Attack the BlockHow would you and your buddies repel an alien invasion? Attack the Block is a sci-fi monster movie about a horde of killer creatures from outer space that assail a small subsection of South London one night, leaving the unlikeliest of urban defenders to push back the black beasts with glowing teeth. Moses (John Boyega) is the relatively quiet leader of a group of delinquents who get their kicks one "Bonfire Night" by mugging a young lady in their apartment complex named Samantha (Jodie Whittaker). When Moses slays the broodmare of the intergalactic cadre of killer space hounds, their tenement block becomes the target of a celestial incursion, leaving these hoods and slackers as the first defense against a force from beyond the stars.
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Attack the Block takes cues from a variety of classic creature features from the Fifties, like The Blob. The monsters that invade London are more like a force of nature, and their motivations only become clear later--namely Moses killing the female of their tribe, causing them to run amok and kill everything around them. The invasion plays out like a fantasy of the youthful hoodlums--as if they were role-playing an adventure of "Dungeons & Dragons". Moses and his crew show no remorse in slaughtering the vanguard alien propelled from the heavens and into a parked car; he even carries the carcass like a trophy to the penthouse suite of their marijuana supplier, Hi-Hatz (Jumayn Hunter), and his crony, Ron (Nick Frost). Once the hounds make their way into the complex, Moses and his buddies arm themselves as though they were playing an imaginary game. They cart around katanas and aluminum bats, and wield bottle rockets and Roman candles for artillery. Other residents of the apartment complex prepare to fight off the alien scum with whatever they have at their disposal, including Super Soakers filled with gasoline. Despite the very real danger of being devoured by alien monsters, these kids treat the event like a game of cops and robbers. Consider when Moses's crew returns to their homes and tell their guardians the reasons that they have to collect a clutch of weapons and ammo for the subsequent assault; the adults dismiss their antics out of hand as nothing more than a game. But playing is the furthest thing from their minds, as they have witnessed the terrible ferocity of these space critters, who harry them at every turn and threaten their imperfect lives.
Attack the Block establishes Moses as not just a hoodlum but a violent crook through Samantha's mugging. He tries to downplay this later in his version of an apology when they are both forced to fend of the alien killers, claiming that he wouldn't have mugged her if he knew she was a resident of his "block". Endearing though Moses and his buddies may be, they are still a bunch of hoods and cretins, who kill time sticking up citizens and smoking dope. As disenfranchised South London youth, they commit crimes not out of desperation or from a psychological compulsion to do so, but because they've got nothing better to do. Moses and his buddies are like to "Alex and his droogs" from A Clockwork Orange, although to a milder degree. Despite being thugs, they are the only line of defense against an unknown force threatening society. None of these kids--including Moses--seem particularly vicious, despite their brief foray into robbery. They are more like the kind of rambunctious kids who always seem to run around any given apartment complex--acting tough to feel strong and safe. When the aliens arrive and wreak havoc across the block, it is the perfect opportunity for them to prove themselves and fight for their place in the world. Their understanding of how to fight the aliens comes from sci-fi and fantasy stories, and not from actual combat training. These kids grab what they consider the most effective ways to fend off an alien invasion, including fireworks and samurai swords. The invasion is little more than missions from the video games they have likely been weaned upon made real, and their ways of fighting the aliens reveals this--when they are not terrified to bits. It is less important that characters like Moses hit upon some moral epiphany in their adventure than it is that they plant their feet into the soil of their demesne as heroes who stand up against the incursion of anything that would threaten their home.
Recommended for: Fans of a sci-fi monster movie about a clan of punk kids fighting off an alien invasion in and around their apartment complex in South London. Attack the Block is filled with British slang, but even audiences unfamiliar with the dialect will likely interpret its meaning in the context of the characters' quips and dialogue with one another.
Attack the Block establishes Moses as not just a hoodlum but a violent crook through Samantha's mugging. He tries to downplay this later in his version of an apology when they are both forced to fend of the alien killers, claiming that he wouldn't have mugged her if he knew she was a resident of his "block". Endearing though Moses and his buddies may be, they are still a bunch of hoods and cretins, who kill time sticking up citizens and smoking dope. As disenfranchised South London youth, they commit crimes not out of desperation or from a psychological compulsion to do so, but because they've got nothing better to do. Moses and his buddies are like to "Alex and his droogs" from A Clockwork Orange, although to a milder degree. Despite being thugs, they are the only line of defense against an unknown force threatening society. None of these kids--including Moses--seem particularly vicious, despite their brief foray into robbery. They are more like the kind of rambunctious kids who always seem to run around any given apartment complex--acting tough to feel strong and safe. When the aliens arrive and wreak havoc across the block, it is the perfect opportunity for them to prove themselves and fight for their place in the world. Their understanding of how to fight the aliens comes from sci-fi and fantasy stories, and not from actual combat training. These kids grab what they consider the most effective ways to fend off an alien invasion, including fireworks and samurai swords. The invasion is little more than missions from the video games they have likely been weaned upon made real, and their ways of fighting the aliens reveals this--when they are not terrified to bits. It is less important that characters like Moses hit upon some moral epiphany in their adventure than it is that they plant their feet into the soil of their demesne as heroes who stand up against the incursion of anything that would threaten their home.
Recommended for: Fans of a sci-fi monster movie about a clan of punk kids fighting off an alien invasion in and around their apartment complex in South London. Attack the Block is filled with British slang, but even audiences unfamiliar with the dialect will likely interpret its meaning in the context of the characters' quips and dialogue with one another.