Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Attack the Block

This is topic Attack the Block in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 12-03-2011, 06:31 PM:

The alien invasion genre has been hit particularly hard of late with the likes of Cloverfield, District 13, Battle: Los Angeles and Aliens vs Cowboys, each one more mediocre than the last and culminating in the downright awful Skyline. So kudos to director, Joe Cornish, for at least trying something a little different. But although it's a brave move, attempting to make heroes out of a bunch of teenage delinquent homies with a penchant for mugging defenceless women is a tough call and Cornish doesn't quite succeed despite valiant attempts at redemption at the end for the hoodlums. Personally, I'd prefer to see our heroes die. It didn't help that I could barely understand half of what these young fellows were saying (I think it's supposed to be funny) but I guess that's just me getting old. That the film is a comedy would seem to be supported by the inclusion of Nick Frost in the cast.

What the film does have in spades, however, is some fangtastic creature design. These are some of the coolest monsters in recent memory - jet black furry amorphous shapes imbued with a whopping set of luminescent fangs from which erupts a hellish screech. The creature design capitalises on traditional monster movie methods, maximising the imagination of the viewer by keeping visual details of the monster to a minimum. That Cornish can maintain this principle while keeping the creature in clear view much of the time is quite a master stroke.

All up Attack the Block is a middle of the road, moderately enjoyable monster movie which has much to recommend it in principle but it is let down a little in practice. It's definitely worth a look if you're a fan of monster movies or a homie. Otherwise, it's a somewhat enjoyable time-waster (with blood and teeth).

Sorry about the "fangtastic" joke.

7 out of 10.