editor's note: apparently, I never re-posted this review of Shane Black's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang which, in retrospect, was probably a good idea. Don't get me wrong - I stand by my endorsement of the film and you'll find Kiss Kiss Bang Bang mentioned frequently in the Blogorium, but it's only fair to add my initial reactions, as inarticulate as they may be. Additionally, I have no idea what's going on in the last paragraph.
I never understood what the big deal was about Shane Black; I mean, I like Lethal Weapon, and I never saw The Last Boy Scout but I did also like The Long Kiss Goodnight, but not in the kind of way you'd ever say "holy crap! you need to see those movies!!!" and I thought it was cool that he was in Predator, but then again what about Predator isn't cool? (that's not a question I intend for you to answer because the answer is nothing about predator isn't cool. period end of discussion) but I never got the whole deal about him being this big time Hollywood script writer who was envied in the same was Joe Ezsterhas was until Jade came out.
also, we'll just ignore Last Action Hero, eh? I remember as a youngster that something was wrong with a 90% empty theater on opening night, let alone the sheer awfulness that is Last Action Hero)
That was, until I saw Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Now I understand what all the fuss was about, and why it's such a damned shame that he's been MIA for 9 years in Hollywood. See, it has to do with all the legions of idiot script doctors hired to make a script more "palatable to the idiots in middle america" (and yes, that does include Joss Whedon who contributed the most groan-worthy line of ALL TIME to X-Men because even though Arnold's puns in Batman and Robin sucked it was still Arnold so you were expecting it) and as I'd never read Shane Black's drafts for Lethal Weapon or The Long Kiss Goodnight, I was judging his work based on the movie up on the screen. However, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is Black unfiltered, without any of those idiots who "punch up" a draft (*cough*toadstruckbylightning*cough*) and accordingly, it's one seriously subversive mystery-comedy-action-thingy ever to be released in too few theaters and accordingly forgotten about two weeks later. Which makes sense. This is the kind of movie where someone hands you a copy and says "holy crap! you need to see this movie!" and you don't believe them because they told you to watch Junebug and The Chumscrubber and you think maybe their threshold for good movies is a little more lax than yours but you watch it anyway and holy crap, they're right. It's about time Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer got their chance to shine and by gawd not drop the ball, and sure as shit they run with it.
Anyway watch it and if you disagree and think it's overcooked and too self aware then whatever because I still like Junebug and I still like the fuckin' Chumscrubber and Joss Whedon should've known better than to stick a Buffy joke into an X-Men movie. Otherwise I'm cool with him except for Speed which would've tanked and tanked hard were it not for his contributions, and then maybe just maybe those pieces of shit Matrix movies never would've happened.
I had a hell of a time getting anybody to come with me to see MacGruber tonight. For some reason, everyone had something else to do or wasn't sure that they really wanted to see a 90 minute movies based on a 90 second sketch on SNL. Oh sure, most SNL movies are pretty bad, especially in the post- Wayne's World 2 era, so who could really blame them for wanting to skip out on the next potential Night at the Roxbury or The Ladies Man? So they all politely had better things to do.
To them I say: Your Loss. For anyone who doesn't know who MacGruber is, the premise is very simple: Will Forte is a MacGyver-like super-agent that always ends up blowing himself, Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig), and whoever the guest star is after failing to disarm a bomb:
As a regular watcher of Saturday Night Live, when I heard that MacGruber was written by Will Forte, along with SNL writer John Solomon and The Lonely Island (Hot Rod, Dick in a Box) member Jorma Taccone (who also directed), I'm on board. Add Kristen Wiig, Val Kilmer, and Powers Boothe and you've sweetened the pot. I wasn't so sure about Ryan Phillippe, but he was really good on SNL a few weeks ago. See for yourself:
For starters, the movie is nothing like the sketch, and that works to its benefit. Like The Blues Brothers or, yes, Wayne's World*, the character of MacGruber is the jumping off point for a much different story. Since you know almost nothing about MacGruber anyway, that gives Forte, Solomon, and Taccone the opportunity to make up his backstory and do whatever they want with the character. And what they do is pretty amazing.
