Attack the Block (2011)

A race of Aliens attack a block of flats in one of the worst part of London, but the residents fight back...

After a local resident is mugged by a group of young thugs, she reports the crime to the police who quickly arrive to round up the suspects. While they are doing this there is an alien invasion and together the victim and the criminals are forced to fight for their lives, all the time, trying to dodge the police and angry drug dealers.

Together this motley crew of unwilling participants have to muck together with whatever makeshift weapons they can find, in order to wipe out a race of alien life forms who feel nothing for killing as many humans as they possibly can. In a society with little respect for or from the police, the youngsters have to take the law into their own hands in order to save the planet.

If they can stick together and stay alive they might just fight off this deadly invasion...but it's unlikely that would ever happen...

Having watched the trailer for this I was not sure really what to expect from this film, but was rather pleasantly surprised with what director Joe Cornish delivered. The film is a decent watch, with some good acting a surprisingly good special effects. It was difficult to gauge exactly what sort of audience this film was trying to entice, as not everybody in the audience would understand the language and expressions used by the youths in this film, nor the culture of council estate blocks in London.

The acting in this was a lot better than expected too. The biggest name in the film is "Paul" and "Hot Fuzz" hero, Nick Frost who plays the role of the long haired drug dealer "Ron" and does a very good job of it.

Yorkshire born Jodie Whittaker gives a very decent performance as the strong willed "Sam", first a victim of crime, but then one of the leaders of the fight back against the invading aliens. She brings a decent amount of gravity to the role, but also provides a few good lines to add to general comedy of this film. I look forward to seeing more of this talented actress, who has proven that she is well versed in both serious and less serious roles.

The real surprise of this film comes from English/Nigerian actor John Boyega does a fantastic job in the role of "Moses", the leader of the young gang of thugs. His performance is very decent indeed, showing a lot of depth, for somebody who is only 20 years old. He is good in the action scenes, sincere in the ones he needs to be, and also stoic and determined in the causes which his character chooses to take up. It would be good to see a lot more of this talented actor in the future.

Alex Ismail does a good job as the paranoid pot head "Pest", while Leeon Jones performs admirably in his big screen debut, as the determined "Jerome".

This is not a film that everybody will enjoy, and I believe it was aimed at a very British-centric demographic and that a lot of people will not understand half of what is said by the younger members of the cast. That being said it is still a decent watch and the special effects are rather pleasing. There are some good laughs in the film and a couple of tense scenes, but this is no way a horror as advertised.

6/10