Launch Trip

Paul (Tilman Pörzgen), Berny (Chris Tall) and Max (Max von der Groeben) are not exactly the coolest at their school. So it's no wonder that things don't quite work out with the girls. This is supposed to change on the class trip to Prague. Here, the buddies finally want to let it rip. After boring city tours and seemingly endless hours in the more than run-down hotel, everything is prepared for a wild party night. But then the bad news: Paul has let his beloved Juli (Lisa Volz) wrap herself around his finger to take care of her autistic brother Magnus (Florian Kroop), while she is having fun with another guy in a club. But the three friends won't let that get in the way of their plan. With Magnus in tow, they jet through Prague's nightlife in an old stretch limo. Of course, it doesn't take long for the buddies to put their foot in their mouth - and soon the entire Prague underworld seems to be after them...

With Abschussfahrt, Tim Trachte delivers his feature film debut as director and screenwriter after the award-winning TV thriller Davon willst du nichts wissen. He tries his hand at a teen comedy that blithely borrows from his American colleagues American Pie and Euro Trip or the British Inbetweeners and spices it all up with a pinch of Hangover. The not exactly subtly served gags revolve primarily around sex, alcohol and various bodily fluids, with every cliché, no matter how hackneyed, being celebrated at length. Who expects something even remotely new here, will bitterly regret the purchase of the movie ticket after a few minutes.

But who knows exactly what he is getting into and just wants to see nothing but a raunchy comedy for viewers between 12 and 18 years, which is quite well entertained in many moments. The main characters are very likeable, with young comedian Chris Tall in particular providing some really good laughs. In the course of the wild party night there are also some quite original ideas, which work as a good counterbalance to the many worn-out clichés. For example, a classmate's reaction to the teacher's announcement that there is no internet or cell phone reception at the hotel, or the dubious limo driver who can get just about anything, are really funny ideas that should go down well with the target audience in particular.

Surely, Shoot Down is a very simple-minded comedy with a lot of sometimes unnecessary jokes and few surprises. But neither the actors, nor the craftsmanship has to hide from the international models. It's just a shame that in the effort to generate as many laughs as possible, the charm that has made some of the better-known works in this genre so successful can't develop. So, while this class trip offers pretty good entertainment for the target audience, it doesn't manage to stand out from the mass of similarly structured teen comedies. Therefore: decent mixture of good gags and foreign-shame-quotes, which could at least please the target audience. And since that is the main thing, there is still a satisfied: worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp