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.

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 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).

First, this is the sort of flick the UK writers do so well and frankly don't do enough of.

Reminds me of the old saying, when Life gives you Lemons, make Lemonade.

London has blessed the UK film industry with one of the most diverse and interesting ecosystems on the planet. What, I have lost count, 14 distinct accents and counting? In return the industry has taken this raw material and produced a wide range of thrillers, most of which rely heavily for their impact on the violence element or the gang element.

So, who woke up one morning and said, hey, let's make the gang the good guys for a change ... instead of causing trouble they get to defend the country against aliens. And brimming with gang values, they will go it alone, they will not even ask for help.

Great premise, brilliant and engaging execution. It could have just been "merely" entertaining, but great writing, cast, acting and direction help it make the leap to cult classic.

The low IMDb rating is not merely wrong, it is seriously wrong. This is a fun film that can be watched more than once.

After reading the previous reviews of this movie, I am a bit surprised to see how many people didn't like it. They didn't care for the characters, because of their rude language, their clothes (Ooooh, hoddies:) and the fact that they are petty criminals. But this is a classic "bad guy turns hero" story with such a great written script and talented young actors. The casting director did an excellent job finding these kids. They are real, natural and very believable in portraying being born and raised in Londons Ends. I found myself actually caring about the characters and their destiny throughout the movie. "Attack the Block" is a horror comedy about an alien invasion. Aaaah, you think, I've seen this before! "Bodysnatchers", "The Faculty", and not to mention the great TV-series "Falling Skies". But this movie is different. The focus in the film lies with the characters, and their reaction to having their street invaded by aliens. The aliens them self are kind of cheesy, but scary in a funny way. I expected Nick Frost to have a bigger role, I loved him in "Shaun of the Dead" and "Paul". But he never disappoints me, funny as always :) I really enjoyed this movie, and if you like movies like "Shaun of the Dead" and "Tucker & Dale vs Evil", you'll probably enjoy this as well.

Favourite quote from the movie " Oh man! All this weed and no skins... This is the worst day of my life!"