Tower Block

OK, it wasn't great and it wasn't bad, it was what you make of it. Leave all your "buts" at the door and just accept the silliness of what's ahead. If you want a short, shoot em up, barracking for the Disadvantaged people movie, then maybe see this movie. I applauded film makers having a go, coming up with new story lines, new concepts, however we have had this concept of "escaping the unknown" plenty of times, but not so many times have we seen it in this environment, especially in U.K films.. Give it a go and like I said, leave your "buts" at the door.... because you never know what's lurking behind it..

I went to see this film without knowing much about it or seeing the trailer. I had read the plot on IMDb just before going into the cinema and didn't know who was in it.

The film starts quite slowly with after the pre-opening sequence. The majority of the characters are introduced and we learn quite a bit about them. I was glad to see Sheridan Smith and Russell Tovey, there acting was good to say they had an average script. I also enjoyed 'that kid from Harry Brown' (Jack O'Connel)'s performance.

The storyline is unique and interesting and once it gets going you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat and guessing who'll be killed.

Jack o'connell manages to turn a firstly hated character into a lovable rouge and is on occasions very humorous.

Overall the film is interesting and chilling with no major disappointment except a few plot points that were not explained; however, it still entertained me to the end.

Despite having some potential, 'Tower Block' makes for a cringe watch.

The writing, in my opinion at least, is the problem here. There's a decent cast list and a respectable enough premise, but things fall apart when the characters act and talk - the dialogue is iffy, while some of the character decisions are very odd.

Sheridan Smith (Becky) and Jack O'Connell (Kurtis) are two capable leads and give solid performances, though their roles are average - especially Kurtis, who is so over-the-top at times it's painful to see.

As noted, the plot is alright - the way it's written isn't. The ending is rather poor, especially with the 'twist' (?). I wanted to enjoy this, and in a few minor moments I did, but all the negative parts unfortunately weigh it down tremendously.

If you want a story regarding this type of building, then I'd recommend 2011's 'Attack the Block'. This one, though not atrocious, isn't all that good sadly.

The screenplay is with intrigues and mind-twisting, but it is hard to judge its probability... Anyway, the action begins with the first minutes of the film and tensions are maintained throughout until the end. The reason for shooting was, however, revealed too soon, but the person behind remained mysterious until the final scene. Performances were great (Sheridan Smith as Becky, Jack O'Connell as Kurtis) or good (the rest), but politically correct attempts to cover the cross-cut of the society (different races-genders-ages) have become annoying as they are used in all similar films.

Nevertheless, a good and compact film to those fond of thrillers in a limited time and space.

Derivative and largely formulaic thriller, but nevertheless one that remains suspenseful and compelling throughout the entire running time thanks to the raw & gritty atmosphere and a handful of extremely brutal shock-moments. Reminiscent to the other recent British flick "Attack the Block" in terms of tone & social setting, "Tower Block" takes place in a pauperized and crime-infested big city suburb where people abandoned all hope for prosperity long time ago already and desperately avoid every type of contact with fellow human beings. The film entirely takes place in a large apartment complex that is scheduled for destruction and only the residents of the top floor still live there. One Saturday morning, they are rudely awakened by a relentless psycho killer with a sniper rifle. He – or she – fires at everything that moves and placed booby-traps across the building. There's a obvious link with an unsolved murder committed in the block a few months earlier and now the asocial tenants are forced to rely on each other for survival. The biggest trumps for a film such as "Tower Block" are surprise and unpredictability. All the residents are equally insignificant, meaning that literally anyone of them could be next. And they could be next at any random and possible moment, too. Writers/directors duo James Nunn and Ronnie Thompson aptly play with these trumps, as the characters definitely don't die in the order you'd expect. Sniper murders can perhaps get a bit monotonous after a while, but there's enough diversity in killing methods and circumstances. Obviously there's quite a large number of holes and irrationality in the plot and the climax (as in: revelation of the sniper's identity) is weak and disappointing. The acting performances vary between adequate and amateurish, with good roles for tough blond gal Sheridan Smith and "Alien³" veteran Ralph Brown. In case you want to seek out more "serial sniper-killer" movies after this, I warmly recommended the almighty "Dirty Harry" but also the more obscure "Two-Minute Warning", "Targets" and "The Deadly Tower"