Grade: B+
**for the uninitiated, see the trailer below**
Good: Great characters; consistently, but cleverly funny; a welcome twist on a tired genre with a deeper than expected theme at its core
Bad: Language barrier (not an actual bad, but a deterrent for some); may be heavier than audiences expect; no 3D (again, not a bad, but a deterrent to studios, theater owners and a pocket of moviegoers)
Ugly: the first alien that lands and—not to be mean—but baddie Hi-Hatz is pretty tough to look at.
High concepts films invariably produce one of two results: either the concept will overwhelm the story or the concept will set sage for a story with a tangible degree of nuance and depth.
Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block takes a simple, if not entirely unique, concept and runs wild with it. The winner of the 2011 South by Southwest Midnight Screening Award, Attack the Block delivers a thoroughly entertaining spin on the alien invasion genre, complete with memorable characters, solid thrills and some to pointed insights on class and race.
Falling somewhere between popular British series Misfits, 80’s ‘classic’ Red Dawn, and Battle: Los Angeles, Attack the Block pits a motley gang of lower class teen miscreants--this time from a South London project affectionately referred to as the ‘Block’--against forces far beyond their control. In the process of mugging nurse, and fellow Block resident, Sam (Jodie Whittaker) at knife point, the gang--led by the stoic and obviously damaged Moses (John Boyega)--encounter a gross Gears of War-style third kind that plummets from the sky. Logically, the gang--including mouthy smart-ass Pest (Alex Esmail), nebbish doubter Jerome (Leeon Jones), brash risk-taker Dennis (Franz Demah) and talky ‘coward’ Biggz (Simon Howard)—hunt down the creature and kill it. With that one act, they endanger their entire block, which is home to a number of colorful natives like weed dealer Ron (Nick Frost), and foul-mouthed pre-teen wannabe troublemakers Mayhem (Michael Ajao) and Probs (Sammy Williams). As they struggle to save the Block, the boys must evade volatile gangster Hi-Hatz (Jumayn Hunter) and the local authorities that are more interested in arresting the Block’s inhabitants than helping them.
Block has a laundry list of strengths—from its witty, pop-culture tinged humor (a true sign of executive producer and Scott Pilgrim director Edgar Wright’s influence) to its cleverly designed aliens and its gory, blood stained action scenes—but its greatest strength are its quirky characters, unexpected depth and undeniable personality. Setting the action in a housing project already brings some welcome uniqueness to the invasion genre, as it highlights both characters and complications rarely introduced in most mainstream invasion flicks. The main characters are hardly meant to be sympathetic—not because they’re smarmy jerks who should die for being pricks, but because they’re literal criminals. Other characters like Ron, the lazy cowardly weed man—played with appropriate sluggish aloofness by Nick Frost—and stoner Brewis (Luke Treadaway) clearly escaped from the set of Pineapple Express, which would be the kiss of death in a typical invasion flick. Even bratty standouts Mayhem and Probs are the type of kid characters who survive invasion films by being puppy-dog-eyed plot tokens rather than mischievous hellions. The fact that all these characters are pulled a decidedly tarnished background speaks not only to Director Joe Cornish’s willingness to play loose with convention, but it allows him to engage in some light, if damning, criticism of the treatment of people from such lower class neighborhoods—in any country.
Throughout Block, the local authorities are either non-existent or antagonistic. With no clue of the invasion and seemingly no interest in helping, they exist in a space unfamiliar to most audiences, who can always count on, at least, the military to mount some spectacular counterattack. The concept of an ignored populace is best anchored by the simmering tension between Moses and mugging victim Sam. Their interactions do a superb job of highlighting how this community and its citizens have become isolated from the world next door and retreated into protecting themselves and no one else. It’s not an entirely original idea for a more purely dramatic film, but when woven into an invasion flick it’s nearly revolutionary. Despite some of the heavier thematic material, Block still manages to expertly show trademarks of the wit and, on occasion, heart found in modern genre bending classics like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Block may not deliver the shock gags that knock’em dead in the era of the R-rated comedy—with many jokes potentially flying right over the heads of non-British audiences—but it consistently delivers character and situational bits that never get stale.
Performances in Block are uniformly solid across the board. With many of the characters written in broad strokes, most of the cast hits their notes with equal parts subtlety and exuberance, no more or less. The joy Moses’ gang has when preparing to do battle with the aliens is played perfectly by the young actors, evoking the enthusiastic response that a generation raised on video games and blockbusters would have when faced with such absurd circumstances. Undoubtedly, the strongest performances belong to John Boyega (Moses) and Jodie Whitaker (Sam). Both imbue their characters with quiet strength and a tangible resolve as they are forced to gain insight into each other, and the community.
Director Joe Cornish shows off some solid visual style with block, giving the project a true sense of foreboding before the aliens even arrive. Color pops with a fluorescent glow that gives scenes an unsettling ambiance, while some of the vertical shots of the ‘Block’ are outright intimidating (especially when viewed from a bottom row seat). Granted, some of the visual cues are aped from similar flicks like 28 Days Later (isolation) and Blade II (eerie nightglow), but Cornish gives it the right amount of pop to make his own mark.
Block may be unrated now, but an R for language and violence is pretty much a lock. The blood flies as fast and furious as the British swears and slang, which, admittedly, could lose a lot of viewers. On the upside, the pacing is exceptionally brisk with flick running a swift 88 minutes. It’s not in 3D, so audiences, studios and theaters who love 3D will be disappointed while the rest of us rejoice. My worst fear for Block is that it gets remade and watered down to a shadow of itself. Between the language barrier—which, mind you, shouldn’t be an issue for most audiences—the diversity of the cast and the heavy themes, Hollywood is bound to find a way to ruin this one. Unfortunately, a US release for Block is still pending, but, thankfully, with Screen Gems as a distributor it’s only a matter of time. When Block does reach the States, get out and see it and enjoy it before it's swallowed whole by the Hollywood remake machine.
Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block takes a simple, if not entirely unique, concept and runs wild with it. The winner of the 2011 South by Southwest Midnight Screening Award, Attack the Block delivers a thoroughly entertaining spin on the alien invasion genre, complete with memorable characters, solid thrills and some to pointed insights on class and race.
Falling somewhere between popular British series Misfits, 80’s ‘classic’ Red Dawn, and Battle: Los Angeles, Attack the Block pits a motley gang of lower class teen miscreants--this time from a South London project affectionately referred to as the ‘Block’--against forces far beyond their control. In the process of mugging nurse, and fellow Block resident, Sam (Jodie Whittaker) at knife point, the gang--led by the stoic and obviously damaged Moses (John Boyega)--encounter a gross Gears of War-style third kind that plummets from the sky. Logically, the gang--including mouthy smart-ass Pest (Alex Esmail), nebbish doubter Jerome (Leeon Jones), brash risk-taker Dennis (Franz Demah) and talky ‘coward’ Biggz (Simon Howard)—hunt down the creature and kill it. With that one act, they endanger their entire block, which is home to a number of colorful natives like weed dealer Ron (Nick Frost), and foul-mouthed pre-teen wannabe troublemakers Mayhem (Michael Ajao) and Probs (Sammy Williams). As they struggle to save the Block, the boys must evade volatile gangster Hi-Hatz (Jumayn Hunter) and the local authorities that are more interested in arresting the Block’s inhabitants than helping them.
Block has a laundry list of strengths—from its witty, pop-culture tinged humor (a true sign of executive producer and Scott Pilgrim director Edgar Wright’s influence) to its cleverly designed aliens and its gory, blood stained action scenes—but its greatest strength are its quirky characters, unexpected depth and undeniable personality. Setting the action in a housing project already brings some welcome uniqueness to the invasion genre, as it highlights both characters and complications rarely introduced in most mainstream invasion flicks. The main characters are hardly meant to be sympathetic—not because they’re smarmy jerks who should die for being pricks, but because they’re literal criminals. Other characters like Ron, the lazy cowardly weed man—played with appropriate sluggish aloofness by Nick Frost—and stoner Brewis (Luke Treadaway) clearly escaped from the set of Pineapple Express, which would be the kiss of death in a typical invasion flick. Even bratty standouts Mayhem and Probs are the type of kid characters who survive invasion films by being puppy-dog-eyed plot tokens rather than mischievous hellions. The fact that all these characters are pulled a decidedly tarnished background speaks not only to Director Joe Cornish’s willingness to play loose with convention, but it allows him to engage in some light, if damning, criticism of the treatment of people from such lower class neighborhoods—in any country.
Throughout Block, the local authorities are either non-existent or antagonistic. With no clue of the invasion and seemingly no interest in helping, they exist in a space unfamiliar to most audiences, who can always count on, at least, the military to mount some spectacular counterattack. The concept of an ignored populace is best anchored by the simmering tension between Moses and mugging victim Sam. Their interactions do a superb job of highlighting how this community and its citizens have become isolated from the world next door and retreated into protecting themselves and no one else. It’s not an entirely original idea for a more purely dramatic film, but when woven into an invasion flick it’s nearly revolutionary. Despite some of the heavier thematic material, Block still manages to expertly show trademarks of the wit and, on occasion, heart found in modern genre bending classics like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Block may not deliver the shock gags that knock’em dead in the era of the R-rated comedy—with many jokes potentially flying right over the heads of non-British audiences—but it consistently delivers character and situational bits that never get stale.
Performances in Block are uniformly solid across the board. With many of the characters written in broad strokes, most of the cast hits their notes with equal parts subtlety and exuberance, no more or less. The joy Moses’ gang has when preparing to do battle with the aliens is played perfectly by the young actors, evoking the enthusiastic response that a generation raised on video games and blockbusters would have when faced with such absurd circumstances. Undoubtedly, the strongest performances belong to John Boyega (Moses) and Jodie Whitaker (Sam). Both imbue their characters with quiet strength and a tangible resolve as they are forced to gain insight into each other, and the community.
Director Joe Cornish shows off some solid visual style with block, giving the project a true sense of foreboding before the aliens even arrive. Color pops with a fluorescent glow that gives scenes an unsettling ambiance, while some of the vertical shots of the ‘Block’ are outright intimidating (especially when viewed from a bottom row seat). Granted, some of the visual cues are aped from similar flicks like 28 Days Later (isolation) and Blade II (eerie nightglow), but Cornish gives it the right amount of pop to make his own mark.
Block may be unrated now, but an R for language and violence is pretty much a lock. The blood flies as fast and furious as the British swears and slang, which, admittedly, could lose a lot of viewers. On the upside, the pacing is exceptionally brisk with flick running a swift 88 minutes. It’s not in 3D, so audiences, studios and theaters who love 3D will be disappointed while the rest of us rejoice. My worst fear for Block is that it gets remade and watered down to a shadow of itself. Between the language barrier—which, mind you, shouldn’t be an issue for most audiences—the diversity of the cast and the heavy themes, Hollywood is bound to find a way to ruin this one. Unfortunately, a US release for Block is still pending, but, thankfully, with Screen Gems as a distributor it’s only a matter of time. When Block does reach the States, get out and see it and enjoy it before it's swallowed whole by the Hollywood remake machine.
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