Review of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) by Ben L — 01 May 2016

I've never wished a movie would do a better job of living up to its potential than I did with this film. The first act of this movie has basically everything I would want in a film. They load it with action, mystery, and even a hilarious voice-over that breaks the fourth wall constantly.

I was enjoying myself so much that I was starting to think that this might be one of the best movies I had seen in years. But there was a certain point, and I couldn't tell you exactly where it happened, but suddenly I was struggling with the film.

The plot got convoluted, the actions of the protagonists became illogical, and the voice-over became very limited. I was no longer following the story or laughing! This was a huge problem, until it hit the third act and suddenly the loose ends started to tie up and the logical connections were re-established, and the voice-over returned.

So if I could judge the entire film on the beginning and end I would be giddy, but that middle section needed some serious help. Unfortunately, this seems to be my struggle with most of Shane Black's scripts.

He definitely has a writing style and sense of humor that I appreciate, and he creates the kind of stories I love, but there always seems to be some struggle with the plot along the way. I'd probably recommend Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and it might work better for me if I watch it again, but on my first viewing I found it just short of awesome.