Detention - Nachsitzen kann tödlich sein

I'm an old fart that still loved this comedic teen scream. The acting was very good, not Oscar material, but fun and talented. And hey the kids are still young, who's to say there's not one in their future? Shanley Caswell and Spencer Locke were great and cute as buttons.

Josh Hutcherson made a likable leading man.

The movie itself was eclectic, space ships and time travel to ax welding prom queens. A little bit Scream, Animal House, and Back to the Future.

Cinematography was great as was a wonderful soundtrack.

Note: Yes brief nudity, and the other stuff you have to consider if young kids watch. However, the gore was limited and comedic. Your kids, but about 12-14 years old would be my cut-off.

Yes this is a convoluted, over the top, cinematically offensive mess of a film but it's also one of the coolest films I've seen in quite some time. Embracing every tired cliché and exploiting the hell out of them Detention is a hard movie to even sum up. If in fact you can even call it one. I'm sure as many people will hate it as love it. The bizarre social subtext and plastic infusion of stereotypes flipped on their sides while on acid lends itself to an always surprising and creative vibe that works more than not. Sure the film feels a little long in it's three ring circus finale trying to make insane sense of the events that proceeded it but the film works best when just making clever stabs at modern teen thinking and astute observations on the trendiness of trends. Joseph Kahn redeems himself of the cinematic stink from his previous eye popping but soulless feature Torque even adding in a few jokes at his expense.A music video director magnet of Britney Spears fame he unleashes Detention with a visual pizazz and over the top cinematic foray into smart thinking for 90s bad cinema buffs. Being a child of that era I couldn't help but appreciate all the references and the way it all added up, seeing the blatant irony in the films entirety it's hard for me not too overly praise the films bombastic effect but a second more in tuned watch I feel would expose the films faults and maybe a sense of brilliance I may have created. but at this point Detention is just really cool!

I went into this knowing very little, on the back of seeing Detention mentioned in a horror movie list and attracted by the promise of a very different kind of horror film.

From the very opening line of dialogue (I'm Taylor Fisher and I'm a B**CH - beauty, intelligence, talent, charisma, hoobastank) the film picks no bones in immediately letting you know what you're in for and the satirical, self referential kind of humour we're dealing with. Unfortunately the film misses the mark on this front far more often than hitting it. I have no issue with this kind of humour (see Josie and the Pussycats or The Cabin in the Woods for stellar examples of it done well) but it feels far too much like an exercise in throwing everything at a wall and hoping something sticks in this case (as does the convoluted plot). Admittedly there are a sprinkling of lines that hit the spot but in order for this kind of humour to succeed it has to be razor sharp and Detention just isn't there. Eventually the relentless culture references become tiresome and I found myself disengaging from the movie.

On the plus side the film is acted perfectly well and the cast is obviously giving it their all (Shanley Caswell carries the movie and is particularly watchable) and to be fair you can't say the filmmakers aren't ambitious and trying to do something different, which has to be commended, but assuredness and ambition unfortunately can't save the movie overall as it descends further and further into ridiculousness and leaves you with the feeling that the movie isn't as smart as it thinks it is.

If you're looking to pass 90 minutes without particularly needing to heavily invest in something then you could do worse than Detention, but otherwise it's a film best left in the annals of relative obscurity.

Actually you might feel this tries so hard to be cool, that it never quite achieves that goal. But is that a criticism? And if you think that the same man who directed this took a hiatus after his last movie (Torque), just because he wanted to find himself and his own style rather than just do one studio movie after the other. The director himself will be the first to tell you how much he despises the movie itself (though I do think he is a bit too hard on himself on "Torque"). Still it's refreshing to see a director not being full of himself. Kudos for that and the movie he made here.

Detention is worth watching a second time. Just to see if you got everything right the first time around. And because of the dialogue. If you want to criticize something, I guess you can say, that every character is fast with a witty response, making them all seem alike. Characters could have been developed a bit better. Still good throughout, with a rather complicated story.

I wasn't going to write a review but so many people on the boards don't seem to like the movie at all. Detention is a sharp, extremely fast paced parody/homage/comedy/slasher/WTF?!?! film for people who watch a LOT of movies. I honestly don't know if it would have been as enjoyable if I hadn't understood most of the references to teen culture, movies, bands and high-school life that peppered the movie every thirteen seconds, but I got more than a few and thought it was perfect.

The editing. Wow. The editing was certainly unique and I loved the jumps and cuts that kept the story moving far faster than most movies I've seen lately. It's probably not for everyone, but again that seems to be the consensus on the entire movie. The way the flashbacks were done was especially fun. I assume the director was responsible for how the film was edited and I'm going to hunt down everything else he's done and watch it now. Assuming he's been able to get money for anything else. I don't know if this was or will be a financial success. Josh Hutcherson should give it a bump in viewership but I don't know if the people who would want to see this will be able to find it. Hopefully it will become a cult hit over the next few years, circulating among folks who appreciate this kind of thing. Speaking of the acting - it was all spot on - exactly how you'd expect people in that situation to act :) Seriously though Hutcherson and Caswell were both very good, as were the supporting characters. The Bear did a fine job as well.

If I had to describe this movie I'd say it was a cross between Brick, Donnie Darko, and Not Another Teen Movie. Would I recommend it? To those of my friends I think would get it. Will I watch it again? Definitely.