Attack the Block

Attack the Block is the first film of English comedian Joe Cornish, half of comedy duo Adam and Joe, and was released on May 11, 2011 in the U.K. It was written and directed by Joe Cornish, and stars John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Simon Howard, Jodie Whittaker, Luke Treadaway, and Nick Frost.

I was lucky to watch the Tree of Life, because it's in extremely limited release, and hard to find anywhere. I'm even more lucky to be able to watch Attack the Block, because of its history. In May, it was released in the U.K., where it was extremely popular. In attempt to secure a release on this side of the Atlantic, producers and film studios were worried that the film wouldn't be popular over here, and not only that, but the film would need subtitles for the characters heavy South London accents. That's absolutely ridiculous, the accents are not hard to understand. The film secured a limited release, only playing in 6 cities in the U.S. initially. I didn't know it was playing in Canada at all, I just happened to be at Yonge and Dundas one day, and saw a poster for that film at the theatre. A few days later, I went to see it.

All I had heard about this film was good reviews, and all of those reviews are right. This is a very good film. Many people have compared it to Edgar Wright's first feature, Shaun of the Dead, which is very unfair. The only things that Shaun of the Dead and Attack the Block have in common is Edgar Wright (he wrote and directed Shaun of the Dead, and was an executive producer on this film), Nick Frost (starred in both films), the fact that they're English films, and the fact that they are films. That's it. Aside from those similarities, these films are quite different. Shaun of the Dead was a comedy with a little bit of good horror as well. Attack the Block is a straight up science-fiction horror, with elements of comedy in it. While Shaun of the Dead wants to make you laugh, Attack the Block wants to make you scared.

In the film, we meet 5 youths (John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, and Simon Howard) who are residents of a typical "block" in South London. In case you're wondering, a block is a building that is part of the projects, a ghetto of sorts. They mug Sam (Jodie Whittaker), a nurse who also lives in the block, and as they mug her, something flies down, and crashes into a car beside them. Sam escapes, and upon inspecting, the boys find that a creature not from this world is in the car, and starts to attack them, scratching Moses', the leader of the group, face. He kills the alien, and takes it to Ron (Nick Frost), the local weed dealer, hoping to store it in his "weed room," as it is the safest place in the block. Shortly after this, more aliens start to come down, more fierce, vicious, and blood-hungry aliens. The gang and Sam have to gang together to defend the block (which probably should've been the name of the film, Defend the Block, but I digress).

Aside from Nick Frost, the cast is filled with mostly unknowns. All these young actors are phenomenally good actors. These kids are scared, but pretend to be tough, in order to survive on the block. They're pretending to be tough and strong, but in reality, they just want to go home, and not get eaten by the aliens. All the kids, particularly Moses and Pest (John Boyega and Alex Esmail), were great actors, and I look forward to seeing their careers advance forward. Jodie Whittaker also did a fine job. She plays Sam, the nurse who was mugged by the gang, but has to join them in order to survive. She does a fine job here, and apparently she already has a career, so I will be checking out some more of her films soon.

The writing is quite good in this film. Going into this film, I was expecting a comedy, something similar to Shaun of the Dead (I know I said they shouldn't be compared, but oh well). But this film is quite different, because it's a science fiction horror first. That's what makes it so different from Shaun of the Dead, in that this film is a horror film, with elements of comedy, and not a comedy, with elements of horror. That's what makes this film so interesting, and so much more funny.

Overall, this was a very good film, and if you get a chance to check it out, I recommend it, despite the fact that it is hard to find. It's a great debut from Joe Cornish, and I look forward to seeing more of his films in the years to come. I give it an 8.5/10.