The nefarious Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer) steals a Russian X5 nuclear missile and is planning to blow up Washington, D.C. during the State of the Union. In order to stop him, Colonel John Faith (Powers Boothe) reactivates MacGruber (Forte) - who's been dead for ten years after Cunth detonated a bomb at MacGruber's wedding - to stop him. When MacGruber leaves his team (comprised of WWE Superstars Chris Jericho, Kane, The Great Kali, MVP, and Mark Henry) in a van packed with homemade C4, well, you can guess what happens.
So MacGruber, with his new team of Lieutenant Dixon Piper (Phillipe) and Vicki St. Elmo (Wiig), sets out to discover where the bomb is, doing so in the worst possible ways. Along the way... actually, I'm not going to tell you what happens. What makes MacGruber work where so many SNL movies haven't is its willingness not to be for all audiences.
MacGruber is a hard R: in addition to the rampant profanity, crude behavior, and pieces of celery being shoved up characters asses, MacGruber is also pretty violent. Okay, very violent. I'm not going to say when it happens, but MacGruber is not exaggerating his claims of loving to rip peoples' throats out, and when he goes for the Turkey (think "Hat Trick"), it's a sight to see. Additionally, every single time Piper shoots someone, a blast of arterial spray flies into the air before they slump over dead.
So yeah, MacGruber isn't afraid to swing for the fences in violence, crassness, sexuality (just wait for that ghost sex-scene), and profanity. But more importantly, it's funny anyway. It doesn't need the shock value or lines like "It's time to pound some Cunth" (say it out loud) to get laughs; they just add to the experience.
Where most of the comedy comes from is the adherence of MacGruber to action films of the 1980s. While the sketch is a MacGyver knock-off, the film liberally satirizes the Rambo films, Commando, Missing in Action, and most of the Cannon films or Golan-Globus catalog. If you can think of a stereotypical action movie trope, you're going to see it here, and then some. They even get in a strange James Bond dig when MacGruber and Cunth meet face to face.
Speaking of which, the other reason this movie works is the supporting cast. Kristen Wiig has impeccable timing for playing uncomfortable dialogue that trails off, and Vicki St. Elmo is asked to do increasingly stupid and dangerous things that give her the chance to really work the laughs. Ryan Phillippe may actually be the funniest supporting cast member by playing it straight, as his responses to MacGruber's ridiculous ideas get bigger laughs than Forte's set ups. Not to say that Will Forte isn't amazing as MacGruber: unlike the sketches, he pretty much plays the character straight, and the little touches like always taking his Blaupunkt stereo out of his car so no one steals it get increasingly funnier as the film goes on.
I must take a moment to discuss Val Kilmer's Dieter Von Cunth. For starters, I should say that despite the name, it isn't actually a joke that's overused in the film. There's enough time between saying his last name that you can forget about it an appreciate the next bout of pun-ing. But anyway, it's a pleasure to see Val Kilmer in an outright comedy again. There was a taste of it in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but in MacGruber Kilmer is an all out comic villain, and he's hilarious. The back and forth's with MacGruber may be my favorite scenes, and the sense of relish Kilmer takes in playing Cunth near the end of the movie really give the film that extra "oomph."
By the way, stick through the credits, so you can hear one of aspiring songwriter Vicki St. Elmo's songs. It's called "Rock My Body", and Doctor Tom (the only person brave enough to join me) was in fits of laughter. It's incredibad. It's a shame MacGruber is going to make no money whatsoever - there were eight people in a large theatre with us at the 10 o'clock Friday showing... not good - because I'm already down for another MacGruber movie.
Since that's probably not going to happen, if any of you want to atone for missing out, then I recommend you join the Cap'n for a repeat viewing sometime very soon. You won't regret it.
* I am not a big fan of Wayne's World. I used to like the movie, but now I'm just not that into it. However, I admit that it is typically the "high water mark" for SNL movies.
