Skip to content

Shane Black

Iron Man 3 – Shane Black (2013)

  • action

This time no Romanov or Fury, “Iron Man 3” is a ‘stand-alone’ Marvel. Stark has anxiety attacks but still has to fight a bad guy.

The story is not too interesting, but there are great parts of Ben Kingsley and Guy Pearce. The latter looks quite the same as he does in “Memento“.

The film does not really have surprises. The story taps into the terrorist scare and of course the opponents have something that even Iron Man cannot simply brush aside. Towards the weak end, the story is wrapped up in the last five minutes.

The Nice Guys – Shane Black (2016)

I do not often feel like comedy, but Ryan Gosling’s presence convinced me to give this film a try. Oh, the other actor is Russel Crowe. When was the last film I saw with Crowe? “Gladiator” or so?

The two prove to make a very funny couple. A private detective and a private detective in the making, are working on cases that are connected, so after an initial clash, they start working together.

Initially “The Nice Guys” is an amusing screwball comedy. Towards the end we move more towards a nerdy action film which worked out less.

Overall, the film is a descent comedy though.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang * Shane Black * 2005

  • comedy

This film got very good critics, but I am not convinced. I wanted to see this film, but the note “by the makers of Lethal Weapon” made me doubt, but we rented it afterall. “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” tells the story of a smalltime thief who accidentally ends up in the film-business, where he meets the love of his youth, but mostly many many corpses. Harry Lockart is both the main character as the voice-over. Shane Black wanted to do something funny with the voice-over, but it isn’t very original or well-done. Lockart tells the story of the film with silly voice-overs and montage of the film (rewinding, etc.). The film supposedly has a ‘film-noir’ atmosphere, but I miss it. It is mostly a slightly funny crime-drama with some action. The film sure has its moments, Val Kilmer is great as gay private detective, but overall I see nothing but mediocrity and stolen ideas. I think the film is meant for the larger audience too much.