Genre: Action/Fantasy
Director: Keishi Ohtomo
Cast: Takeru Sato, Emi Takei, Munetaka Aoki, Kaito Oyagi, Yu Aoi, Yosuke Eguchi, Yusuke Iseya, Min Tanaka, Tao Tsuchiya, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Maryjun Takahashi, Tatsuya Fujiwara
RunTime: 2 hrs 19 mins
Rating: PG13 (Violence)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website:
Opening Day: 28 August 2014
Synopsis: In 1868, after the end of the Bakumatsu war, the former assassin Kenshin Himura promises to defend those in need without killing. Kenshin wanders through Japan with a reverse-edged sword during the transition of the samurai age to the New Age. When Kenshin helps the idealistic Kaoru Kamiya from the gangsters of the powerful opium drug lord Kanryuu Takeda that wants her school for his production of opium, Kaoru invites Kenshin to stay in the school. But the drug chemist Megumi Takani escapes from Kanryuu and seeks shelter in the school. Meanwhile the killer Battosai is murdering police officers and leaving messages attached to their bodies. When Kanryuu poisons the population to get the school, Kenshin and the street fighter Sanosuke Sagara join forces to attack their common enemy.
Movie Review:
I have a confession to make.
I am one of those Rurouni Kenshin (RK) fans who cringe whenever I hear someone refer to the anime/manga series as Samurai X (yes, I condemn what I would consider a bastardization of the original title).
So yes, I’m a RK fan who will be able to pick up the not-so-subtle references to Tomoe (no I won’t spoil it for those new to the RK universe and tell you who she is, just in case the third movie reveals who she is) and when the plot verves away from the original manga series.
Which happens towards, perhaps, the last 10-15 minutes. Generally, I get that adaptations differ from the original (they kind of have to, to fit the expectation of their own medium) but if you are a fan, I would just say that you really should walk out during the part when an exhausted Kaoru is drinking water from a barrel after an intense battle. Walk out and don’t look back. And don’t catch the third Rurouni Kenshin live-action movie (because you will be completely lost having missed the last 10-15 minutes of this movie). Trust me, that last 10-15 minutes is like a fanfic gone bad. Really bad.
Other than that, the movie actually makes a rather valiant attempt at merging various arcs of the original series together. It’s not too bad and the things that are changed in the process are generally acceptable – e.g. Kenshin encountering Misao before entertaining Aoshi. Or the fact the whole world seems to know that Battousai’s surname is Himura. The sharing of the backstories, while a tad boring, helps bring those unfamiliar with the RK universe up to speed though.
However, the flatness of the characters is unlikely to go down well with fans and non-fans alike. Kenshin oscillates mostly between broody Kenshin and super-intense-almost-battousai-mode Kenshin most of the time. Sano is reduced to a mediocre fighter who is comic relief. Kaoru becomes the voice of conscience for Kenshin (she actually keeps telling him “No, don’t kill!”) and a weak kidnap victim. Aoshi becomes a flat character who just goes around demanding to meet Battousai. Which is really sad because one of the great things about RK is how audiences can connect to its characters (despite the multitude of them) and this is completely lost in this sequel.
Movie Rating:
(If you are not an RK fan, I suggest you stick to watching the first live-action movie and don’t watch this movie; if you are an RK fan, don’t go in expecting this adaptation to be as good as the first movie - and walk out at the point I suggested in the review)
Review by Katrina Tee
Genre: Comedy/Adventure
Director: Shawn Levy
Cast:Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Dan Stevens, Rebel Wilson, Ben Kingsley, Rami Malek
Runtime: 1 hr 28 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/
Opening Day: 25 December 2014
Synopsis: With the help of favourite and new characters, security guard Larry Daley travels to London to unlock the true secret that brings the museum to life. It's a thrilling race against time to restore the tablet’s power, before it’s gone forever.
Movie Review:
Following the success of the first two installments comes the third, and supposedly final, movie of the Night at the Museum series – Night at the Museum: The Secret of the Tomb. For the uninformed, the movie revolves around museum exhibits from the American Museum of Natural History coming to life at night due to the Golden Tablet of Pharaoh Akhmenrah, and their shenanigans which, more often than not, causes Larry Daley (Ben Stiller), the night watchman, trouble.
