Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang: One of the best films I have ever seen

So, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

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There are films that reach your attention but for some reason you never get a chance to watch them. Film watching is a tiring game, there are so many to see, yet so little time. Also, film watching is an expensive hobby - in 2005, the year ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’ was released, I was a broke ass student with very little money. In that year Batman Begins, Sin City, V for Vendetta and the third new Star Wars film (which I loved, so shut your mouth) were released. If I’m honest, KKBB was just a blip on my radar. I just didn’t pay it any mind.

Well as the years have gone by, the blip became larger. I would hear word of mouth reviews from friends who’d seen the film and strongly recommended it. Yet I still ignored the film. Think about what has come out in the past 7 to 8 years. How could this film, from a director I’d never heard of (who had something to do with the one Lethal Weapon film I actually enjoyed), staring the druggie who also happened to be from Ally McBeal have anything on The Dark Knight, Avengers, The Departed and all those awesome films. It couldn’t compete.

Well, that’s what I thought before I realised this unknown director got the gig to direct Iron Man 3 and that druggie cleaned up his act and became... well, awesome. I finally watched 'Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang' and it blew me away.

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I’ve already admitted on this blog that I get overly excited about films, but I have watched KKBB three times over the past month alone and every single time it just gets better. I brought up the Dark Knight earlier for a good reason – the last time a film left me utterly flabbergasted and in awe was The Dark Knight. Let’s be clear, I consider The Dark Knight to be nothing short of a classic and one of the most important films of the past 20 years – but my heart tells me the very same thing about ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’.

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‘Kiss’ is a lot of things, but if you wanted to distil it into a single element then you would have to say that it is a detective film. But I am doing the film a great disservice by breaking it down to this one point and even on this point, KKBB is a complicated detective film.

Everything in this film is a mystery, no matter how small and they are all important - from Downey Jr’s character, Harry, to the minor purple wigged character that get killed half way through the movie. The way all of these mysteries unfold and reveal themselves is one of the reasons why it is such a joy to watch. I’ve seen so many film that have tried to do the film noiry thing and have failed miserably (I’m looking at you, Brick), but ‘Kiss’ had my undivided attention from the first to the last scene – truly.

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Everything I have read about KKBB gives a lot of praise to Downey Jr and Fat Batman (Sorry Val Kilmer, I couldn’t resist – now I feel cruel) and rightly so, they are incredible in this film – but Shane Black should have demanded all of the praise. I have to keep reminding myself that this was his first film.

The single biggest reason why ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’ works, why it doesn’t implode with so many different genres mixed into its pot is because of Shane Black and the confidence he instils in this film.  This film is like that gorgeous girl back in school that knew she was sexy as all hell and that you wanted to sleep with her.

It’s that confidence that makes the film hilarious and the jokes stay funny after every watch. It’s that confidence that makes the actions scenes exciting and they stay exciting after every watch. It is also that confidence that makes the detective elements of this film work and it’s that confidence that makes the puzzles intriguing.

This film does not second guess itself what so ever and it’s better for it.

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‘Kiss Kiss’ also struck a chord with me because of its central theme around regret. Like I hinted at earlier, this is a relatively complex film and the characters are also very complex and each of them have done (or are doing) something in their life that they regret.

It’s funny, the amount of times I’ve heard someone say “I live my life without regret” or “I’ve never regretted anything” and I've wondered what an utterly stupid thing to say. How is that even possible? Have these people never made any mistakes in their lives? Are they saying that they are flawless?

And it is these complicated flaws in the central characters I find most fascinating. Our heroes aren't even heroes and the Princess in distress isn’t so pure.

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Ultimately, The Dark Knight rightly gets lauded for not only being an incredible film, but because it has had a massive cultural impact. I’m not here to argue that ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’ rivals TDK on cultural impact – it clearly doesn’t. What I will argue is that ‘Kiss Kiss’ is as ambitious, as well made and maybe more confident than The Dark Knight. ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’ is a very special film which is rightly gaining cult status.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that it’s one of the best films I have ever seen.

                           @Chocoteddyfilms

Iron Man 3: Entertaining, but...

Everyone please welcomed back Dr Batman - my go to guy for all things comic book related. Today he takes on Iron Man 3, a film which has sent comic book experts crying out of the cinema for disrespecting a much loved character. *Kanye Shrug*

I've read a lot of negative to hysterical reviews from comic book experts, which quite frankly were hilarious. But, the good Doctor Bats has done a good bit of service for the comic book community here - he's written an intelligent explanation to why he found Iron Man 3 disappointing. It's actually the best semi-negative Iron Man 3 review I've read to date.

How did I feel about Iron Man 3? I loved it. Unreservedly loved it. I thought it was better than the first. Shane Black has big iron balls and I salute him for it.

