I enjoyed me some Michael Keaton in the 80s. He was the first Batman. Johnny Dangerously is one of my favorite movie parodies (and it has an incredible looking Marilu Henner). I have a soft spot for Mr Mom, regardless of it aging terribly. Beetlejuice is a movie that holds up incredibly well. I remember watching Beetlejuice when I was young, leaving bewildered by the darkness and lack of Michael Keaton.
After Batman Returns, Keaton effectively disappeared. I saw Multiplicity in the theater and remember virtually nothing about the movie, except that it was not good. I may have seen it during a free preview and, to quote my father "I wanted my money back." When Keaton popped up stealing scenes in The Other Guys, I was ecstatic. That was the Keaton I loved.
On to Birdman, which is so meta I don't know where to begin. Keaton is playing himself: a semi-washed up former superhero superstar trying to be respectable by staging a dramatic play. The play is in trouble from the start, with an over-actor playing the lead and Birdman leveraging his entire wealth to fund the project. The lead actor meets with an unfortunate accident just days before previews, causing a great, mercurial actor, played by Edward Norton, to fall into Keaton's lap. Norton is a passionate actor but also an asshole, causing friction on the set. Stuff happens, yadda yadda yadda and the movie ends.
It's a great, strange movie. The surrealist elements make the ultimate meaning/purpose of the story unclear. My best guess is that Keaton has finally achieved a level of fame at which the people around him, or at least his daughter, sees him as he sees himself.
The camera work is ridiculous and exhausting. I say that as a compliment. The entire movie is filmed as a tracking shot. I realized this fairly early on and, despite looking, saw few chances for an obvious edit point. It was impressive. However, the constant camera movement made me tired. There was no cue for my mind to take a break.
Random notes: Edward Norton is tall, Naomi Watts still looks great, Emma Stone is smaller/skinnier than I thought, and I knew I recognized the brunette from somewhere, turned out to be Oblivion.
First Viewing: 3+3+3+2+3 = 14