In this movie, Larry is alerted that the Tablet is losing its power, and he travels to the British Museum of Natural History in hopes of finding out what is happening from Akhmenrah’s (Rami Malek) father. Comedy and (you guessed it) trouble ensues when the British Museum comes to life for the first time, and Larry must navigate through the museum with Sir Lancelot, Asian folklore monsters, and a Triceratops coming in between him and the Egyptian exhibit.
The writer must admit that she is not a huge fan of the comedy genre, finding them generally lasting much longer than they should. However, this movie manages to avoid that, having a mix of seriousness and comedic moments throughout the one and a half hours to prevent the movie from getting tiresome. That said, the inclusion of Rebel Wilson as Tilly, the British Museum’s night security guard, is pretty cringe-worthy, made worse by her affair with Laa the Neanderthal.
On the other hand, what makes the movie interesting is the inclusion of history and mythology, often taken out of context. Watching Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams) drunkenly sprouting famous lines, and Sir Lancelot riding across modern London to Camelot is amusing due to their anachronism. An eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii, though, brings to mind some questions (will this be a nightly occurrence? Will the lava really melt the figurines?).
That said, the movie is not singularly comedic, having some serious (or as serious as the movie could be) moments as well, emphasizing the importance of family and the relationship between Larry and the exhibits. While Larry struggles to accept Nick’s (Skyler Gisondo) decision to DJ in Ibiza, Akhmenrah reunites with his (revived) family, previously separated by the treasure hunters and profiteers. The Tablet also nearly loses its power, rendering the exhibits (almost) dead, and garnering more than a few sniffs from the audience. Although such scenes usually come across as trying too hard, The Secret of the Tomb does this surprisingly well, striking a good balance between being touching and corny.
Perhaps the (small) highlight of the movie was the appearance of Hugh Jackman as himself acting as King Arthur in a play, which comes as a welcome surprise. Other than that, Night at the Museum: The Secret of the Tomb plays it safe by sticking to the tried-and-tested formula from the previous two movies, not providing much unexpected twists, but not boring the audience either.
Movie Rating:
(Night at the Museum: The Secret of the Tomb will probably not disappoint audiences, giving them what they expect to see [moving wax figures, random tidbits of History], making it a family-friendly film to catch this holiday season)
Review by Goh Yan Hui
SYNOPSIS: The O'Neills lived happily in their house in the Australian countryside. That was until one day fate struck blindly, taking the life of Peter, the father, leaving his grief-stricken wife Dawn alone with their four children. Among them, eight-year-old Simone denies this reality. She is persuaded that her father still lives in the giant fig tree growing near their house and speaks to her through its leaves. But the tree becomes more and more invasive and threatens the house. It must be felled. Of course, Simone won't allow...
MOVIE REVIEW:
You wonder why a 2010 French Australian film is only available to us in Singaporeon
Based on the debut novel Our Father Who Art in The Tree by Australian writer and performer Judy Pascoe, this 96 minute film follows the life of Dawn (the always wonderful Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her four children after the unexpected death of her husband Peter. Follow Dawn’s devastation as she is left alone with her grief and four children to raise. Things change as the tree her husband crashed into starts to play a role in the broken family’s life.
As you would expect, the film is chockfull of symbolisms, metaphors and imageries. Above all, it is a moving story and gives hope to those suffering from grief. While we know the real world isn’t as magical as we’d hope it would be, this visually attractive film brims with delightful realism.
A languidly poetic study of loss, the film makes heavy weather of its central metaphor, a huge tree dwarfing the family’s rickety home, into whose branches eight-year-old Simone is convinced her dad’s soul has transmigrated. Towering over most of the scenes in the film, this tree does appear to have a soul. There isn’t much wisdom or self righteous messages to be spread in the film, all that matters is the family being able to move on no matter how hard life is.
Expert at being angry, by grief, sex or just about anything else, Gainsbourg is as intense as ever. The children are perfectly cast as well: they behave as unpredictably - crabby one minute, full of odd insight the next - as real children behave.
