Entertainment
The 10 Greatest Movies That Never Take Themselves Too Seriously
Some movies have a lot of promise, but shoot themselves in the foot by taking themselves too seriously. They get dark and dour where they should have stayed lighthearted, straining for profundity when simply being entertaining would have sufficed. This problem is particularly acute when it comes to many recent superhero and blockbuster movies.
The titles below are object lessons in the opposite approach. They are great precisely because they remain fun (and perhaps a little goofy) the whole way through. These movies never feel like they’re trying to prove anything beyond fulfilling their entertainment quota, which is why we love them even more. It doesn’t make them meaningless or unimportant; it just makes them enjoyable.
‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ (2005)
“Who taught you math?” This crime comedy was Shane Black‘s directorial debut, and it remains delightful more than two decades since it came out. In it, small-time thief Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.) accidentally lands a Hollywood screen test before becoming entangled in a murder investigation alongside sarcastic private investigator Perry van Shrike (Val Kilmer) and aspiring actress Harmony Lane (Michelle Monaghan). The increasingly convoluted mystery serves as the perfect playground for Black’s razor-sharp dialogue and relentless self-awareness.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang strikes a great balance between mocking the conventions of noir thrillers while also being suspenseful and compelling. Crucially, every joke feels like part of the narrative rather than a distraction from it. Not to mention, the easy chemistry between the leads does a lot of heavy lifting, taking moments from simply funny to outright hilarious. Fast, stylish, and endlessly quotable.
‘Big Trouble in Little China’ (1986)
“It’s all in the reflexes.” Although a box office flop, Big Trouble in Little China was charming enough to have a second life on home video, eventually establishing itself as a cult classic. Frequent John Carpenter collaborator Kurt Russell takes on a different kind of role here as truck driver Jack Burton, a swaggering hero who is also frequently confused, frequently outmatched, and frequently rescued by more capable people around him.
When his friend Wang Chi’s fiancée is kidnapped by an ancient sorcerer beneath San Francisco’s Chinatown, Jack stumbles into a world filled with martial arts masters, monsters, magic, and centuries-old conspiracies. It’s all very ridiculous, but Carpenter embraces that. The fight scenes are impossible, characters fly around ridiculously, and the madness relentlessly escalates. Every outrageous beat is delivered with complete confidence, ensuring we come along for the ride.
‘Hot Fuzz’ (2007)
“The greater good.” The entire Cornetto Trilogy is an example of a cast and crew turning lack of seriousness into high art. Hot Fuzz, in particular, begins as a fish-out-of-water comedy before exploding into one of the funniest action films ever. London’s most accomplished police officer, Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg), is reassigned to the seemingly idyllic village of Sandford after making his colleagues look bad. However, this sleepy hamlet quickly becomes an unlikely battleground after a series of mysterious murders.
The visual gags and physical comedy are off the charts here, producing countless iconic moments, like the chanting hooded conspirators, the runaway swan, the sea mine, the church steeple impalement, and “Ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?” As with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, this is a movie that celebrates its genre while also poking fun at its excesses, and it radiates pure joy from beginning to end.
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ (2014)
“We are Groot.” Just as the DCU was getting a little too grim and gritty, Marvel pivoted in the opposite direction with Guardians of the Galaxy, proving once again that superhero movies can embrace complete absurdity without sacrificing any emotional punch. Here, a thief (Chris Pratt), an assassin (Zoe Saldaña), a genetically enhanced raccoon (Bradley Cooper), a walking tree (Vin Diesel), and a revenge-obsessed warrior (Dave Bautista) reluctantly join forces after becoming caught in an intergalactic struggle over an immensely powerful artifact.
The setup sounds like the start of a bad joke, but James Gunn turns it into one of the most charming blockbusters of the 2010s. The constant jokes never diminish the genuine relationships developing between the characters and, perhaps most important of all, the soundtrack plays a crucial role in establishing the film’s playful personality. This recipe resonated, carrying Guardians to a $773m box office haul.
‘The Princess Bride’ (1987)
“As you wish.” Boasting one of the finest scripts of all time, The Princess Bride immerses us in a fairytale world of adventure, love, wit, danger, sword fights, and killer one-liners. Buttercup’s (Robin Wright) romance with the farmhand Westley (Cary Elwes) quickly evolves into an extraordinary journey involving pirates, revenge, kidnappings, miracle workers, giants, and one of cinema’s most colorful collections of supporting characters.
