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score 5/10
Attack the Block is set in London during fireworks night as a nurse named Samantha (Jodie Whittaker) walks home to her block of flats in Brixton, while on her way she is attacked & mugged by a gang of teenage boy's at knife-point. During the mugging something falls from the sky & crashes into a parked car, the gang is then suddenly attacked by an alien that cuts the gang leader Moses (John Boyega) face & in revenge Moses & the gang hunt the alien down & kill it. Shortly after more aliens fall from the sky & land on the estate, these aliens are different though as they are huge & vicious & kill any human they meet. The teenage gang become aware of what's happening & decide to fight back against the alien invasion & protect their block of flats...
This British & French co-production was written & directed by Joe Cornish & I have to say that while Attack the Block isn't terrible there are too many issues that I disliked about it for me to get excited about it. I suppose the biggest problem I have with Attack the Block is that the script tries to turn character's that I didn't like into the people that save the day, I am sorry but I just can't like a gang of thugs who mug a lone woman at knife point no matter how many times you have them swear which in itself isn't funny. The whole film is played as a comedy sci-fi horror that has obvious influences & is a decent time killer but I didn't think the central concept & theme worked the way the makers intended. I suppose the teenage muggers were meant to save the day, find redemption & we are meant to sympathise with them but after seeing them mug a woman, take drugs, do whatever they want, kill just because something annoyed them & then run around with Samurai swords, baseball bats & flick knives I just couldn't like them or root for them to win. I really wished the aliens had killed the lot of them, at only 80 minutes long at least it's short & it moves along at a good pace & is watchable but I couldn't the fact that I hated almost every character out of my head & ultimately that's probably why I thought it was alright but nothing else. I just didn't like the whole message about these thug's being victims rather than criminals, this is a huge issue in today's society & surely people must take responsibility for their own actions. No-one else is making them mug someone, are they? Quite why a fairly light hearted sci-fi action thriller is dealing with such deep issues is puzzling & I for one feel the makers took the wrong direction. The dialogue is also another issue, I have lived here in the UK all my life & even I didn't understand half the urban gangster crap they spoke, I certainly didn't find any of it funny either.
The aliens almost seem secondary to the moral issues on show & they are kept virtually black in every shot they appear with only their sharp fang like teeth glowing in the dark giving off any light, they look alright for what they are but I suspect budget reasons were partly responsible. There is hardly any CGI computer animation in Attack the Block, I always prefer practical effects where possible so I liked Attack the Block for that aspect if nothing else. I can't say I found it particularly exciting or scary or fantastical, I found it a bit bland & forgettable actually. More aliens die than humans so there's not much blood or gore, a man has his throat bitten out & someone has their nose bitten off but otherwise nothing worth mentioning. In a nod to classic sci-fi films & author's several of the street locations are named after famous writer's such as H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke & Douglas Adams.
With a supposed budget of about $13,000,000 this was partly filmed on the real Heygate Estate in London. The acting is alright, again I can't say i warmed to or liked anyone but there's no terrible performances here.
Attack the Block is a film that many seem to like probably for the reasons that I don't like it, really irritating urban gangster dialogue, lack of alien action & a moralistic stance that I personally don't agree with although having first hand experience of some of the issues here might cloud my opinion a bit. Watchable & not terrible but there were too many aspect that I disliked for me to really enjoy it.
poolandrews 26 June 2012
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2633308/ |
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21-11-2019 12:37:01