Director Bertuccelli focuses on the family's moment by moment efforts to get past their grief, and she makes sure we know there will be setbacks. All of that could easily be sentimental and phony, but the assured filmmaker knows how to make family film of some sensitivity and intelligence. This is no Tree of Life (Terrence Malick’s love it or hate it film), but an intriguing view of what it may like living deep in the Aussie outback.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The visual and audio transfer is fine, and you experience the sights and sounds from Down Under.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by John Li
SYNOPSIS: Kate and Alex make an enviable couple: They are young, successful and very much in love. Kate works at the hospital in the Return Unit, helping those who have been infected by the virus. Kate’s dedication to her work is absolute, but few people realize that for her it is also a personal matter; Kate’s own husband, Alex, has been returned. After various brutal and prolific attacks at the hands of Anti-Return groups and rumors that the “Protein” stock is running dangerously low, Kate fears for Alex’s safety. Suspicious of the government’s order that all the returned should report to a secure medical facility ‘for their own safety’, the couple decides to flee, taking with them all the doses of “Return Protein” they have. Kate has a contact on the inside and is sure she can get hold of more doses until the situation calms down, but now they are in a race against the clock. What if Alex runs out of time? And what will happen if Alex, now a fugitive, is discovered? At no point does the couple imagine that the real threat is a lot closer than they think...
MOVIE REVIEW:
The
The 94 minute movie is set in a world where a deadly zombie virus has infected mankind, and a single cure has been found. The cure is a treatment called the "Return Protein" which stays the effects of the virus in its host. With injections every 36 hours, the "Returned" are able to live as though they were never bit, despite the virus still coursing through their veins. When it is discovered that the protein stock is running low, chaos hits the streets. Right in the middle of the action are Alex and Kate. Kate a leading doctor in the field of zombie virus' and Alex a musician with a dark secret - he is a Returned. As death and fear run rampant, Alex's secret becomes known and his dosage runs low, he and Kate must fight for a chance to live before he becomes a zombie.
How’s that for being original? The concept is similar to 2009’s Daybreakers starring Ethan Hawke, Sam Neill and Willem Dafoe. Difference is, throughout this independent production, there is only one brief scene that looks like it belongs in a George Romero movie. Mostly the drama revolves around the efforts of Alex and Kate to live normal lives as an increasingly monstrous society bears down on them. There is contrast drawn between the monster and the normal is meant to serve as social commentary on capitalist society and effectively so. While this is a low budget affair and suffers from a somewhat duh ending, it is a well acted, if not thoughtful piece of work.
Emily Hampshire (Cosmopolis) and Kris Holden Ried (Underworld: The Awakening) play the protagonists of the film, and they take on their roles with conviction. Theirs is a story of love and survival, and both aspects are played out evenly. Humans become monsters, and monsters just want to be humans. While this is a often explored territory in today’s blockbusters with bigger names attached to higher budgeted projects, this is still a worthwhile B movie that you could watch to pass time on weekends.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The disc’s audio and visual transfer is decent, despite the many dark scenes in the movie.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by John Li
SYNOPSIS: In a dystopian Detroit, abandoned brick mansions left from better times now house only the most dangerous criminals. Unable to control the crime, the police constructed a colossal containment wall around this area to protect the rest of the city. For undercover cop Damien Collier (Paul Walker) every day is a battle against corruption. For Lino (David Belle), every day is a fight to live an honest life. Their paths never should have crossed, but when drug kingpin, Tremaine (RZA) kidnaps Lino's girlfriend, Damien reluctantly accepts the help of the fearless ex-convict, and together they must stop a sinister plot to devastate the entire city. With stylized action featuring thrilling Parkour stunts (David Belle is the co-founder of this physical training discipline), Brick Mansions puts an entertaining twist on the action genre.
MOVIE REVIEW:
The remake of the French actioner, District 13 comes a decade too late to catch on the parkour hype. Brick Mansions will forever be remembered as Paul Walker’s last completed screen work before his tragic passing in November 2013 and nothing else.
