Attack the Block Review

Well, with September just starting now, that means summer is pretty much official over. Which means that the summer movie season has officially ended as well, so to celebrate the official ending of summer, why not write a review for one of the best movies of this summer, Attack the Block? If there’s going to be another great movie to end this summer movie season with a bang, it might as well be this one.  Plus, out of all the alien invasion movies to come out this year, this is easily the best one. Then again, with this movie being produced by Edgar Wright, who is my pick for the best director working in Hollywood next to Christopher Nolan, how could you go wrong?

 What makes Attack the Block a great alien invasion film is that it is unique. The invasion in this movie is not your typical alien invasion where the aliens invade a major city whether it is New York or Los Angeles; instead, the aliens are invading a ghetto in the U.K. Plus, it’s not the government or army soldiers fighting them off, it’s a group of kids who’ve grown up in this part of the U.K, which means they’re probably going to fuck more shit up than your average army during an invasion. But what really makes this concept work for an alien invasion movie like this, is the whole comradery with all these characters and how they react to this invasion. Most of these kids are extremely likable and incredibly fun to hang out with, which makes you want to root for these kids even more when it comes to this invasion.  The whole comradery with the characters and even to a strong extent the Aliens themselves, reminded me of the movie Aliens, however that’s not necessarily a bad thing. To me, it felt like the director was very much inspired by the movie Aliens and decided to take what made that movie so great and do something completely original with it, unlike any other film where it would probably just rip off Aliens. Throw in some great yet subtle humor, some incredibly gory violence and an incredibly tight script, and you got one of the best Sci-Fi movies of the year.

 As I mention earlier, the characters in this movie are great, not only because of the great dialogue and the way they interact with what’s going on around them, but also because of some of the actors portraying them. John Boyega is amazing as the main character Moses. He’s not only a bad-ass in this film, but he also manages to be an incredible leader for his gang of kids. Every time Moses is on screen, you definitely feel his presence as a great leader and character in this film. If you’re like me, I bet you’re hoping that John Boyega will get more work in the future, because he really proved himself of being a great actor in his first movie. We also get some great minor characters as well, one of my favorites being Pest who is the comedic relief of the film and that title is deserved for him in this film because he’s probably the funniest character in Attack the Block. Jodie Whittaker in the film also does a solid job as well playing as Sam for being probably the only helpful adult for these kids. Plus, we also get Nick Frost in the movie, and while he doesn’t have a huge role in this, every time he’s on screen, he still manages to be fun to watch and it was just great seeing him for the small role he plays.  Every other character in this film was great and there was not one bad performance in the whole bunch.

 Another thing that really makes this movie shine is the aliens themselves. The aliens in Attack the Block are probably the most original aliens I have seen in a long time. Unlike half of the aliens movies that have come out in recent years where they’re either very robotic or insect looking in terms of designs, these aliens are gigantic black beasts where they only have teeth and nothing else. While it’s a very simplistic design in the end, it’s also an original one because these aliens are something much different than what we see today in a type of movie like this. Not to mention that the effects for the aliens are great too, mainly because they’re not necessarily in CG. Now usually when film makers do not tend to use CG in films now these days, they tend to look bad, but even despite the lack of CG there are for these aliens, they are still very threatening and they are the ones that really make this a good horror movie as well. Plus, this is first film in a long time where I wonder how they did the special effects for the aliens, where in every other movie even great ones like Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Harry Potter; I can still easily tell that the effects are CG. With the creatures from the Block, they made me want to buy this movie on Blu-ray and see exactly how they did these effects. One other thing to mention that makes this movie great is the soundtrack. The soundtrack, especially after listening to it by itself long after seeing the movie, is easily one of the best soundtracks of this year alone. If you’re a fan of electronic soundtracks from movies like the Social Network, Hanna and Tron Legacy, then the soundtrack for Attack the Block should be a must buy easily. Take a listen for yourself.

http://youtu.be/mr28QQg0ObQ

 If there is one problem I had with Attack the Block, and it’s not so much an issue as it is a disappointment, is that I wished it was a little more focus on the humor. While the humor in Attack the Block is very funny, it’s really more focus on the drama and horror most of the time. With this being produced by Edgar Wright, who is well known for his comedy, I expect a lot more humor than what I ended up getting in this movie. With all that being said, the horror and drama in the film worked very well and the humor that was there, was quite funny to say the least. Which really makes this film a solid Horror comedy and if you’re a fan of horror comedies like me, then its right up your alley.

 Over-all, Attack the Block is an awesome action, horror, comedy that really knows how to combine all of those genres into one. Hopefully this film manages to get an even more widely released than it’s getting at the moment, because if this movie was a major studio release, then it is a definite must see. Though for now, if Attack the Block manages to be in a theater near you, do not miss the opportunity to see it because it is totally worth seeing in the theater. I hope to see this movie again very soon and with friends too, if not in the theaters then definitely on Blu-ray as soon as it comes out on Blu-ray.

RATING: 9/10