Look up in the sky. It’s profound. It’s absurd. It’s deeply moving. It’s juvenile. It’s fantastical. It’s realer than real. It moves with the kinetic energy of a phoenix. It is perfect. It is perfectly flawed. It is all of these things and more. It’s Birdman.

A film directed and co-written by Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel) which happens to be one of the most richly layered cinematic entries of 2014.

Birdman takes flight in what feels like a two-hour-long energetic marriage of reality and illusion delivered with a zesty and jazzy score. The camera work here is gorgeous, beautifully edited so that Birdman feels like an unedited single take, almost as if we are riding on the shoulders of one character before we hitch on another and flow in a different direction. Emmanuel Lubezki, who won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in Gravity, should probably clear some shelf space for a second award.

The incredible technique in Birdman is only matched by the fantastic performances in the film. A brilliant Michael Keaton plays Riggan Thomson, a has-been Hollywood star who once raked in millions at the box office playing a superhero called Birdman.

The film tells us that Birdman set the stage for the many lucrative superhero films that followed. Here, a bitter Riggan is frustrated after he sees Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man) promoting a new film on TV.

Birdman is Michael Keaton’s most ambitious project since Batman Returns

But the emotionally volatile veteran actor’s wings were clipped when he turned down a fourth film in the franchise. Having struggled to reshape his career, Riggan is now a man past his prime and caught in self-doubt.

Did he make Birdman, or did Birdman make him? Did he command his craft, or did his craft command him? What we are left with is a Riggan who hears the gruff superhero voice of Birdman in his head, comforting him, and blending his world with that of Birdman. Riggan tries to shake off his imaginary friend, but Birdman’s claws firmly clasp at Riggan’s soul.

If any of this sounds familiar, it is because Michael Keaton is playing a version of himself. As Batman, Keaton revolutionised the superhero genre until he left the series. It was the highlight of his career. It also began in 1989 and ended in 2002. Since then, Keaton has struggled to reach the skies, and you could say that Birdman is his most ambitious project since Batman Returns.

Likewise, Riggan is attempting to run and star in an ambitious Broadway play that has already left him in financial trouble. It is a play that Riggan hopes will prove to everyone and himself that he wasn’t just a movie star, but an actor.

Equally brilliant is Edward Norton as Mike, a method actor so deep in his craft that he is close to its exit hole. Here, Riggan and Mike clash, displaying engaging chemistry. It is no secret that Edward Norton is considered a challenging actor to work with, and he too seems to play a version of himself in Birdman.

Birdman has its characters rehearse the Broadway play so often that we eventually memorise the dialogue, which is why we notice how differently Riggan speaks his lines as he grows as a character. His final flight is especially emotional, as if Riggan is completely gone and all we are left with is a vulnerable and drained Michael Keaton.

Rating: Rated R for language, explicit content and violence

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, January 18th, 2015

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