It was 4:11 in the morning and couldn't sleep. Of course, I did what any modern 2023 person would do: I grabbed my phone. It was at that moment when I remembered: "Hey! I haven't seen the trailer for The Flash that came out during the Super Bowl!". Full disclosure: I have NO interest in that film or its deplorable protagonist.
I had heard some online hype about Michael Keaton reprising his Batman character from the old Tim Burton films, over 30 years ago. When Mr. Keaton hit my screen, I remembered something and thought: "Well I'll be damned. He did what he said he'd do in Birdman".
CONTEXT for those not in the know: Keaton plays an older actor who became famous for playing a superhero and constantly grapples between wanting to come back and make art or reliving his glory days (and so forth). Late in Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), there's a monologue narrated by the Keaton character Riggan's conscience/alter ego that seems to have foreshadowed his upcoming appearance in the DC movie:
"We'll make a comeback. They're waiting for something huge. Well, give it to them. Shave off that pathetic goatee. Get some surgery! Sixty's the new thirty, motherfucker. You're the original. You paved the way for these other clowns. Give the people what they want... old-fashioned apocalyptic porn. Birdman: The Phoenix Rises. Pimple-faced gamers creaming in their pants. A billion worldwide, guaranteed. You are larger than life, man. You save people from their boring, miserable lives. You make them jump, laugh, shit their pants... Bones rattling! Big, loud, fast! Look at these people, at their eyes... they're sparkling. They love this shit. They love blood. They love action. Not this talky, depressing, philosophical bullshit. ...And the next time you screech... it'll explode into millions of eardrums. You'll glimmer on thousands of screens around the globe. Another blockbuster. You are a god."
And glimmer, he did. During the Super Bowl, no less. Nostalgia peddlers everywhere rejoiced as a childhood image will grace their screen for the first time in over 30 years. Alas, the creative bankruptcy of Hollywood shall continue. But it certainly was food for thought to liken this to what the Oscars Best Picture winner of 2014 had said about its lead.
I guess Birdman called it.
Comments