Attack The Block (Joe Cornish, 2011)

UK peeps will probably have heard of Joe Cornish - of Joe and Adam fame.....

Well, he's written and directed his tribute to the alien attack genre - somewhere between Gremlins, Aliens, The Goonies, Monster Squad, Ghostusters and Snatch.

I didn't even really know about this film, but I noted Nick Frost was in it - and then another name caught my eye - Edgar Wright(Exec Prod).

Premise - Aliens attack a South London block of flats. Gang of youths fight for survival.

If South London dialect, in particular, black dialect annoys you - I don't think you'll like this, but to be fair, it fits the film perfectly. By the end, it's pretty hilarious. Film treads a decent line between horror/comedy. Takes itself serious enough, but knows when to deliver a few laughs.

This isn't a snappy Edgar Wright type film, but I can see why he'd exec produce this - and as I understand it, he's friends with Cornish anyway.

I have to admit, by the end, I was behind our unlikely heroes, in particular - the leader Moses. And I wouldn't mind seeing the continuing adventures of these guys.

Decent enough low budget. I'd say 8/10.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1478964/

lol, looks great!!! might add a Monster Squad reference in with the rest of your list

thanks for posting

saw this in the cinema a couple of months ago, fun film and really liked the alien designs / piratical effects just goes to show that not everything has to be cgi

leeroy0115 said:

piratical effects

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:-?

Best UK film I've seen in quite a while, definitely up there with FAQ's About Time Travel.

nOmArch said:

Best UK film I've seen in quite a while, definitely up there with FAQ's About Time Travel.

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Chris O'Dowd. Fantastic geezer. Add Richard Ayoade. The IT Crowd=WIN.

Ayoade directed Submarine, which was probably my favourite british film of the year. I watched this [Attack the Block] and I enjoyed it, but like similar films about 'ghetto youts' I don't know if I could sit through it again.

Just watched this. It was pretty good. It's also the first film where I was cheering for the aliens. What that trailer fails to show you is that those kids are nothing more than street punks, and they mugged that pretty white girl at knife point at the beginning of the film. You might also want to add a Ghostbusters reference to your list white43, because those aliens reminded me quite a bit of the alien "dog" in the first Ghostbusters film. Not to mention how they crash through that white girl's apartment is very similar to how the alien "dog" crashed through the apartment during the party scene in Ghostbusters.

I was a little surprised to see an MPAA Cerfication Number during the end credits. I've never seen one issued for a British film before.

On reflection with one of my friends, we agreed that one of the problems with this film is, at no point does the main protagonist redeem himself. At no point, did I actually feel that I liked Moses. He was a prick for the majority of the film. He's a thug and a mugger with attitude, who doesn't change, doesn't learn anything, doesn't grow. By the end, everyone is cheering for him, but he's still a dick. He's not even really an anti-hero, they at least tend to have redeeming qualities.

white43 said:

On reflection with one of my friends, we agreed that one of the problems with this film is, at no point does the main protagonist redeem himself. At no point, did I actually feel that I liked Moses. He was a prick for the majority of the film. He's a thug and a mugger with attitude, who doesn't change, doesn't learn anything, doesn't grow. By the end, everyone is cheering for him, but he's still a dick. He's not even really an anti-hero, they at least tend to have redeeming qualities.

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My feelings about him exactly. The closest he comes to an apology is when he tells Sam that if he had known that she was from the block he wouldn't have mugged her. The only reason why she's with them is because they forced their way into her apartment and those creatures broke through the walls. She's with them because she doesn't want to be alone, not because they've become friends. I couldn't believe when the crowd started chanting Moses' name at the end of the movie, like we're supposed to be on his side now? I don't think so!