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Film reviews

The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

Careless Love

Sidestepping a more extreme take on prostitution, this is a quietly impressive portrait of a young woman caught in a tragic situation.

Empire Of Silver

Its backdrop is a rich and fascinating one, but the film is let down by a screenplay and direction that fails to register on a personal level.

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Attack The Block (Film)

by Joshua Blackman | November 28, 2011 12:29 | Edited December 01, 2011 12:31

This pitch perfect blend of sci-fi action, comedy and social commentary winds up a gleeful delight.

Attack The Block opens with a mugging, then over the course of the next 88 minutes, makes you sympathise with the muggers. No mean feat for debut director Joe Cornish, an English broadcaster-comedian who appears to have the same kind of genre-pizzazz as Edgar Wright (Shaun Of The Dead). Wright's a producer on the film, which is a pitch perfect blend of sci-fi action, comedy and social commentary. It's already generated considerable buzz from a limited release overseas.

 

The muggers in question are a mixed-race group of street kids with nothing better to do than roam the council estates of London in their hoodies and BMX bikes, and rob innocent white girls like Sam (Jodie Whittaker). She happens to live in the same "block" as the kids, and ends up siding with them when a bunch of furry aliens with glowing teeth fall from the sky. Armed with local slang like "innit" and "allow it", and with little more than firecrackers and their own ingenuity, the boys tackle the invaders head on, with Sam and a local stoner (underplayed wonderfully by Nick Frost) in tow.

 

Attack The Block is simply a delight. A genre movie with a simple premise and a largely unknown cast (John Boyega as the teenage lead, Moses, is particularly impressive), Attack The Block has plenty of things to say about the social problems of modern Britain. It also toys uncomfortably with audience sympathy. Just how much are we meant to sympathise with these thuggish kids? And how much of their plight is really their fault? Cornish has an obvious viewpoint on the latter issue, which adds heft to what is essentially an energetic action comedy featuring drug dealers, explosions and funky aliens. All the more impressive is that it was achieved on only a $13 million budget, which in the grand scheme of things, is peanuts.