'Detention' Movie Review: Bizarre High School Satire Is Intriguing
What do you get when you combine elements of The Breakfast Club, Election, Donnie Darko, and Scary Movie? The answer is: Joseph Kahn's Detention. The high school satire turns cinematic clichés into comedic narrative techniques. Its stellar opening, which features a vapid teen instructing viewers how not to be a loser sets the tone for an inexplicably entertaining fun fest.
When a plain Jane teen, named Riley, is attacked by a vicious killer, few believe she's in danger, since she isn't hot enough to be stalked. She has no choice but to try to solve the murder with the help of her longtime crush, Clapton (Josh Hutcherson of The Hunger Games.) It's the awkward geek and the swoon-worthy skater boy against the cruel and pitiful world of high school. To complicate matters, their bizarrely spiteful principle (Dane Cook) is still reeling from his own teen anguish and sets out to make their lives a living hell. This includes sentencing them to detention during prom.
The film won't be a box office smash but it will likely develop a following over time and obtain cult status. Sure, it's difficult to categorize, but in a sea of unoriginal prequels, sequels, and uninventive reboots, why not see a film that's strikingly unique. Detention is a 90's infused pop culture flood that is both imaginative and amusing.
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