Deeply Dark and Perplexing, yet Funny and Enjoyable

Rating: 9/10 (20 February 2015)

I want to start off with the fact that this movie depicts a very gloomy, painful and complicated travel into a schizophrenic mind, albeit it is marvelously seasoned with comedy to soothe the pain that the audience goes through. In my opinion, most of the audience would agree that the movie, theatrically speaking, is a masterpiece, if not, very close to one. However, the complicated representation of the content of the movie throws it into a debatable zone. Some argue it was a waste of time while others seem to have loved it sincerely. In my opinion, the movie was actually pretty much close to masterpiece rather than a 'waste of time' when considering both of its theatrical aspects and mind-boggling, brilliantly assembled story.
To elaborate my stance further, specifically on why I think the story is very well represented, I choose to concisely present a possible explanation to the ending that left many baffled and possibly is the main reason why quite a number of people hated the movie. In fact, there are a number of relatively equally plausible ways to explain the ending since it is a surreal story, but here I cite the one that, to me, seems more logically fit to the story.
~SPOILER ALERT~ *a possible explanation for the ending*
At the theater, Riggan shoots himself in the head and dies; what we see subsequently is a flashback to his own hallucination of what happens to him after he shoots himself. He hallucinated this probably sometime before shooting himself in the head. The references that make me think why he did not fail to kill himself in the theater and what follows is his hallucination of a perfect, impeccable aftermath, are as the following: 1- after the shot the body silently falls to the ground (as a 'dead' body does), 2- movement of the camera finally stops its continuous "delusional" motion and the suspense is made for the audience that the movie is actually going end, but suddenly the meteor seen from the beginning reappears (at the beginning after this instant he was seen hallucinating, hence, implying that what comes next is hallucination), 3- then the jellyfish is shown implying that he again failed his suicide attempt (note that the hallucination has begun at this point already), 4- in the hospital things are the way he wanted them to be, ideal to make him happy (Sam is weirdly nice to him, ex-wife stands up to his agent, and the three of them are seen together as he wished before he shot himself, moreover, surprisingly no one is even mad at him!), 5- no stitches or severe scars on the recently operated shot nose, 6- bandage that looks like the Birdman's mask, 7- clean shaved beard (right before he shot himself he had his goatee on, then in the hospital is a clean shave!) just as how he was when he portrayed Birdman years ago, 8- a phenomenal review by the stubborn-Hollywood- hating reviewer who had just sworn she would destroy his show, 9- the title of the review being "The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance", which at the opening scene was suggested as another name for the movie, suggesting that the reviewer has realized she was ignorant towards his talents as an artist, but most importantly to Riggan himself "The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance" means that he surprisingly experiences a far better uprightness and goodness in his life without having any knowledge about his theater shooting's aftermath, 10- him having power over the "Birdman" who is finally under his control, 11- having a completely new look transforming him into a new legendary person that everybody loves and remembers for his artistic abilities rather than the "Birdman", 12- being famous in social media, this time not because of an embarrassing video, but again because of his art, 13- and finally gaining the "real" (not the delusional type) power of flying in a way that others can see him fly, which is implied as Sam who is surely not a hallucinate sees him fly, making him into a "real" superhero without the need for a "Birdman" but only himself, Riggan. In conclusion, in his hallucination at the end he has answered the very same questions typed at the beginning of the movie: "And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so?" "I did." "And what did you want?" "To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the Earth."
As I have mentioned above, I think this is a fantastic movie because of its theatrical accomplishments as well as this kind of critical thinking that it requires for one to do in order to make sense out of the story. Furthermore, I hope my possible explanation of the ending can help some of those who were confused.