Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a neo-noir black comedy crime film, partially based on the Brett Halliday 1941 novel, Bodies Are Where You Find Them. The film was produced by Silver Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was written and directed by Shane Black.
The story is, two-bit crook Harry Lockhart stumbles into an audition for a movie and after his remorse for a botched robbery is mistaken for method acting, he gets the part then finds himself in Hollywood. Soon, he's flung into a tangled, murderous conspiracy involving his childhood sweetheart and a hard boiled private eye.
Why It's Underrated
Like main cases with underrated films, they slip under the radar. This is a special case, because this is written and directed by Shane Black. The guy who wrote Lethal Weapon starring Mel Gibson Danny Glover, and directed by Richard Donner. And yes, the same Donner who did Superman with Christopher Reeve. So you'd think after writing a classic like that his movies would get more recognition. Criminally that's not the case.
My Thoughts
Let's start off with the performances. Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer are spectacular together. Their chemistry is great and every scene between is just as entertaining as the last. Kilmer is awesome as the private eye Perry aka Gay Perry. I thought the character was an interesting character and his sarcasm was really funny. The there's Downey Jr. aka Harry Lockhart. This character can kind of be an idiot sometimes, but that almost makes him likable.
Then there's the mystery. I won't go into too much detail in case you're interested. Anyways, at first you think it's gonna be a clear case of somebody being murdered to cover up a big secret. But there's a lot of great twist that'll put a wrench in any of your theories.
Now for the humor. Again, won't go into spoilers in case you're interest is peaked. Now the movie does have fourth wall breaks, but they're done in a way where it doesn't feel like there's winking at the camera. But even if that's not happening, the film also has a tongue-in-cheek way of poking fun at the more hardboiled crime movies or novels. Though not in a mean spirited way, if you look into the production of this, along with Shane Black's filmography, he clearly loves crime and action flicks. So he was poking fun in a more fun way.
The last thing to praise is Shane Black's writing. Not only are his characters flawed and fun, but he also writes great dialogue in a that feels natural for the characters. But there's also the fact that he does a lot of creative things. For instance, in any other the movie, Harry would've met his love interest [Molly] simple because she's there for being an actress. But Shane took a more darkly hilarious route by having her make headline news, by not only stopping a home intruder and almost killing the guy, but also because a Hollywood producer saw the story, not only liked what happened but also thought she was very attractive. Now had I written this I definitely would've put the attractive thing in there, but that whole bit with the home intruder, I honestly never would've thought of that. So thankfully for the filmmakers it was Shane Black who wrote this, and not me 😆.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is not only a great crime film, but also very funny. I say if you find this for rent or streaming, give it a watch.
My final rating is, A Must Watch!
That's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Jun 20th, for a comic book review. That one will be, the Spider-Man storyline, If This Be My Destiny. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
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