Practically every scene is iconic and practically every conversation is quotable, whether it’s Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) confronting his enemies or Vizzini (Wallace Shawn) repeatedly declaring situations “inconceivable.” Quirkiness aside, the movie is deeply in love with storytelling itself, and that shines through from the first scene to the last. Although it’s clever, meta, and weirdly postmodern, The Princess Bride ultimately places heart over artifice. It’s no mere empty exercise in style or pastiche.
‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (1981)
“It’s not the years, honey. It’s the mileage.” With Raiders, Spielberg made cinematic alchemy out of the boys’ adventure serials that had charmed a previous generation. Harrison Ford turns in his most beloved performance as the whip-wielding archaeologist racing against the Nazis to recover the legendary Ark of the Covenant, traveling from South America to Nepal, Cairo, and beyond. These are world-hanging-in-the-balance stakes, yet the movie never becomes self-important.
The feeling of fun is inexhaustible, with the movie serving up one marvelous set piece after another, from the opening temple escape to the truck chase across the desert. While these sequences are grand and intense, Indy himself is no invincible superhero; instead, he’s someone who continually improvises his way through disasters with equal parts courage, luck, and sheer determination. His frequent mistakes make him feel wonderfully human.
‘The Big Lebowski’ (1998)
“The Dude abides.” The Big Lebowski is one of the greatest stoner noirs, spinning a quotable comedy around a bizarro mystery and the most laid-back protagonist imaginable. Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is mistaken for a millionaire sharing his surname and becomes unwillingly entangled in a kidnapping plot involving nihilists, pornography, artists, bowling tournaments, and increasingly surreal misunderstandings. Rather than solving the situation through brilliant deduction, the Dude mostly stumbles from one strange encounter to another, somehow surviving through sheer persistence.
Through it all, the Coen brothers delight in treating absurd situations with complete sincerity. Indeed, the film itself is as easygoing as its central character, which is why it works so well. The Big Lebowski is so totally committed to its oddball wavelength that it somehow succeeds against all odds, and it’s now one of the most enduring movies of the 1990s.
‘Back to the Future’ (1985)
“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” Back to the Future is a masterclass in fusing high-concept sci-fi with infectious humor. Teenager Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is accidentally transported from 1985 to 1955, where he must ensure that his parents fall in love while finding a way to return home before he accidentally erases his own existence.
Crucially, unlike most time-travel stories, the movie never gets bogged down in scientific explanations, instead focusing on memorable characters and stellar comedic timing. Sure, the mechanics of the time-travel don’t really make sense, but when the script is so cleverly constructed and the performances are so lovable, who cares? Not to mention, there’s an irresistible optimism to Back to the Future, making it a feel-good gem to return to again and again. Like the DeLorean, it transports us back to a simpler time.
‘Burn After Reading’ (2008)
“What did we learn?” The Coen brothers strike again. Although not as druggy and hazy as The Big Lebowski, Burn After Reading is arguably more unhinged in its own way. When a disc containing supposedly classified information falls into the hands of two dim-witted gym employees (Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand), they attempt to blackmail its owner (John Malkovich), triggering a chain reaction of misunderstandings involving intelligence agencies, paranoid ex-spouses, cosmetic surgery, and increasingly catastrophic decisions.
Here, the Coens derive enormous comedy from the gap between the characters’ confidence and their actual intelligence. Nearly everyone believes they are participating in an elaborate conspiracy when, in reality, they’re just… not. In addition to the phenomenal writing, the stacked cast gives us wonderful performances, from Pitt’s dim-witted cheerfulness to McDormand’s delusional entitlement to Malkovich’s volcanic frustration.
‘In Bruges’ (2008)
“You’re an inanimate f—ing object!” Finally, we have In Bruges, which might still be Martin McDonagh‘s masterpiece. After a botched hit leaves him emotionally shattered, young hitman Ray (Colin Farrell) is ordered to lie low in the picturesque Belgian city of Bruges alongside his older partner Ken (Brendan Gleeson). But Ray grows increasingly restless, and their temporary exile spirals toward tragedy, absurdity, and violence.
In Bruges is a remarkable balancing act between humor and darkness, depth and ridiculousness. Somehow, even when touching on genuinely powerful ideas, it still feels light and nimble. The stars practically sing McDonagh’s colorful dialogue (it’s like Tarantino, had he been born in Ireland and read too much existentialism), and Ralph Fiennes nearly steals the film with his explosively funny supporting performance as mob boss Harry. What a classic.
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