The founder of Parkour David Belle reprises his role from the original, a man named Lino who teamed up with an undercover cop, Damien (Paul Walker) to stop a sinister plot from being carried out by drug kingpin Tremaine (RZA) in dystopian Detroit.
The plot once again written and perhaps reassembled for the English version by Luc Besson is poorly scripted and generic that what manages to salvage the movie from being a dumpster flick is the handful of decent action sequences.
Belle still has the agility to vault from rooftop to rooftop and Walker does a competent job catching up with his co-star as the duo flipped out a number of cars and plenty of Tremaine’s henchmen along the way. The moment when Belle and Walker stops their crazy stunts and RZA starts to blabber about his evil plans, you know it’s time for a bathroom break until Belle jumps out of the window or something.
It’s kind of weird to see first time helmer Camille Delamarre who has worked as an editor for Europa employed so much quick cuts and camera tricks in the entire movie since Belle requires none of that. Delamarre should have just let Belle does his old school job of kicking asses without the aid of CG and wire.
At the very minimum, Brick Mansions is very much a decent action movie for Walker fans though the ending involving some complex narrative about social intones, political agenda which only turned up to be a face palm. This is a highly flawed movie but rest assured if you are here purely for the presence of Walker and Belle, you won’t be disappointed.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Beyond the Brick Mansions consists of six brief making of features, mostly interviews with Walker, Belle and RZA and some behind-the-scenes footages. Parkour Fury Trailer is just a promo reel.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Brick Mansions offers a substantially well-transferred visual palette and the audio comes with generally well mixed sound effects.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: A young and rich lady is mysteriously murdered and her body is found in cosplay dress-up. Inspector Wayne begins investigation on the case and soon finds another lady murdered in the same modus operandi. Wayne comes across Jeana, a common friend of the 2 victims who shows him an old photograph of the 3 of them in cosplay uniform. Shockingly, the dress-ups of the victims were exactly the same when they died. A picture of Jeana with an ice piton fiercely plunged into is found making her the next target. What is the deep hatred between them and who is the killer?
MOVIE REVIEW:
Oh mine, is this the fourth Wong Jing’s related DVD review in a year already? Executive produced by Wong, -197°C Murder or otherwise known as A Chilling Cosplay in Mainland China is a psychological thriller with a mystery-within-a-mystery twist that is surprisingly watchable if you are not in a mood for reruns and Korean dramas.
Two rich women dressed in cosplay costumes were found murdered in mysterious circumstances. Detective Wayne (Simon Yam) and his teammates soon realizes an ex-classmate of the two women, Jeana (Vivan Hsu), an antique seller is the next target. But what’s the motive behind the killing? And why is there cosplay involved?
Those who are expecting a perverted thriller with naughty bits and nudity ought to consider Wong’s older works instead of sticking around. -197°C Murder teases audience with some back nudity and that’s about all it is since this a SARFT (State Administration of Radio, Film and Television) approved production after all.
What director Wang Guangli does well here is having one of Hong Kong’s veteran actor Simon Yam in the lead role. His presence is sufficient enough for audience to forget how shallow the entire mystery thriller is. After last year’s The Constable, Yam continues to challenge himself in an action role, one that requires him to run a few miles, nearly killed himself by falling off a building with a baddie and ludicrously crashed through a roof to save Jeana during the climax.
Newly wed Vivian Hsu as always served as the obligatory female lead without much lasting impression. Far more impressive though are little known Chen Sicheng and Wu Yue who put in satisfying performances. As hard as the three credited writers attempt to stir up some meanings out of it, -197°C Murder still feels as a predictable and contrived affair with a surprise twist in the end that only muddles it further. To the filmmakers’ credit at least it looks pretty much a polished title in terms of technicalities and I suspect Wong Jing probably only puts his name down to garner some attention.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The dual soundtrack is a plus and the visual aspect is overall respectable.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
It’s an awesome mix alright. The song list on Disc One of this Deluxe Edition of the Marvel summer blockbuster is enough reason for you to run out there and get a copy for keeps now.
Awesome Mix Vol. 1 features the songs and artistes seen on Peter Quill’s (aka Star Lord) mix tape in the movie, and while we don’t have the technology to own a cassette of 70s’ rock, pop and soul classics (we miss those days, don’t you?), we’d have to make to with this CD (we’re speaking as if having digitally recorded music on one disc is a bad thing!).
