Shane Black is one of the most prolific screenwriters in Hollywood. He is responsible for some of the most iconic films of the 1980s and 1990s like Lethal Weapon, Monster Squad, The Last Action Hero, and more. Even if someone doesn't know the name Shane Black, they have likely seen enough to recognize his films' major signifiers. His stories tend to center on a troubled duo who become friends, combine humor with violence, and are often set at Christmastime, a setting Black uses to highlight his main characters' loneliness. His signature dialogue is witty, sharp, and self-referential and plays with genre conventions.
After being a screenwriter for three decades, Black stepped into the directing chair in 2005 with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Since then, he has directed three more films: Iron Man 3, The Nice Guys, and The Predator. He is currently in development on an adaptation of the early pulp hero Doc Savage, and an adaptation of the paperback novel Destroyer. Black has lent his signature style to a number of properties, from original ideas to franchise installments. These are the best movies written or directed by Shane Black.
5 Iron Man 3
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Disney
Iron Man 3 was the first film in the MCU following the genre-redefining The Avengers. Shane Black took over the Iron Man franchise from the previous director Jon Favreau. Black had collaborated with Downey Jr. on the film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang as one of the actor's first major comeback performances, and the actor wanted to return the favor by giving Black his biggest canvas to date.
Iron Man 3 is a truly unique entry in the MCU, one that feels like a signature Shane Black film. It is an action buddy comedy and features many of Black's trademarks from a Christmas setting to the young kid supporting character, all while building off the foundation laid out in The Avengers by exploring Tony Stark's insecurities of living in a world of superheroes and PTSD from the battle of New York. The reinvention of the Mandarin is a clever commentary on the military-industrial complex where they literally create a threat developed from fears American citizens have based on focus groups. Iron Man 3 is the MCU film that is both a great entry into the franchise and a clear vision of the filmmaker.
4 The Long Kiss Goodnight
One of Black's last screenplays before he took a hiatus, The Long Kiss Goodnight stars Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson. The story follows a school teacher with amnesia (Davis) who teams up with a private detective (Jackson) to uncover a dark conspiracy about the teacher's former life and how there is more to her than appears.
Similar to Iron Man 3, The Long Kiss Goodnight is a film critical of government organizations with the main plot being kicked off by a failed false flag chemical bomb planned by the CIA to blame Islamic terrorists, all in order to secure more funding. While a box office bomb at the time of its release, the film has since gained a cult following and has grown in esteem among critics and audiences, and reflects a modern neo-noir style the Black often likes to use.
3 Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon is the film that made Shane Black's career and helped redefine the buddy cop genre. The movie centers on mismatched LAPD detectives — Danny Glover plays Roger Murtaugh, an old experienced cop who has a family, alongside Mel Gibson as Martin Riggs, a young hot shot who has become suicidal following the death of his wife. Directed by Richard Donner, Lethal Weapon went on to become the ninth highest-grossing film of 1987 and launched a successful film franchise.
Black wrote Lethal Weapon as one of his first scripts, and the film not only redefined action comedy movies of the late 80s and 1990s, but it also set the template for what audiences could expect from a Shane Black film. Set at Christmas, a pair of mismatched individuals with some form of trauma bonding them, witty banter, and a conspiracy that needs to be unraveled.
2 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
After a long hiatus, Black made his grand return with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Not only did Black write the script but he also made it his directorial debut. The film is a neo-noir dark comedy that homages hard-boiled detective stories in a self-referential tongue-in-cheek fashion. The film follows Harry (Robert Downey Jr.), a criminal who accidentally gets a coveted role in a big Hollywood film goes to LA and finds himself in a giant conspiracy involving his childhood crush Harmony (Michelle Monaghan) and cynical private detective Perry van Shrike (an excellent Val Kilmer).
Released in 2005, while the film was not a box office hit the movie earned strong reviews for critics and is to many the beginning of Robert Downey Jr.'s comeback. The film felt like a breath of fresh air, after having Black be away for so long his signature style, sardonic wit, and clever self-aware dark humor felt new and exciting. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang has now become an unexpected holiday favorite for some, showcasing a fun but also dark underbelly of an LA Christmas.
1 The Nice Guys
After Iron Man 3 grossed $1 billion worldwide, Black was free to do whatever he wanted, and he used that blank check to secure The Nice Guys. A 1970s buddy comedy, The Nice Guys is centered on an unlikely team-up between private eye Holland March (Ryan Gosling) and tough guy Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe). The Nice Guys feels like the perfect modern update of Black's Lethal Weapon formula while mixing it with the strong visionary style he developed working on Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
The performances from Gosling and Crowe are two of their absolute best, which is saying something given their long-established careers. The movie was also the introductory breakout for Angourie Rice, who not only acts as the film's moral center but also almost steals the show from her two adult co-stars. The Nice Guys is a delightful film, one that is hilarious but also topical. It features great characters and a captivating story, and it is a shame the movie underperformed at the box office as it likely could have supported sequels for years to come.