Attack the Block

Mutual distrust turns to uneasy alliance as an alien invasion forces a group of British teens to work together with a nurse who they mugged in this action thriller starring John Boyega as the leader of the teen gang. Boyega is just as effective here as in 'The Force Awakens', giving his hardened character a vulnerable, human side bubbling beneath the surface. The actors who play his young friends are well cast too. Jodie Whitaker is less effective as the nurse and Nick Frost is criminally underused, but in general, there is a lot to like about how the characters interact here. There are even some scattered comic moments to be had in how everyone from the teenagers' girlfriends to the local teen drug lord scoffs at their claims of being under alien attack. The gradual bonding between Whitaker and the teens, who she initially describes a "monsters", in the face of *real* monsters is where the film succeeds best though - so much so that the action sequences end up being a low point of the movie. Without any eyes and glowing sharp jaws, the creatures are quite unsettling to look at, but all the attack scenes become a little repetitive with the film sagging towards the middle. The movie certainly ends on a very high note, however, with a third act that potently pushes the film's single biggest message about teen thugs always being misunderstood and never properly recognised.

Attack the Block is one of those films that does exactly what it says on the tin - its a bunch of aliens attacking a bunch of roadmen in London. If this premise doesn't appeal to you, steer clear as the film isn't anymore complex or deep than that. I for one loved the premise. It was simple, effective, and entertaining!

The film has a great pace, with no messing about. Joe Cornish knew exactly what he wanted to do and got straight down to it. There was lots of good action, some great suspenseful scenes, and some neat chase scenes. At under an hour and a half long, Attack the Block never felt like it was dragging. It was zippy, fresh, and engaging.

I wasn't massively in love with any of the characters. They were pretty cliched at times, and didn't really get much development. They just were who they were. I must say though Joe Cornish captured the generation perfectly. All the language and behaviour felt very real and authentic. The acting was decent as well, with Jodie Whittaker as the standout for me.

My absolute favourite part of the film though was the design of the aliens. They felt so fresh and unique, and just looked very cool whenever on screen. The effects haven't aged at all in 10 years.

Attack the Block is a perfect film to sit back, switch off the brain, grab the popcorn and be thoroughly entertained.

I watched this without knowing the production team, who worked on it, nothing. A friend just said 'you like sci-fi movies right? Here.' And I'll admit, for the first ten minutes, I was worried. The throw-back creature-feature title sequence being my main concern.

But after that wavery start, I watched over an hour of what I would consider to be one of the truest, bloodiest and certainly most adrenaline-packed horrors I've seen in a very very long time.

The main kids - the 'gang' - are very real and the kids' acting really shines. Moses, the lead, certainly leads us through a series of complex emotions, from hatred to forgiveness, and round again a few more times just for kicks. The actor who played him will be going places with a sullen wall-eyed expression that he still manages to convey so much meaning with.

As to the plot - well, most of the actual plot is there for comedy, and the moment of gratuity when the adults are plainly dumber than the kids (teenagers everywhere punch the air and laugh). I was expecting, as I watched the film with ever more pleasure, to be let down and have the aliens' presence left unexplained, as with many non-blockbuster horrors. But, in two mere sentences, the loose threads are tied and the finale is lead into all in one great sweep of fantastic writing.

Last, but definitely not least, the aliens themselves were phenomenal. There was a certain amount of keep-them-in-the-dark and leave-it-to-your-imagination, but there were also absolute gore-fest moments which were done superbly (though the squeamish may need to blink). The aliens were well designed and were flawlessly integrated into the movie. To be honest I don't even know if they were puppets or CGI - I was so caught up in the fast-paced running and fighting, into which they were so seamlessly included.

Definitely one to watch for fans of the genre, fans of the creators, or anyone looking for a thrill. I'll certainly be watching it again. And if you wanna read someone say it better than I just did - http://www.flickfilosopher.com /blog/2011/08/attack_the_block_ review.html (remove superfluous spaces) (contains language, in movie quotes).

Made with less than one tenth of SUPER 8 budget, this movie gets twice more entertainment while delivering social messages instead of shallow fake nostalgia. A gang of teenagers (mostly black but from other ethnic groups too) rob a woman/nurse on her way home. A sudden explosion and something falling from the sky, allow the woman to escape. When the gang's leader checks what happened is attacked by an extraterrestrial creature. The group kills the thing and take the body with them hoping to make a few squids out of the strange creature. From there, things get really ugly; when more bigger beasts fall from the sky, police and some gangsters show up; everybody pursuing the gang. The action does not stop. No unnecessary romances, or tear breaking scenes; just a few commentaries about life in those marginal neighborhoods. The acting of the teenage members is excellent. Every one of them has a brief time to deploy their character but all of them have enough charisma to succeed. In brief, do not expect Hollywood overproduced and unrealistic special effects here only real fun.

I thought this movie was quite entertaining, and actually funny in some parts. It's not a normal horror movie or alien invasion movie. It ends very satisfactorily, unlike most horror movies, and the plot is quite original played with talented actors in a setting that many of us are not so familiar with. If you like rap, you'll like the music throughout too. All the actors and main actress did very well. Thankfully I saw this with subtitles since I can't follow language from "the hood" very well. The only thing that didn't seem so real to me were the space creatures, but that gave for a good laugh. If you don't take this movie too seriously, it's a lot of fun. And there was "the moral of the story is..." thrown in, like lessons learned, rectifying mistakes, etc. All in all, it makes for a good Thursday or Friday night at the movies.