Attack The Block

Synopsis: Sam (Jodie Whittaker) is walking to her flat in a Brixton housing estate when she’s mugged by a gang of youths led by Moses (John Boyega). Before things get worse however an alien falls from the sky and smashes into a car. Sam escapes while Moses hunts down the alien and kills it. Then its friends land and invade the estate, apparently out for revenge.

Opening with a score reminiscent of the John Carpenter classics Assault On Precinct 13 and The Thing, it’s clear that the ambitions of this sci-fi romp are focussed on cult longevity. The odds are high that it’s going to achieve that goal. With a story that’s simple but effective, it takes a group of loutish teens terrorising a housing estate and transforms them into heroes by, funnily enough, turning their thuggish proclivities onto the alien invaders. Inevitably, Sam ends up depending on the gang for survival, but Attack The Block isn’t quick to turn on the empathy for her attackers. They’re still thuggish brats who are genuinely terrible to people and completely oblivious to the impact of what they do. I liked that because while it’s almost inevitable in a story like this that united by a common threat the opposing parties become partners, it isn’t done cheaply. Instead, we eventually discover the circumstances that caused the kids to go this way, and they gradually, admittedly after a bunch of them have been killed, come to recognise that what they thought was a bit of a laugh has had serious consequences for their estate.

To be honest, that’s overselling the drama a bit. Attack The Block is not a heartfelt plea for the socially-disadvantaged or a story of the redemption of underprivileged youths, it’s a sci-fi action comedy that’s a hell of a lot of fun. The aliens are like dark matter incarnations of Fizzgig from The Dark Crystal but on steroids - they’re nice and nasty. The way all light is sucked out of them, leaving a pure black void, is a subtle and entirely remarkable effect. It seems like a simple thing, but it adds a convincing layer of otherworldliness to the action. Genuine thought and effort has gone into these creature designs, even though they’re little more than killing machines that exist to drive the siege story forward. Their attacks are vicious, and with people dying all over the place there’s real tension woven into the Die Hard meets Aliens story.

At 88 minutes, Attack The Block wastes no time getting into the action, and crams far more story into its short time than some films twice its length. It’s smart and exciting and a lot of fun.

 

 

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