Movie Review: Attack the Block

There’s not a lot of joy in writing about shitty movies. Believe me, I’ve done that before (cough, Scream 4). The real reward of this gig comes when I get to tell you about movies that are very much worthy of your attention. Attack the Block is exactly that sort of film. It’s more than that in fact. It’s potent, red-blooded, visceral action that’ll rip down your door and tear out your innards if you dare look the other way.

Okay, maybe that’s a little extreme. But this film kicked my ass. And as can be expected with the Brits from time to time, it did so in the most charming of ways.

An export from our friends across the pond, writer-director Joe Cornish’s little film has already had its way with UK audiences and those lucky enough to catch it as an official selection at SXSW. With his first time at bat (at least in feature films, he’s been directing TV for some time) Cornish’s gleefully berserk picture cements him as a director to superglue your eyes on. His Attack the Block is at times humorous and heartfelt, able to engage its audience amidst the frenetic pace. Above all it’s a love letter to pure 80s genre-cinema like Gremlins and Critters. Having said that, it still produces a fresh energy all its own.

Attack the Block isn’t trying to do too much. It’s a simple story: something (or things) has fallen out of the sky and entrenched itself in the boroughs of downtrodden South London over the course of a single evening. Vanquishing this threat falls on the shoulders of a gang of impulsive and rebellious street toughs. Essentially, that’s Attack the Block.

The small scale works in favor of the film’s overall charm. There’s no government cover-up or agents running around with walkie-talkies. The kids that make up this street gang are just that: kids. It’s a dangerous world they’ve come up in and their behavior early on reflects it. They haven’t set out to be the heroes of this story and save the world. They’re just protecting their turf (an apartment complex, the titular Block). These buggers are infringing on it and to the people in the story; the Block is their world.

Attack’s creatures are referred to as aliens but I’d be hesitant to even call this sci-fi. Nor is it horror, though there are certainly elements of both. It’s pure monster move fun with kinetic action and the right amount of character beats to make you care when the shit really starts hitting the fan. And hit the fan it does. The minimalistic design of these monsters is pants-shittingly refreshing. Cornish manages to keep these beasts in full frame while also maintaining an air of mystery in regards to their overall body structure. No easy task in the days of CGI hyper-detail. It’s a lesson that keeps being taught in creature-features: less is more. I will say this; just wait ‘til you see the teeth on these suckers.

There’re so many great characters and moments with them that it’d be a disservice to spoil it all here.

There are so many great characters and moments with them that it’d be a disservice to spoil it all here. I will say that John Boyega as Moses, the head of the gang, is a revelation. You wouldn’t believe it in the first act but by the film’s end it’s pretty apparent that the character’s biblical name is something more than a coincidence. Jody Whittaker as nurse Sam serves as a moral anchor to the proceedings, and a pretty one at that. I credit her with keeping the film grounded as the gore and violence level up.

I suspect that Edgar Wright-regular Nick Frost’s involvement was geared towards putting asses in the seats, as he’s the only name actor I recognized. Having been produced by Wright it’s fair to say that Attack’s US audience will be made up of the many of us who celebrate Shaun of the Dead.

My honest hope is that Attack the Block makes it to US shores untouched, if and when it hits our cinemas. There’s been talk of applying subtitles to make the heavy accents more accessible but it can only serve to divert attention from the beauty of what’s onscreen. Don’t let anyone bullshit you; the accents are fine and they’re there for a reason. You won’t be lost, and if you are, then you were never this film’s audience to begin with.

It’s also scarily easy to envision a shitty US remake that takes place in the Bronx directed by whatever flash-in-the-pan hack just graduated from music videos. Too often films like this get processed and packaged in a way that is far removed from the initial intention of the (original) filmmakers. That needn’t happen with Attack the Block. That’s where hardcore genre fans like you come in. The kickass, modern-day monster movie we’ve all been itching for already exists. Demand it and demand to see it as is.

Attack this block. Attack the fuck out of it.

Our Ambitious Rating: 10 out of 10