Good But Certainly No Masterpiece

Rating: 6/10 (8 January 2015)

I can't help but feel that Birdman is going to be one of the most over rated movies of the year if not the decade because the critics are praising this film far beyond what it deserves, which is a shame.
Fact of the matter is that I found Birdman to be quite good but no more than that, the cast is good, the performances are very good, the idea is pretty original and it's certainly something we don't see very often so that's refreshing. There are a number of pretty funny scenes as well which keep you going but ultimately there are plenty of flaws which won't appeal to the casual cinema goer.
I found the script in general to be a little weak, I can't think of any particularly brilliant quotes from the movie and if it's supposed to be a comedy I heard only sporadic laughter in the cinema over the course of 120mins. Now I'm not generally a fan of ridiculous comedies like the Scary Movie saga but if that's your thing then stay well away from Birdman. Also I found the background drums soundtrack to be a little over used and irritating by times and the emotional scenes I found to be a little out of place and boring, particularly Emma Stone's.
The ending is a little bit bizarre as well but I suppose that was to be expected considering the arty nature of the film, but again I found it weak rather than powerful, amusing or even significant.
So to conclude, I think this is more a movie for the critics, arty people and the middle aged who've experienced success and failure so can relate to the story more than younger people. That's not to say don't go to see Birdman, it is worth watching but don't be fooled by the reviews, it's nowhere near as good as the critics are saying.