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Film Review: Attack the Block
Summertime is one the biggest seasons of the year for movies. The kids are out of school, it’s too hot to go outside, and Hollywood unleashes the blockbusters. Studios save their highbrow fare for the end of the year, so there’s not a lot of art here—just some good old fashioned fun, something entertaining to watch while chomping on your $8 popcorn.
But every once in a while, you might stumble across the rarest of the rare: a blockbuster action film that’s more than just a whiz-bang collection of explosions and one-liners. Like a unicorn or a double rainbow (ooh, or a unicorn riding a double rainbow!), when you find one you count yourself lucky.
This summer, we might have to go buy some lottery tickets. We've already had the miraculous Super 8, Spielberg and J.J. Abrams’ kids-coming-of-age/misunderstood alien-on-the-loose story, and now we have Attack the Block.
True, technically this movie wouldn’t be considered your typical blockbuster. It’s an independent film shot on a budget that wouldn’t cover the cost of Thor’s hammer. But on paper it’s got all the elements of a big-budget action movie, and with its interesting twist on the alien invasion and talent pedigree, the budget is the about the only thing it’s lacking.
The pitch is an easy sell: London thugs vs. alien invaders (official tag line: “inner city meets outer space”). It centers around a group of teenagers living in the projects. What starts out as a pretty clichéd opening scene—kids in hoodies mugging a pretty young girl on a poorly lit street in a bad part of town—takes a hard right turn when a creature falls from the sky, injuring their leader. When they decide to teach it a lesson, the night goes from ordinary to anything but.
The boys soon realize that there’s a whole lot more than just one of these creatures—what ensues is a thrill ride of chase scenes, action sequences, and violent battles. The effects are solid; these mysterious aliens seem vicious and scary and as real as anyone else in the picture. They’re not your “usual” aliens either; no long fingers or bulging eyes—in fact they don’t seem to have eyes at all. No, these are original beasties you’ve not seen before, and that makes them even more scary.
The cast is excellent, a ragtag group of newcomers that bring life and individuality into each character. Writer/director Joe Cornish (friend of Edgar Wright and co-writer of The Adventures of Tintin) keeps the action exciting and fun while still allowing us to see past it all into the hard lives of these unlikely heroes. Throughout the picture, we are constantly aware that these are just kids. Using household items like squirt guns, a baseball bat and fireworks while riding around on bicycles and scooters, they seem to be in way over their head. Which makes it that much more exciting.
It’s not surprising that this film garnered so much buzz at this year’s SXSW film festival. In a summer packed with brain-dead FXtravaganzas, it’s nice to know that we don’t have to choose between seeing a fun movie and seeing a good movie. Attack the Block is both.
Attack the Block opens Friday, July 29, at the Alamo South Lamar. Catch the midnight screening Thursday night here.
