Review of Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) by Joshua S — 24 Jul 2016

The first thing I realize after watching this movie was, the people who made this really love cinema, with a passion. As an art and as vision for expression.

I'm not going to lie, the 'gimmick' of the movie does and a lot to it. The fact that its shot and edited to look like one single long take for most of it, does add a new layer of depth to it. Taking that away would have lessened the film a bit. Yet, the story and acting are fantastic on their own, so the adding of the cinematic style is a plus but not necessary.

That's what you must keep in mind when you film a movie with a 'gimmick.' It must work outside of said 'gimmick.' Blair Witch works outside of the found footage angle, Pulp Fiction mostly works outside of being out on chronological sync (for the most part), and Birdman works without the long take aspect. But it helps, dear God it helps.