Directed by Joe Cornish of Adam and Joe fame, Attack the Block pits a gang of inner-city kids against an alien invasion. Michael Brooke praises one of 2011's most delightful surprises.
One of 2011's most delightful surprises, Joe Cornish's aliens-meets-hoodies romp is a knowing and immensely affectionate tribute to the great 1970s and 80s monster movies, particularly their fondness for offsetting cheerfully ramshackle special effects with genuinely witty scripts crammed with pointed social and cultural comment (indeed, the constant tension between the film's mainly black protagonists and 'the Feds' has gained extra resonance in the light of recent events).
When shaggy creatures with glowing teeth and insatiable appetites for human flesh land near Wyndham Tower, the film becomes a south London remake of Assault on Precinct 13 (John Carpenter's influence looms large) as the block's mainly teenage occupants, mostly played by unknowns (though the brooding John Boyega has definite star potential) are forced to defend themselves with the aid of makeshift weapons and some of the snappiest one-liners of any British film in recent memory. But why are the aliens after them specifically? And does trustafarian gangsta wannabe Brewis (Luke Treadaway) really not have any idea how ridiculous he sounds every time he opens his mouth?
A fast, funny action adventure that pits a teenage gang against an invasion of savage alien monsters, Joe Cornish's Attack the Block turns a London housing estate into a sci-fi playground! Jodie Whittaker, Luke Treadaway and Nick Frost star. 'Some things make you proud to be British and Attack The Block is one of them,' said The Times.
While being robbed by a gang of thugs outside the South London tower block where she lives, trainee nurse Sam's hooded attackers suddenly break off their assault when a meteorite hits a nearby carpark. As Sam flees the scene, the gang members fend off an attack from a small alien being that has emerged from the crash-site, killing it in the process, and carrying off their prize to their rooftop lair. But now, as Sam and the police search for the gang, a new wave of meteorites fall. With the gang emboldened by their latest victory, they prepare to face their new-found enemy - only to be confronted with an army of much larger, savagely vicious alien monsters, hellbent on finding their comrade.