Review of Detroit Rock City (1999) by Taylor H — 08 Jul 2008

DTR is ostensibly a movie about KISS, but even a cursory examination of its themes will show you that it's all about fandom of the musical variety. Almost Famous had its Band Aids; Detroit Rock City has four slacker teenagers on a road trip to the "the Greatest Rock and Roll Show on the Planet!".

Forget KISS (or don't, whatever), this movie succeeds in so many other ways than cashing in on the connection with a real band (although, Edward Furlong's scenes with Shannon Tweed have a more than passing novelty value :)) and the soundtrack is absolutely killer. Even my girlfriend, who has been humming Usher tunes under her breath for the past week, was nodding her head all the way through. The music reinforces how effectively they portray the styles and trends of the 70's --although, admittedly, I don't have first hand experience of this - which further heightens the [I want to say, 'atmosphere', but I'm going to say] vibe.

Of course, another aspect of the film depends on whether or not you can empathise with the film's protagonists. Not everyone is a slacker/stoner/reformed Christian fundamentalist, I grant you, but I dare anyone not to grin during the foursome's showdown with a car full of disco thugs.

It's a tacky pun, but yes, this movie rocks.