Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Shane Black is a good writer. Judging by Kiss Kiss Bang bang he is also a fantastic director. This dark comedy is an incredibly underrated comedy and showcases the powerhouse talent of Val Kilmer, Robert Downey Jr. and Shane Black. Laden with one liners and throwaway jokes Kiss Kiss Bang bang should be re watched to get everything in, for only one viewing is not enough. Perhaps this is the reason the film underperformed at the box office. If you are a fan of Robert Downey Jr. you owe it to yourself to watch this film.

Without a doubt I thought that this was truly entertaining film. I only managed to catch it at my local cinema in a one off showing, but I really wasn't disappointed.

Me and my friend went in the film not truly understanding what to expect. Basically it cracks down to Robert Downey Jr. starting the film off as a burglar, after being shot at he accidentally runs into an acting audition. Breaking down with tears in the office, he accidentally gets the acting job and whisked off to Hollywood with hopes of playing a detective in an upcoming film.

Cue Gay Perry a.k.a Val Kilmer who is fantastic in this film with his dry wit and humour adding some hilarious scenes to this film. He plays a gay detective assigned to help train up Robert Downey Jr. The pair of them get sucked into a story starting with discovery of a corpse and building into deeper plot involving kidnapping and murder. The plot line is genuinely well crafted, and is explored in the perfect amount of depth. It is quite simply littered with many funny moments. Probably the favourite of mine being the running joke of the gay detective through the film, involving the 'faggot' gun. Shane Black directs this film superbly, keeping it alive with sharp wit.

The whole cast clicks together perfectly with Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer shining with good support coming from Michelle Monaghan. The film is accompanied by a very light hearted narration from Robert Downey Jr. which makes the film that even bit more engaging.

Overall, a quirky, very amusing film, with a superb cast, and with a run time of 99 minutes, you simply can't afford to miss it.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang... A solid 10/10

Shane Black's films seem to have a very unique sense of humour about them. They don't always work for me but they often contain either very clever humour that makes you smile inwardly, or there will always be a couple of moments of genuine laugh out loud humour along the way. 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' is probably the funniest thing I've seen from him.

The film is very self-aware. It is not afraid to break the fourth wall with its narration. I'm not always the biggest fan of narration but it works reasonably well here. In particular because the story is pretty darn complex, so it is good to have a guiding voice that can clear the odd thing up.

The film is boosted by a great cast. Robert Down Jr. And Val Kilmer were perfectly suited for their roles. Kilmer in his prime was such a treat to watch. I had a good time with this one. 7/10.

Shane Black is a fine writer and his screenplays for Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, and The Long Kiss Goodnight bristled with witty dialogue, great characters and deftly handled action scenes. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, his directorial debut, also shares these attributes, but suffers from a convoluted plot and a script so overloaded with witticisms and clever asides that the viewer soon feels overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of the experience.

Robert Downey Jr. plays a low-life criminal who inadvertently becomes a potential movie star whilst escaping from a heist gone wrong (on the run, he stumbles into an audition and gets the part). However, things take a turn for the worse when he goes undercover as a private-eye (in order to gain first hand experience necessary for the role) and witnesses a murder...

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is an ambitious debut — several complex plot threads intertwine and an ingenious narrative links scenes - but despite his best efforts, Black loses control of affairs and the film spirals out of control. Despite my best efforts at keeping up, I just couldn't follow the storyline. It doesn't help matters that half of the lines are spoken in a chaotic scattershot manner and the other half are mumbled, making staying abreast of the story nigh on impossible at times. There are probably many moments of pure genius in Shane Black's script - it's a shame that I missed a lot of them.

The parts of the film that I did manage to follow and understand are actually very good. Kilmer and Downey Jr. work well together and share some incredibly funny scenes, there are some genuine 'classic' moments (Downey pissing on the corpse in the shower is hilarious) and the manner in which the story unfolds is, at times, inspired. If Black hadn't been trying so damn hard to be so clever with his words and had concentrated more on telling the story, this may have been a real gem.

Although the film closes with all loose ends neatly tied up, I suffered the majority of the running time baffled by proceedings and struggled to keep up with the sharp prose that flows thick and fast from the word go.

Maybe this is one of those films that would benefit from an immediate second viewing in order to catch all the bits I missed first time round.

KKBB was shown at the Fantasy Filmfest in Germany. This festival for horror, sci-fi and thrillers is touring Germany in several big cities. KKBB was the opening movie in Cologne and it got a feverish applause after wards.

I can only say that this movie is one of the biggest surprises in the Action/Thriller/Comedy-Genre in the last years. If you liked Black's scripts for Last Boy Scout, Long Kiss Goodnight, Lethal Weapon etc. for their tongue in cheek humor, wicked dialogues and sick ideas, you're gonna love this movie.

The cast delivers and gets the movie going. I don't want to spoil it for you, but Black still has some very cool one-liners and dialogue. Downey Jr is really amazing in this role as your typical looser-criminal kind of guy.

The film struggles a bit at the end, but it was so much fun to watch nonetheless. The Teaser Trailer came out today, so you might want to watch that. Luckily doesn't already show you the best parts.

I really hope that this movie attracts a big audience, because Black has definitely written and directed a highly entertaining movie, showing you Hollywood behind the scenes. Watch this movie!