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Iron Man 3 had a lot to live up to. After the initial critical and commercial success of Iron Man, Iron Man 2 (although commercially successfully) did less well with the critics, many stating that it paid too much attention to building up The Avengers thus taking away from Robert Downey Jnr’s (RDJ) brilliant Tony Stark. Then last summer Avengers Assemble and The Dark Knight Rises were released, two of the best superhero films to ever come out - one with ol’ Shell Head being in a starring role. 

Iron Man 3 had the difficult task of jump starting phase two of the Marvel film universe and in this respect in particular I personally feel it fails, producing a film with many highs but also many lows.

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The story follows Tony Stark as he recovers from the events of Avengers Assemble. A cyber terrorist known as The Mandarin is attacking America. Before long The Mandarin makes it personal with Stark. Stark vows he will get revenge as little does he realise just how personal this war has become. 

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Directed by Shane Black the plot loosely follows the seminal Extremis storyline where a virus that can give you superpowers is injected into you. There are many subtle moments that will bring a smile to any comic book fan such as the President being called Ellis: Warren Ellis wrote Extremis. Further the emotion that RDJ gives to his portrayal of Tony Stark is excellent. He adds a depth to the character that is rarely seen as he struggles with the aftermath of what he had to go through in New York. Tellingly Stark is armourless for the majority of the film as he has to fight his own inner demons. This is when the movie, and the Iron Man franchise as a whole, is at its best, allowing RDJ to truly flex his acting muscles. The fight scenes and special effects work well. Yet the 3D lacks that extra punch you expect it should. 

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In the comic books, The Mandarin is Iron Man’s greatest villain. He has ten power rings that each have a different power. Black stated before the release that this was a liberal translation of the character as he would have no power through the rings. He would still wear them though. The film cleverly modernised The Mandarin from the racial Chinese stereotype that he once was to a legitimate threat closer to Osama Bin Laden. The ten rings nicely make up his terror flag, embodying a link with their importance. I really found this grounded interpretation of The Mandarin interesting and would have loved to see more of it. The little we see of the character made me feel that he did not get the airtime he deserved. Ben Kingsley plays the character brilliantly as the menacing voice from the shadows.

Further Black and co writer Drew Pearce (who wrote the incredibly funny No Heroics) develop the concept of The Iron Patriot, making it work in a sharp fashion for the film audience.

There is a major plot twist in Iron Man 3 that everyone will be talking about once they have seen it. I left with mixed emotions. In some respects I loved it feeling that it was a brilliant idea that really showed a cleverness in the script as well as adding a real twenty first century flavour to it. Yet on the other I did feel that this idea has been done before in other franchises such as James Bond and strayed away from the comic books. I am still on the fence about this.

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One of my main problems with this film is continuity or rather lack of. After Iron Man 2 was seen as having too many links to the Marvel universe (something I disagree with), Iron Man 3 seems to go completely in the opposite direction. Stark and America as a whole is being attacked by a cyber terrorist. Stark is left fighting on his own with no power source yet he neither considers ever calling any of his super friends, explains why they are not coming to help him or are even mentioned. Even more baffling is that SHIELD are never seen let alone mentioned. In reality if we were being threatened by a cyber terrorist I think America’s secret superhero service might have something to say about it. The closest we get are mentions of ‘New York’, reiterating what happened in Avengers Assemble. We also get is a bonus scene at the end of the film; something that we have come to expect from Marvel. Even the bonus scene serves no real purpose for the greater continuity. Yes it is entertaining and yes I honestly feel this one scene adds a lot to the film but it would have worked just as well if not better at the beginning of the film. 

Further and more importantly, these bonus scenes have become known as the thing that furthers the continuing plot of the Marvel universe as a whole. In Iron Man we saw Fury recruit Stark for The Avengers. In Incredible Hulk we saw Tony Stark be interested in The Hulk. In Iron Man 2 we saw the discovery of Thor’s hammer. In Thor we saw Loki take over Doctor Selvig‘s body and in Captain America, we saw Fury explain to Cap that he had been frozen followed by The Avengers trailer. Here we get nothing linking to Thor: The Dark World and more importantly nothing linking to Guardians of the Galaxy, a film that is rumoured to have Iron Man appear. All we are told is that Tony Stark will return. I am aware that Marvel might have not wanted to shoot another scene with RDJ as this might be his last hurrah in the armour but it still makes the film feel alien to all of its other Marvel cousins.

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Overall Iron Man 3 struggles because it could never live up to the success of last year’s Avengers Assemble and The Dark Knight Rises. Shane Black directs an entertaining film that lacks the substance of its younger brothers. If this is the final time we see RDJ in the armour it is a nice way to end it but it is not the swan song that a film like Avengers Assemble could have been nor what RDJ deserves.

                                         

@LJHalsall