“It was kind of the anti-action action movie in the sense”: Iron Man Director’s 1 Movie Starring Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr. is Pure Genius Once You Look at His History

When Marvel launched its universe with Iron Man, the industry was divided into two eras defined as pre-MCU and post-MCU. Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau changed Hollywood for good and never batted an eye while doing so. It was only fair that the audience got on board with the program and rode the Marvel wave until it crashed into a storm of its own making, drowning everyone and everything in its path.

But while the franchise was still in its conception era and Robert Downey Jr. was a star of the 90s before his infamous downfall (and eventual resurrection), there was a time when the formidable movie star was a genius of comedic talent and a favorite of the masses and critics alike.

Robert Downey Jr. Changes Hollywood For the Better

When Iron Man 3 premiered during the Christmas season, fans were hyper-aware of the grounded and gritty storyline of the film that made it one of MCU’s rare threequel hits. The movie, directed by Shane Black, was, however, not the first collaboration between the director and his Iron Man star.

Shane Black’s 2005 neo-noir comedy thriller, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, was a masterpiece in the most inexpensive and delicate manner. The non-blockbuster, almost independent nature of the movie made it an instant classic posing as a sleeper hit that helped elevate Robert Downey Jr.’s reputation after he was essentially blacklisted from Hollywood. However, the film was just as much a comeback opportunity for Shane Black as it was for the Iron Man actor.

After an unlucky string of heavy-handed flops in the mid-90s, Shane Black forced himself into a hiatus, returning almost 10 years later with a flesh-out noir script that propelled him into the good graces of critics again.

Shane Black’s 2005 Film Challenged Hollywood Paradigms

While the early Aughts attempted to score big with the coming of a new century, Shane Black ensured his soft launch back into Hollywood found a comfortable starting point among the blockbuster action-hungry audience.

Black’s own Hollywood record of the past dictated a pattern defined by gritty violence, antagonism, and action-filled drama. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang entirely skipped that formula, going for a more subtle approach instead of the usual blockbuster fanfare.

On his part, the screenwriter-director himself realized his anti-action approach to the film was starting to fester confusion among the critics who were doubtful about his new film’s strengths and flaws. In a 2005 interview with Chud, Black revealed:

I’m sure there are several that I’ve yet to get to. It was kind of the anti-action action movie in the sense that I tried to make everything… all the tough guy stuff… and put it on its ear a little bit. The violence in it and the action is very awkward.

People are stumbling, the wrong person is shooting. Instead of this guy, it’s the vendor who shoots the bad guy at one point. I liked that the actual guy who is tough and knows how to kick down the door and rescue everybody happens to be gay.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which served as Shane Black’s directorial debut, ultimately brought in an 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with critics hailing Black’s tongue-in-cheek satirist elements of the script in his “dark, eclectic neo-noir homage” Rotten Tomatoes[via ].

Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer’s performances won the audience and the critics over with their riotous acting with the former claiming in a 2020 interview with Joe Rogan that Kiss Kiss Bang Bang remains “in some ways the best film I’ve ever done.”

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is available for renting/buying on Prime Video and Apple TV.