the content is, how edgy the comedy is and how breathtaking is the cinematography. The only way I could go on talking about them would be a long list of positive adjectives that wouldn't make the point. I loved how the film is so filled with what pop culture is at the moment and what it has to say about it, which moreover can be interpreted in different ways. I was floored by how funny the movie was yet at the same time how touching and deeply reflection-inducing it was for a film geek like me. It has a remarkable energy. It is so dynamic and smart you will be sitting on the edge of your seat for the full duration, desperate not to loose one single thing. I want to address how much I loved the scenes involving Norton and Stone at the top of the theater. They probably were my two favourite. In those moments there was such a balance and harmony between entertainment, reflection, edginess, satire, comedic undertones and sadness, I feel I could not take it all in at once. I will probably end up going to see this movie again and again just to go back and watch on the big screen these two amazing pieces of filmaking.
All of this is great, but as I said in the intro the movie missed the mark of total awesomeness for me just because of one element: it felt like in some, and I underline some, moments it was missing something and in others it had too much of the same thing. What would this thing be? I can't really find a word for it, but if I had to define it it would be punch mixed to social commentary. In some scenes it looks like it was trying to reach for some kind of effect, but was narrowly missing the final point and in others it looked like it was really trying too hard. It just was missing that blast you would have in other moments and the film, after having watched it 4 times, feels uneven throughout.
Still, "Birdman" goes right down in the list of the movies that made 2014 such a great, astonishing event to watch unfold in cinema, how happy do I feel to be a movie fan and be alive in 2014.