I smiled a lot watching it, and I burst out laughing at least twice. That's quite a bit better than most so-called comedies can muster.
About sixteen bodies, a couple of kidnappings, several bruises, a ton of beatings, and a multitude of profanities later, Harry and Perry finally run through the case. Along the way, they also meet the requisite femme fatale, Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan), very beautiful, very suspicious; and the requisite dubious characters, like the rich and powerful Harlan Dexter (Corbin Bernsen) and a couple of goons, Mr. Frying Pan (Dash Mihok) and Mr. Fire (Rockmond Dunbar), as in "out of" and "into."
Visually, the film is a typically modern hodgepodge of quick edits, pans, zooms, fades, dissolves, and crosscuts, combined with color saturations and color drains to give it a 1940s' look, and a zippy set of background musical numbers. Still, none of it is done to the extent that it makes the brain reel, so like everything else about this exaggerated comedy, even its exaggerated cinematic style seems to work.
If the movie has any fault, it's that it carries things a bit too far on occasion, trying much too hard to produce an inside gag. When it does this, it takes on a tone of smugness, becoming too satisfied with itself and reveling too freely in its own cleverness.
Be that as it may, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" remains mostly on target, sending up old noir mystery stories and contemporary cinema simultaneously, whilst keeping the audience amused most every step of the way.
Video:
The standard-definition video quality on side two is good, but, needless to say, the high-definition quality on side one is even better. The widescreen picture size in both versions closely matches the movie's original 2.40:1 theatrical ratio, measuring about 2.20:1 across my television; and both transfers convey a good deal of information, some of it realistic, some of it intentionally not. It's a little hard to judge the video quality of a film that the filmmakers so deliberately doctored for effect. Colors are solid, even when the director is playing around with various color schemes--draining the color, saturating the color, changing the color. But while definition in the SD version is just fairly good and not world beating, the definition in the HD version is much improved. Grain is a nonissue in both versions, but I swear I noticed what little there is more in high def. Using for comparison the SD disc that Warner Bros. sent me a couple of weeks earlier, I was astounded at how much softer the standard definition was and how much brighter and deeper the hues were in HD. The high definition is still not going to please everyone because the director never intended the look of the picture to match "Doctor Zhivago" or "Lawrence of Arabia"; even so, it should impress anyone who compares it to the already decent SD video reproduction. Let me put it another way: If you have an HD-DVD player, you will never touch side two.
Audio:
The first and most obvious thing you'll notice about either the SD's Dolby Digital 5.1 or the HD's Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 sound is the excellent dynamic range and transient impact. Sounds fly out of the speakers and hit you hard. Moreover, there is a good stereo spread among all the channels, especially in regular DD 5.1, and, perhaps most important, it's all very well balanced. That is, the sonic effects never overpower the dialogue despite their range and impact. Now, here's the thing: While the DD 5.1 is not the most detailed or well focused sound you'll ever hear, the DD+ is far better in these regards. Using my HD-DVD player's 5.1 analogue outputs, the DD+ audio sounded tighter and better focused, particularly in the bass. There is also a decent amount of surround activity from the soundtrack, although none of it flies around the room as it does in some modern action movies.
Extras:
The bonus items are repeated on both sides, the most substantial item being an audio commentary with Kilmer, Downey, and Black. Surprisingly, perhaps, it is Kilmer who seems to take the thing least seriously, his constant teases reminding us that this film is supposed to be a comedy, after all. Next, there is a four-minute gag reel, followed by a widescreen theatrical trailer. And except for a trailer on the SD side for "V for Vendetta," that's about it. Twenty-nine scene selections (but no chapter insert), plus English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles round out the extras. As always, WB include pop-up menus, a zoom-and-pan feature, and an Elite Red HD case.