Kicking off the 45 minute CD is Swedish rock band Blue Swede’s cover of “Hooked on a Feeling”, the song which was featured in the movie’s first trailer. We guarantee you’d be hooked on the tribal chants “hugu chaka”, and put this on repeat mode. One gem that sets the movie’s space setting is David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream”, a glam rock track which will please fans of the English singer songwriter.
Another standout track is American all female rock band The Runaway’s “Cherry Bomb”, a punk influenced hard rock tune which will make you sway your head in glee. Familiar songs for the younger generation include Rupert Holmes’ Escape (The Pina Colada Song) which has been covered countless times and Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s karaoke hit “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. A special shout out to fans of dancing Groot (we’re assuming most of our readers have watched the movie) – skip to Track 7 and boogie to Jackson5’s “I Want You Back”.
With such an awesome first disc, Taylor Bates’ score on Disc Two is a very pleasant bonus for soundtrack collectors. The 65 minute CD contains 29 tracks which captures the swashbuckling moments of the movie, and manages to entertain listeners with its action cues. Some notable cues include “The Final Battle Begins”, “What a Bunch of A Holes” and “The Ballad of the Nova Corps”.
While it is not particularly memorable or impressive, Bates (who is known for his work on other action movies like 300, Sucker Punch and Watchmen), Disc Two serves its purpose for functional listening and re-living certain moments from the film.
Whether you belong to the older crow who will love this collection to reminisce the good ol’ days of the 70s, or use the music to put yourself in your parents’ shoes to know what music was to a teenager back then, we highly recommend this soundtrack album. If anything, the album art rocks big time too.
ALBUM RATING:
Recommended Track: (1) Hooked on a Feeling – Blue Swede (Disc One)
Review by John Li
Genre: Documentary
Director: Chi Po-Lin
Narrator: Wu Nien-Jen
RunTime: 1 hr 33 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: The Filmic Eye and Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 28 August 2014 (exclusively at Cathay Cineleisure and Jem)
Synopsis: Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above is the first film documenting Taiwan through aerial photography. Through the lens of veteran aerial photographer Chi Po-Lin and his team, we are able to explore Taiwan from such a height and angle that has never been seen before. Through the various environmental themes and connected chapters, we transform into birds, soaring above Taiwan, to witness the island's beauty and sorrow together. The film is executive produced by Hou Hsiao-Hsien and narrated by Wu Nien-Jen, with original music composed by acclaimed Singaporean composer Ricky Ho, which garnered a nomination for Best Original Score at the 50th Golden Horse Awards, where the film won Best Documentary Feature. With a production budget of NT90million, the film has grossed over NT200 million at the Taiwan box office, making it the most successful documentary film ever to be released there. The film’s success sparked a wave of social environmental movements which led to several measures implemented by the Taiwanese government and various environmental agencies to take effective action to curb environmental pollution.
Movie Review:
Living in this part of the world, Taiwan shouldn’t be an unfamiliar tourist spot for us. Beyond our Facebook and Instagram photos with somewhat ridiculous sounding hashtags like #ILoveTaiwan and #TaiwanHoliday, how much do we really know about the East Asian state which has an area of 36193 square kilometers? Beyond the metropolitan area of Taipeiwhere you devour your enormous chicken fillets and oyster mee sua, how much do you know about the island formerly known as Formosa? In this day and age where we move faster than we think, is there relevance in understanding a country’s heritage and history?
Both a commercial and critical success, this 2013 documentary film has made its way to Singapore, and amidst the breathtaking visuals, it asks some important and somewhat grave issues which we, collectively as a human race, has chosen to ignore for the longest time. The 93 minute feature length production documents Taiwan completely in aerial photography. It is a tribute to Taiwan’s natural beauty (something not many of us are aware of), and gained attention back home when it earned NT$11 million (S$458,336) in its first three days at the Taiwanese box office, a record opening for a documentary in the territory. The film went on to win the Best Documentary at the Taipei Golden Horse Awards, before making its way to several international film festivals.
