Went to the Open Night gala of Birdman at Sydney on Wednesday night (complimentary drink baby) and had such a great time (even minus the alcohol effect). I was to post a review that night but the Paris bloodbath happened and completely ruined my mood.

The movie was a dark comedy per official description and I actually did laugh, which was quite unusual for me in the American film scene. I love the quirkiness and weirdness and I felt like the director did a good job at finding the balance between comedic elements and more serious discussion of how the protagonist deals with the loss of fame and sense of importance. I do think it would've done a better job in terms of philosophical content of the film if it was a drama, which I would probably prefer, but out of all the dark comedies I've seen this one is one of the few that managed to maintain a certain level of depth whilst being funny enough.

Acting wise, the casting is just brilliant. The main cast delivered such convincing performance, especially Michael Keaton, those awkward, lost, confused, anxious faces definitely deserves a round of applause (was a bit disappointed at the fact that I was the only one who clapped my hands after the credit roll, Dendy usually has more appreciating audience)

However, structure wise it's not really my cup of tea. Personally I just really don't like films that can be clearn-cut into first and second parts (or more parts). What happened before and after the climax was just so different in terms of styles and mood, which is expected so I can understand, and some of the main characters were even mentioned after the climax it's just a bit too odd I suppose. I do quite like the ending though but maybe they could've given the ending a few extra minutes to tie in the whole film a little bit better.

To sum it up, it is absolutely worth your money and your time if you like dark comedy or drama, highly recommend. 7.5/10

Birdman is publicly released this Thursday 15 Jan in Australia.