Detention

Keine schreckliche Dummheit hier! Aber glücklicherweise so unterhaltsam, dass kein Platz für Langeweile bleibt. Detention ist eine verrückte Mischung aus Teenager-Komödie, Science Fiction und Horror-Parodie, die sicherlich nicht jeder mag. Neben der richtigen Stimmung erfordert der Film auch eine angemessene Portion Aufmerksamkeit: Er enthält eine unüberschaubare Menge an visuellen Ideen, Zitaten und Verspottungen aller möglichen und unmöglichen Filme und auch ein sympathisches Anknüpfen an die 90er Jahre. In dieser Hinsicht hat mich besonders die Szene amüsiert, in der ein Schüler in seine "Nachschulzeit über 19 Jahre" zurückkehrt, in der sich jedes Mal die Mode und MTV widerspiegelten (von den Pussycat Dolls und 50 Cent bis zu den Backstreet Boys und Hole). Aber wie gesagt, es ist so eine Scheißerei... (19.08.2012)

The Breakfast Club on acid cut with Back to the Future and seasoned with Fight Club, or a phantasmagorical meta trip in which pop-culture references and self-reflection of genre formulas collide in a raging vortex across several time dimensions and elements of slasher flicks, high-school romances, sports melodramas, outsider comedies and every other possible kind of teen movies are mutated into bizarre forms. Detention is so post-modern, it’s pre-future. (22.08.2020)

The moment has arrived to historically embarrass myself, but I must give this film a thumbs up. Detention is an insane meta parody, with a plot that doesn’t make much sense, but the world where it takes place is so crazy that it doesn’t need to. There’s a bunch of teenagers, a masked killer, time travel, a grizzly bear, a UFO, the end of the world, a mutant boy, transmission of consciousness and other horror and sci-fi motifs; overall it’s quite a mess, and yet I have the impression that behind this film there are some pretty competent and smart people who unleashed their creativity and wanted to have fun. It has one pop-culture reference after another, one Easter-egg after another (I had to pause the film several times to catch everything), there’s always something happening, and it’s very funny and refreshing in its own particular way. I would define it with the oxymoron “smart stupidity”, which may also profile a potentially satisfied group of viewers… Technically it’s good. As far as I’m concerned, an entertained three stars, but I’d be very reluctant to recommend it. (19.07.2012)

Detention is an American production based on a pretty original concept. Actually, an extremely original concept. At one point, it even suddenly turns into a movie of a different genre. I am sure not every viewer will appreciate this and will think the movie is stupid. However, if you want a pure no-brainer, a really fast, crazy, but most importantly very entertaining and surprising spectacle, then dig in. (19.03.2020)