Parting Thoughts:
"Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" gets a little too silly sometimes, but it remains mainly pretty droll. I smiled a lot watching it, and I burst out laughing at least twice. That's quite a bit better than most so-called comedies can muster. Downey and Kilmer make a good buddy team, as I've said, even though they're anything but buddies in the movie; and director Black keeps the action and the gags moving along at a healthy clip. Be aware, however, that the movie is rated R for plenty of vulgarity, a touch of nudity, several sexual situations, and a good deal of violence. It's not a kid's film.
Visually, the film is a typically modern hodgepodge of quick edits, pans, zooms, fades, dissolves, and crosscuts, combined with color saturations and color drains to give it a 1940s' look, and a zippy set of background musical numbers. Still, none of it is done to the extent that it makes the brain reel, so like everything else about this exaggerated comedy, even its exaggerated cinematic style seems to work.
If the movie has any fault, it's that it carries things a bit too far on occasion, trying much too hard to produce an inside gag. When it does this, it takes on a tone of smugness, becoming too satisfied with itself and reveling too freely in its own cleverness.
Be that as it may, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" remains mostly on target, sending up old noir mystery stories and contemporary cinema simultaneously, whilst keeping the audience amused most every step of the way.
Video:
The standard-definition video quality on side two is good, but, needless to say, the high-definition quality on side one is even better. The widescreen picture size in both versions closely matches the movie's original 2.40:1 theatrical ratio, measuring about 2.20:1 across my television; and both transfers convey a good deal of information, some of it realistic, some of it intentionally not. It's a little hard to judge the video quality of a film that the filmmakers so deliberately doctored for effect. Colors are solid, even when the director is playing around with various color schemes--draining the color, saturating the color, changing the color. But while definition in the SD version is just fairly good and not world beating, the definition in the HD version is much improved. Grain is a nonissue in both versions, but I swear I noticed what little there is more in high def. Using for comparison the SD disc that Warner Bros. sent me a couple of weeks earlier, I was astounded at how much softer the standard definition was and how much brighter and deeper the hues were in HD. The high definition is still not going to please everyone because the director never intended the look of the picture to match "Doctor Zhivago" or "Lawrence of Arabia"; even so, it should impress anyone who compares it to the already decent SD video reproduction. Let me put it another way: If you have an HD-DVD player, you will never touch side two.
Audio:
The first and most obvious thing you'll notice about either the SD's Dolby Digital 5.1 or the HD's Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 sound is the excellent dynamic range and transient impact. Sounds fly out of the speakers and hit you hard. Moreover, there is a good stereo spread among all the channels, especially in regular DD 5.1, and, perhaps most important, it's all very well balanced. That is, the sonic effects never overpower the dialogue despite their range and impact. Now, here's the thing: While the DD 5.1 is not the most detailed or well focused sound you'll ever hear, the DD+ is far better in these regards. Using my HD-DVD player's 5.1 analogue outputs, the DD+ audio sounded tighter and better focused, particularly in the bass. There is also a decent amount of surround activity from the soundtrack, although none of it flies around the room as it does in some modern action movies.
Extras:
The bonus items are repeated on both sides, the most substantial item being an audio commentary with Kilmer, Downey, and Black. Surprisingly, perhaps, it is Kilmer who seems to take the thing least seriously, his constant teases reminding us that this film is supposed to be a comedy, after all. Next, there is a four-minute gag reel, followed by a widescreen theatrical trailer. And except for a trailer on the SD side for "V for Vendetta," that's about it. Twenty-nine scene selections (but no chapter insert), plus English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles round out the extras. As always, WB include pop-up menus, a zoom-and-pan feature, and an Elite Red HD case.
Parting Thoughts:
"Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" gets a little too silly sometimes, but it remains mainly pretty droll. I smiled a lot watching it, and I burst out laughing at least twice. That's quite a bit better than most so-called comedies can muster. Downey and Kilmer make a good buddy team, as I've said, even though they're anything but buddies in the movie; and director Black keeps the action and the gags moving along at a healthy clip. Be aware, however, that the movie is rated R for plenty of vulgarity, a touch of nudity, several sexual situations, and a good deal of violence. It's not a kid's film.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]19207[/release]