Deadly Class

The best comic book series ever, and quite possibly a dream come true. Deadly Class has just about everything I love in the movie world: a school setting, bullying, assassins, philosophical musings, cinematic allusions, beautiful women, perfect action, a decent amount of violence, solid chemistry between characters, decent plot twists, a stamp of originality, and a twisted serial killer?!! What more could you ask for, I guess it's like making a cocktail at home and throwing in five of your favorite ingredients and you'll have a taste orgasm. The story focuses on a high school for assassins with strict rules and interesting subjects (instead of chemistry, there's poison science and typical homework means going out to kill someone in the streets). There are also prison-like gangs (Mexicans, a Japanese assassin clan, Nazis and nerds). There are some very likeable characters (a black pacifist, a Mexican Harley Quinn, a Japanese samurai, a Gothic "vampire", a cocky Russian, and many others), all with horrific pasts (each episode shows a flashback about a different character in comic book style, and this is one of the series' very strong moments). The protagonist is also excellent, with charisma to spare, and Benedict Wong as the stern teacher, you’d probably want to write down his philosophical musings out on a A4 paper. The action is definitely to be commended, there are various fights with diverse choreography and blood is of course not spared. I was very impressed by the dialogue, which is both witty and apt, and there are plenty of movie references. To top it all off, there's also the rampaging serial killer Fuck Face, a burnt-faced psychopath with a penchant for goats and dogs. The finale is one of the best I've seen in years. It has elements of home invasion and hixploitation, where a house is painted with blood and corpses until it reminded me of Evil Dead, plus the Mexican cartel intrigue... Loaded. Recommended! Awesome fun. Umbrella Academy looks ridiculous next to Deadly Class. 100%. (06.04.2019)

Slytherin´s punk Kick-Ass that went through the Fight Club in almost Regan's world of Watchmen. The opening episode still seems to be a classic representative of the victory of style and form over content, but it soon turns out that this is not the case. Beneath that retro cool, roughly rough, teenage junk nihilistic shell, there are surprisingly well-developed (and what is even more surprising, even played) characters, emotions, issues of adolescence and the search for one´s life path. Just instead of the first loves and leaving home, it is expressed using severed limbs, drugs, suffering, humiliation and gallons of blood. And, of course, also using the massively raised middle finger to the system and in some way to everything. It can be seen that someone put a lot of effort into thinking about the structure and stylization; and not exactly a little. What is really nice that from the very beginning is that the 80's don't evoked here “in a cheap way" only through a (magnificent!) soundtrack of that time and beating synths. It's not for everyone, because it's too peculiar and it paves its own way, but that's the case with movies with cult potential. And I must say that this one really is “instant cult classic" that´s for sure. | S1: 4/5 | (22.03.2019)

A modern-day Harry Potter. These kids aren’t learning to do magic, but to kill people. The movie offers unexpectedly well-thought-out character development, multi-layered heroes and lots of violence, blood and cursing. It draws on a wealth of cult films and is a derivative for sure. But it’s still entertaining with a lot of potential. The ending is as open as a gutted pig, so it’s duty bound to run a second season. (25.06.2020)