566. Attack The Block (2011)

Starring: John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail

Director: Joe Cornish

Running Time: 88 mins

Attack The Block is a British film about a gang of teenagers from a council estate in South London who face off against an alien invasion that could spell the end of their block.

Although it may seem like the most idiotic, unoriginal idea, this film is hugely entertaining. It’s got a great quality of comedy, along with thrilling suspense and action throughout, and although it may be ultimately quite predictable, it manages to bring in some intelligent twists throughout that would dispel any image of this as a B-movie.

You would think the premise: teenagers v aliens, would be a terribly idiotic and boring idea to watch at first, but luckily, this film manages to not only make it a satirical/laugh-out-loud comedy, it somehow introduces a great deal of intelligence amidst a story that is extremely action-packed.

But there are so many small elements that work so well together in this film. Firstly, setting it on Bonfire Night to disguise the aliens crashing to Earth was a subtly genius idea that creates a wholly believable concept. Because of that, it doesn’t feel too much like a sci-fi action movie, but in fact an exciting, convincing story.

Another bite of brilliance is the design of the aliens in this film. As well as harking back to the alien from Alien, its design and look is so simple, yet incredibly effective. Solely a black blur, they’re extremely mysterious and frightening, while those fluorescent blue jaws are both awesome and terrifying, adding considerably to the tension created in this film.

That was another thing that surprised me about this film, how scary it actually was. Not only because of the seemingly unbeatable aliens, but the suspense that lay within each and every scene throughout was fantastic, and avoided your attention from some of the more stupid things about this film, making it all the more impressive.

The only problem is that for the first part of the film, it does occasionally seem a little bit too stupid, not necessarily preposterous, but idiotic, which does ruin the entertainment somewhat, but the story comes up with an intelligent explanation halfway through to show why the hell these mad events are unfolding, another impressing detail.

Weirdly, then, for this type of film, the comedy is sort of secondary. It may not be on the level of Shaun Of The Dead, but it’s still absolutely hilarious whenever it pops up, and although it does become suppressed by the plot by the end, it is definitely a very funny film along with its genius and suspenseful plot, so that’s why it gets a 7.8 from me.