John Diman is an aging former secret agent whiling away his days in a luxury hotel on the seaside. Diman is a senile, broke old man living beyond his means and within his fantasies of the past. Diman is an actor who once played a secret agent. Diman is a fumetti creator who’s been left behind by changing trends. Diman is the mortal enemy of the deadly assassin Serpentik. Diman is just another mask, and the person who wears it…
Iñárritu is a technical virtuoso, of course; the rhythms of that artificial single shot are magnificent, ranging from claustrophobic to the very occasional relief up there on the roof -- and that's the same roof which is the location of Riggan Thomson's final breakdown, so you can make something of that too — but if you do, you also have to take into account the fact that Mike Shiner lies to Sam Thomson on her very first call for truth,…
Let’s spend some time together meditating on all the ghosts in our lives: memories of people, sounds recorded on a dozen different mediums, images, fading film stock, and the bones of buildings that have served half a dozen different purposes throughout the years. And let’s root the entire journey in Kleber Mendonça Filho‘s life.
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Robb and Lips are adorable meatheads. They ask themselves why they haven’t succeeded, and I kind of think the last scene of the movie explains it: how do you get all the way to Japan before realizing that your big festival gig is opening the day at 11:35 AM? Droid is not completely off base in her criticism.
That scene also explains why they keep going: because they shrugged, went on stage anyhow, and rocked out for a full house of Japanese fans. Worth the struggle.
The movie and the band hits the balancing point between sad and hopeful.
Waste of Rachel McAdams, who does her level best to make the moral ambiguity work before it all falls off a cliff. I held hope right through the big twist reveal, which was great, until I was left with an even bigger “so what?” The coda drains the rest of the fun out.
Four stars for being a cool passion project, two stars for being a kind of draggy adventure movie, plus a million stars for a character named Rondo Montana. We can all be Rondo Montana if we try.
