2K Replay: KISS KISS BANG BANG

 by Adam Riske

Nominated for “Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical” (Corbin Bernsen) at the Satellite Awards. He lost to Val Kilmer in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

• Best Scene/Moment (tie): Any scene where Val Kilmer or Michelle Monaghan appears and whenever Robert Downey Jr.’s character interacts with women at L.A. parties.

• Best Song: “Broken” by Robert Downey Jr. I don’t think I like the song, but the options are limited and I’m kind of fascinated by how much he sounds like if you went on Cameo and hired Fake Peter Gabriel to sing you a song.

• Best Merch: A “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang/2005 Advance Screening Movie Ticket…” for $225.25. I mean, I don’t get this. First, why get a ticket for a public sneak preview professionally graded? This isn’t a premiere or anything. It’s a contest screening in Portland shortly before the release date. Second, why $225.25? How did the seller land at that price? What are they going to do with the quarter? What makes that important to them?

• Director Grade: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was directed by Shane Black.
Great Movies: The Nice Guys
Good Movies: N/A
OK Movies: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Bad Movies: Iron Man 3, The Predator
Unseen By Me: N/A
Overall Grade: C+

• Double It with This 2005 Movie: The Man

• Year 2005 Movies to Trailer Before Them: Good Night and Good Luck, The Matador, Mindhunters

• Never Talk to Strangers or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang? Never Talk to Strangers

• Mall Movie? It’s borderline since the movie was kind of treated like an arthouse action comedy back in 2005, but I’ll say yes because this is a genre movie starring Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer during a slower time in their film careers.

• Only in 2005: A Shane Black buddy movie that would play at the Landmark Theatres chain.

• Scene Stealer: It feels like a cheat to say Val Kilmer because he plays one of the three main characters but it’s a performance and character written expressly to steal scenes, so it would feel disingenuous picking anyone else.

• I Miss: Val Kilmer.

• I Don’t Miss: Robert Downey Jr.’s narration stretches. I get it’s supposed to be reminiscent of the detective novels referenced in the movie but OMG is it grating. It reminds me of when I was trying to write novels in 2005 at Starbucks and they were all terrible with put-upon asshole narrators. I thought I was onto something. I wasn’t and I had the good sense to stop.

• 2005 Crush (tie): Michelle Monaghan and Shannyn Sossamon.

• 2025 Crush (tie): Michelle Monaghan and Shannyn Sossamon.

• What I Thought in 2005: I was looking forward to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang but it left me cold in 2005. My issues at the time were that it was too smug for my taste and I really disliked the narration. I was also less of a Robert Downey Jr. fan back then, so I just enjoyed the Kilmer and Monaghan performances and not much else. I was also disappointed in the lack of slickness in Shane Black’s direction. It seemed at odds with his script and what I was used to with directors like Richard Donner or Tony Scott amping up his material from a visual sense.

• What I Think in 2025: I definitely liked it more in 2025 than I did in 2005, but Kiss Kiss Bang Bang still holds me at arm’s length. I just can’t completely vibe with it like I can with The Nice Guys. This is also a case of a movie I like more when I think about it than when I’m watching it.