Attack the Block
Directed by Joe Cornish
Starring John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail, and Nick Frost
The movie centers on a bunch of teenage thugs living in an estate house in South London. Led by their fearless friend Moses, the teens pull well planned robberies of random passerby’s. While mugging a neighbor named Sam, the gang is interrupted by something crashing onto a nearby car. From the wreckage a strange creature pops out and attacks Moses. The gang chases the alien beast into a nearby park and kills it. They carry their trophy back into the block and take it to their drug dealer friend’s apartment for safe storage. That’s when they notice more things falling from the sky, including one landing right outside the estate house. Moses leads his friends into what they hope is more tiny creatures to smash. Instead, they find a lot of big aliens looking for their friend. Like a pitch black cross between a gorilla and a wolf, these nasty ET’s are stronger and angrier. The crew runs afoul of the police, the local weed dealer, and the aliens as they try to survive. Pursued by vicious monsters from another world and a drug dealer from upstairs, the friends have to fight their way back to the estate house and defend it. Moses and his crew must team up with Sam if they hope to live through the night.
This film is full of creative energy and imagination. The action is fantastic, switching effortlessly from chase scenes to savage skirmishes in a blink. All this is made better by the tools the teens use. They are young, so they are not getting away in cars and shooting guns. Moses and his crew are running away on bikes and using fireworks as offensive weaponry. This adds a little fun into every action scene. The effects and designs of the alien beasts are surprising and wonderfully executed. The first creature shown is tiny, pale, and mostly hairless. The second wave is far more interesting. They look like couch sized gorillas covered in spiky, jet black hair. What really makes them stand out are their teeth. Each creature has several rows of blue, glowing teeth. These teeth turn the darkness of many shots into chilling moments. Looking around a poorly lit hallway or out a window, there could be several sets of glowing triangles closing in for the kill. The antagonists are wonderfully minimal but infinitely terrifying.
The actors are all excellent, especially the teens. John Boyega as Moses owns every second he is on screen. You never question why he leads this group; his presence commands respect and he exudes steely resolve. Jodie Whittaker plays Sam unlike many women in horror films. She’s shaken by the mugging, but she refuses to be scared and let fear win. She fights back against the gang’s actions and fights for them when their lives are at stake. The two best surprises are Sammy Williams and Michael Ajao as Props and Mayhem. These two nine year olds desperately want to earn the acceptance of the older kids by fighting the alien creatures. They steal every scene they are in and have some of the best lines. All in all this film has a great cast.
The action scenes are executed better than most modern movies. The characters have room to grow and show their depth. The soundtrack sounds like John Carpenter took up composing electronic dance music. Essentially, Attack the Block is awesomely fun.
9 out of 10
