Attack The Block (2011) Review

Rating: A

Attack the Block is a movie produced by Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim creators WT2 Productions. It is the first film directed by comedian Joe Cornish.

The film is set in a fictional south London town during Bonfire Night. I would describe it as a coming of age, "what if" scenario of what an alien attack would be like in the "hood". The actors in the film are all unknowns, and are an extremely talented group of youngsters.

STORY
Its Bonfire Night in South London, and a small gang of teenagers, Moses, Pest, Dennis, Jerome, and Biggz are roaming the streets when they run into Sam, a nurse who has just moved into the neighborhood and mug her, stealing her ring and wallet. Their crime is interrupted when a meteor falls and damages a parked car not far from where they are all standing. Sam escapes when gang leader Moses decides to investigate and is scratched on the face by a hairless alien. He and the gang give chase after the creature, swearing revenge. They corner the creature in a shed, and Moses ultimately destroys it. During the excitement, they fail to notice that other meteors have fallen around the area. They take the creature to a weed vault owned by local gangster "Hi Hatz" to figure out what to do with it and how they can somehow make a profit from it.

Once the gang notices that there are more meteors falling, they decide to try and kill more of the creatures, however these creatures are much bigger and have ultra black spiky fur and mouths full sharp, blue, glowing teeth. Terrified, the kids run, but Moses is intercepted and taken into custody by the police Sam called. The creatures kill the cops and Moses and Sam end up trapped in the Van. Dennis manages to get inside the van and drive it away, however he crashes into Hi Hatz's car and incurs his wrath, allowing Sam to run away again. Now I have to say, Hi Hatz, has a terrible attitude and the sort of face that is great for punching. He is incredibly ignorant and a huge bully. Cheers to the actor who played him, because as the film progressed, I genuinely disliked that dude.

Hi Hatz doesn't believe Moses' story about the aliens, and threatens the kids with a gun. I like this scene for a lot of reasons, but mainly because it's here that we're introduced to the the character differences between young Moses, and older Hi Hatz. Moses, comes off as a kid who has made poor choices due to his lack of proper guidance and influences, however he is well on his way to being a much stronger and intelligent person than the laughable Hi Hatz, who wouldn't have much power save for the fact that he's holding a gun. He's really more of a dumb brute. Moses and his friends escape Hi Hatz when his henchman is attacked by one of the aliens. This scene is great because it perfectly mixes humor, tension and terror and displays just how absurd the whole situation is.

The kids and Sam make it back to their apartment building and hole up in Sam's apartment. During their escape, Biggz is separated from the group, and Pest has his leg chomped by one of the monsters. While there they get Sam to patch up Pest's leg they are attacked by the Aliens again. Sam decides she's is safer with them and joins the group. They go up to the apartment of some neighborhood girls, thinking the security gate there will  keep them safe. However, they are attacked again, this time losing Dennis. The girls see that the creatures only seem to be after Moses and blame him for getting attacked, so they throw out Sam and remaining members of the gang.

They try to make their way upstairs to the weed vault and are chased by Hi Hatz and some more of his henchmen. By this point Hi Hatz has become unhinged, and its illustrated by a pretty funny scene where the henchmen look concerned for their own safety while in the car with him. A group of aliens attack them all again and the gang escapes while Hi Hatz and his cronies are chased into an elevator by one of the aliens. Hi Hatz manages to kill the alien after it takes out all of his men and continues looking for Moses. Upstairs, the gang escapes more aliens using some of Pest's fireworks, however, the smoke from the blast clouds the hallway and sadly, they lose Jerome.

Once they make it to the weed apartment, they are once again confronted by Hi Hatz, who is satisfyingly taken out by a large group of the aliens. The rest of the gang and one of the weed customers run to the weed vault. The weed customer, Brewis, notices in the blacklit light that Moses has something on his clothes. This leads him to think about certain species that reproduce sore of like plant spores, which float around until they land in an area where they can thrive, and then the female produces a pheromone to attract males so they can mate. He thinks the smaller alien Moses killed is a female and that the stuff on his jacket is what is attracting the other aliens. The team comes up with a strategy to have Sam go to Moses' apartment and turn on the gas stove full blast. Moses will then lead the Aliens there and then try to blow them up with fireworks. The plan is successful and Moses survives the blast. The remaining kids and Brewis are arrested, believed to be responsible for all the deaths that night, however Sam tells them that he is the hero, and the crowds cheer for Moses. In the last shot we see Moses, who scowled through all of the film, smile for the first time.

CONCLUSION
I enjoyed the way the movie really subtly played up the different character traits of the gang members. As a viewer, I felt set up to believe this was going to be a film that poked fun and mocked inner city youth with broad and mean-spirited stereotypes, however, as the film wears on, its clear that the writer's intention is ultimately to illustrate the humanity of the characters by first presenting them as silly thugs wearing a hard core facade and showing how they grow, change and survive in the face of an otherworldly threat. This movie did a great job presenting the aliens, using minimal effects, and thought out camera angles and shots to present the aliens as more than just a bunch of guys in modified gorilla suits. There were a couple of times in the film where the movement and sound of the Aliens was really creepy because the shot combined the everyday objects and the alien in a manner that made you think "wait, what IS that?" This is really masterful, and one of the reasons I really like of these types of independent films.

The actors also should really get credit for making their characters truly believable. The way they played their parts, along with the way the story is written took me on a journey emotionally from being annoyed by their silly, "street tough" attitudes to really caring about them, rooting for them, and feeling sadness when any of them were taken out. I was really hurt when any of the kids were killed or injured. Any time film makers and actors make you feel something for the story and the characters like this is commendable. Don't miss this one. Its the perfect blend of humor, thrills, action, and social commentary that is a rare find in Hollywood films today.