Directed by Chi Po Lin, a former civil servant turned aerial photographer, produced by prominent Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao Hsien and narrated by respected personality Wu Nien Jen (we love the script has a Chinese old school poetic romanticism), the film’s first 10 odd minutes blows you away with its unbelievably awe inspiring shots of Taiwan’s various well known spots. It begins to feel like a tourism promo reel, with Singaporean composer Ricky Ho’s magnificent and operatic score. You feel a little overwhelmed (all the while wishing you have the opportunity to visit Taiwan soon to snap similar photos and share them on your social media platforms), and begin to wonder where this documentary is headed.
Then it strikes you hard – the film begins showing you how human greed and negligence has damaged the island’s beauty. You see how irresponsible environmental crimes affect Taiwan’s mountains and coastline, and how this supposedly natural disasters like floods and landslides (which Taiwan often experiences) is nothing more than a result of human actions. You feel a little guilty because you remember wanting to enjoy mountain grown vegetables and sip mountain tea while staying in European inspired inns, just because travel brochures tell you it’s the best way to enjoy Taiwan, and to a certain extent, to appreciate life. The documentary explains to you, in simple geographic terms, how this obsession with economic expansion may one day lead to the country’s downfall.
Yes, you may feel that the film is starting to get preachy, dishing you with environmental messages that you already know from elsewhere. But nothing works better than showing you visuals that leave you dumbfounded and shocked – an effect that’s more far reaching than a horror movie. The chilling thought that the terrifying images you see on screen are due to fishermen, farmers and businessmen’s doings is one you have to experience to understand the dire situation. This documentary may be Taiwancentric, but we all know this is a universal issue that needs to be dealt with urgently.
Thankfully, the last 20 minutes of the film reminds us there is hope yet. When the film closes with one of our favourite on screen visuals this year – a choir singing an aboriginal tune on Yu Shan, Taiwan’s tallest mountain peak, you’ll step out of the cinema wanting to do your part for conservation. Next step, which is of utmost importance, is to actually making a conscious effort to protect this planet we call home.
Movie Rating:
(Breathtaking aerial photography aside, this highly recommended documentary is a timely reminder how we have mistreated Mother Nature, and how we can still make efforts to conserve this planet we call home)
Review by John Li
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Shaw Asian Films & MM2 Entertainment is proud to announce the success of Cafe. Waiting. Love in Taiwan's box office!Posted on 20 Aug 2014 |
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Cast: Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts
RunTime: 1 hr 59 mins
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language And Sexual References)
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website:
Opening Day: 15 January 2015
Synopsis: BIRDMAN is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor (Michael Keaton) – famous for portraying an iconic superhero – as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career, and himself.
Movie Review:
Wasn’t it Batman, you say? In a delightfully self-referential meta-riff, Alejandro González Iñárritu has cast Michael Keaton in the role of Riggan Thompson, a washed-up action star whose most famous role was playing a superhero character named Birdman before walking away from the franchise (he didn’t want to do ‘Birdman 4’). Almost two decades later, the balding, once fit, now paunchy Riggan is trying to make a comeback by adapting, directing and starring in a stage adaptation of the landmark Raymond Carver story ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About Love’. That second part doesn’t apply to Keaton, but the resemblance with Keaton’s own fate in Hollywood after he walked away from a US$15 million offer to reprise Batman in the mid-1990s is an uncanny – but obviously intentional – bit of casting.
And yet, Iñárritu’s latest, a sharp and exuberant satire on the costs and consequences of celebrity, doesn’t just rest on the coattails of its lead star Keaton. Co-written by Iñárritu, ‘Birdman’ represents a significant departure for the director who has made his name with serious-minded (and sometimes pretentious) multi-stranded narrative dramas ‘Amores Perros’, ’21 Grams’ and ‘Babel’. Not only does it see him abandon his pet themes of fate, circumstance and consequence for more individualistic ones like narcissism, ambition and insecurity, ‘Birdman’ is also so stylistically different from the aforementioned movies that it will completely stun those who familiar with his previous works – and fittingly so, Iñárritu has altered his onscreen credit from “Gonzalez” to a simpler and perhaps much more elegant ‘G’.
