Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Sept 12, 2011 17:18:26 GMT -5
Plot:Attack The Block is a fast, funny, frightening action adventure movie that pits a teen gang against an invasion of savage alien monsters. It turns a housing estate into a SCI-FI PLAYGROUND. A tower block into a fortress under siege. And weapon wielding teenage thugs into heroes. Think ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 only with monsters and a tower block. Or LA HAINE crossed with ALIENS. It's inner city versus outer space.
Trainee nurse Sam is walking home to her flat in a scary South London tower block when she's robbed by a gang of masked, hooded youths. She's saved when the gang are distracted by a bright meteorite, which falls from the sky and hits a nearby parked car. Sam flees, just before the gang are attacked by a small alien creature that leaps from the wreckage. The gang chase the creature and kill it, dragging its ghoulish carcass to the top of the block, with they treat as their territory.
While Sam and the police hunt for the gang, a second wave of meteors fall. Confident of victory against such feeble invaders, the gang grab weapons, mount bikes and mopeds, and set out to defend their turf. But this time the creatures are bigger. Much bigger. Savage, shadowy and bestial, they are hunting their fallen comrade and nothing will stand in their way. THE ESTATE IS ABOUT TO BECOME A BATTLEGROUND. And the bunch of no-hope kids who just attacked Sam are about to become her, and the block's, only hope.
Cast:
Jodie Whittaker
John Boyega
Alex Esmail
Franz Drameh
Leeon Jones
Simon Howard
Luke Treadaway
Jumayn Hunter
Nick Frost
My Thoughts:Refreshing entry into the scifi/horror subgenre.
Review:"Attack The Block" is a British scifi/horror mash-up where a young woman is robbed on her way home. Late one night. After the robbery, which is committed by a group a hooded, young British toughs...a strange fireball crashes down nearby. From the crash site, emerges a sharp-toothed alien being. Which the group of toughs then beat to death. And take with them back to their block to show off.
But soon more fireballs rain down from the sky. And that's when the group realizes that they have a full-fledged alien invasion on their hands. Now, it's them vs. the invading forces. The prize? Their block. "Attack The Block" is an interesting mash up of science fiction meets horror. And blended in, a strong dash of British "hoodie" sub-culture. The group of hooded youngsters are led by a sort of figurehead named Moses. And although they're called "gang-members" for the films sake.
They're really nothing but drug-dealing teens who stick people up from time to time. This is further enamored by the fact that the film introduces an actual hardened-gangster character later on in the movie. Someone who tries to take Moses and his crew in under his wing. But later on during the movie, turns on them. The film takes some small cues from "Cloverfield", with the raining fireballs, and the aliens themselves, kind of look like the small creatures that were falling off of ''Clovie" in "Cloverfield".
But the movie doesn't spend all of its time focusing on the invading alien parasites. Which it's never really revealed where they came from or why. It also spends a considerable amount of time developing the characters. And setting them on a collision course with one another. The films intriguing moments come once the teens decide to go head-too-head with the invading aliens. Which results in the police capturing one of them for the earlier aforementioned robbery.
But the arrest doesn't go smoothly as a few of the aliens attack and kill the police. And then attack the paddy wagon. Which has not only the arrested teen inside, but also the girl they robbed earlier. Thus, as their paths keep crossing (plainly because the girl the kids robbed lives in the same devlopment as they do)...the robbed girl, and her earlier attackers...are forced to join forces. This of course leads to more character development in the vein of clash of cultures, class, and certain ideologies.
But the movie puts forth the notion that in the middle of something as crazy and dangerous as an invasion of aliens, any group of people can be forced to get along. Albeit even folks from opposite ends of the social spectrum. I think one of the movies biggest strengths is its fun factor. It's a really fun movie to partake in watching. The characters are charming on some levels, and entertaining on others. Also...there's no real super bad guy here. So it's easy to pull for both the young robbery victim, and her attackers as they battle the killer extraterrestrials.
Nick Frost even makes a cameo in the film as a marijuana grower who has a working relationship with the group of British street toughs. And eventually in the end, decides to aid them in trying to face down the invaders. The directing is very crisp, and the film doesn't move to too many places during its run. But compiles enough fresh new sceneries to break the monotony when it begins to build up somewhat. It's not a very bloody movie either. Nor is it hyper violent.
It could actually get away with being a PG-13 film if not for the language I would say. Used by most of the characters. It's a horror film that steps outside of the normal American stuff. And for a British genre film which it is, it actually manages to not be dry and boring in the humor department. Which is how most British horror movies wind up in the end. The horror works, but once the comedy is tried, it all just falls flat. But I think because this movie had a young cast. And was penned for a younger audience, the comedic bits and personalities worked well together.
The aliens in the film are a double-edged sword though. They work modestly well as the movies antagonists. But because so little is said, explained, or known about them...they also hurt the movie a bit. The aliens literally just show up. And nothing is ever said about where they came from, why, or who if anyone might've created or unleashed them. And then there's why Britain? Is the same thing happening anywhere else in Europe? How about America?
There's a lot left unexplained about the aliens and their origins. All we do eventually learn about them, is that there are both male and female aliens. And that they use a certain pheromone to track one another. But as far as where the bloody hell they came from, relatively speaking. We get nada. That doesn't hurt the picture or take away from it tremendously though. But it does leave some room for improvement.
The movies finale is really well done, and includes a fun bit where the teens use fireworks to try and hold off the aliens. Which then leads to them having to brave a smoke-filled corridor in order to get further away from their attackers. All in all, a very entertaining film from director Joe Cornish. "Attack The Block" is worth seeing atleast once. It's a fresh, new take on the scifi/horror subgenre. Which these days, suffers from a lot of rehashing and retreads.
Positives:Good character development with Moses and his crew. And their neighbor who they mug at the start. But later grudgingly become friends with later on. Great directing, and a very high level of entertainment value and fun factor.
Negatives:Not enough is explained about the aliens. Not even much hinted at really. They just pop up and attack these kids in their own territory. Which ignites a big war between the aliens and the teens. But where'd they come from is the big question?
Overall:Three stars out of four.