But ‘Birdman’s’ distinctive style isn’t Iñárritu’s credit alone – indeed, its bravura visuals are also the creative accomplishment of Iñárritu’s longtime Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, who has managed to realise Iñárritu’s vision of filming the movie to resemble one single continuous shot. The illusion is meant as a metaphor of how everything in Riggan’s life flows together – his alter-ego whose voice he debates with inside his head, his stage persona, his identity crisis, and as the movie progresses, his delusions of grandiosity and self-importance – and proves itself to be more than just a gimmick. In fact, one would say that the film gains its verve from the free-flowing nature of the camerawork, which veers and swoops around the actors’ entrances and exits through the backstage warrens of Broadway’s St. James Theater, onto the stage, into the audience, up on the roof, out onto the streets of Times Square, and upwards into the sky itself, blending scenes effortlessly into one another.
Their remarkable feat in both choreography and cinematography is matched by Iñárritu’s ceaseless imagination, that shuffles effortlessly between fantasy and reality. Certainly, one is forewarned of such flights of fancy by a transfixing opening sequence, which sees Keaton, wearing only a pair of white briefs, levitating four feet above the ground of his dressing room in a lotus position. On occasion, Keaton is also seen to be moving and destroying objects in his mind, his temper manifesting itself in the form of delusional super-powers. Most substantially, Keaton is visited by his costume-clad alter-ego in shimmering black feathers and a beaked mask, who is both his harshest critic as well as his most powerful motivator, the latter of which will eventually be responsible for taking his craft as an actor to dangerous proportions. Though centred around an individual’s very real existential crisis, it is also part magical-realist fable as it paints the very same individual’s hallucinations of himself that stem from his obsession – as well as that of the public – over his most defining role as an artist.
Make no mistake, this is a character study, and one that also explores the character’s relationships with those around Riggan – a headstrong junkie daughter (Emma Stone) who harbours resentment against him for not being as involved a parent as she would have hoped; his possibly pregnant lover (Andrea Riseborough) both on and off stage; a fading movie star (Naomi Watts) whose career is also riding on her Broadway debut; and an highly talented co-star (Edward Norton) who was supposed to be the play’s saving grace but turns out to be both supercilious and destructive. Riggan however finds unexpected comfort in his ex-wife (Amy Ryan) as well as, to some extent, his straight-talking and surprisingly down-to-earth manager cum lawyer cum best friend (Zach Galifianakis); we first meet these characters on the day before the first preview, and stay with them all the way up to opening night.
The supporting cast are uniformly superb, perhaps we would say, the best ensemble in a movie we’ve seen this year. Galifianakis surprises with a subtle performance unlike that in ‘The Hangover’ which one has come to expect from him; Watts is both poignant and funny as the actress in her 40s who is struggling to find her relevance on Broadway. Stone is electrifying as Riggan’s unhinged daughter, particularly impressive in a diatribe of brutal candour as she points out her father’s irrelevance in the age of Twitter and Facebook. And Norton is simply mesmerising to watch as Riggan’s self-absorbed co-star, his parody of Method actors hilarious to watch in particular as he gets an erection performing a sex scene in front of an audience of 800.
But most of the buzz since the film debuted has been about Keaton, and truly that praise is well-earned. As phenomenal a comeback as any, Keaton takes your breath away with an performance that packs humour, nuance, pathos, vulnerability and most of all, heart-aching sincerity. There is no safety net in Keaton’s vanity-free showcase, the 63-year-old actor not afraid to let his wrinkles, saggy paunch and thinning hair be captured in their full honesty – or for that matter, to take a jog through Times Square in nothing more than a pair of tighty-whiteys. Thanks to Keaton, Iñárritu’s showbiz satire becomes an absolute tour-de-force, an incisive, affecting and delightful meta-commentary on the pitfalls of fame, ambition and ego. It is quite simply one of the most unique and original films you’ll see this year.
Movie Rating:
(Michael Keaton drops all vanity for a career-defining, delightfully meta performance in a similarly groundbreaking showbiz satire from Iñárritu that is one of the most original and visually distinctive films this year)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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