Attack The Block

Attack the Block is a perfect example of what happens when everything comes together just right on a film. There's a reason this is one of the most fawned over and relentlessly hyped movies of the year. A film so hyped up by the internet cinema dorks that I almost didn't want to see it out of spite for their incessantly slobbering, slavish worshipping. Well, I noticed it was playing at my local AMC, so with the caveat that I would at least be able to see it screened in a decent theater with good sound and comfortable seating, I ventured out, ready to scrutinize and shoot down this behemoth of internet adulation. Suffice to say, this movie had an uphill battle to win me over. On top of my irritation with the aforementioned lemming like praise it's engendered, I detest hip hop fashion, music and attitude, not to mention English slang, all of which this film traffics heavily in. Plus, its central characters are teen gangster dickheads, and after an ongoing spate of similarly misguided youth killing each other in the city I live in, I was less than receptive to get behind them as protagonists. But, like all great movies, this one is more than the sum of its parts and vastly more than meets the eye upon first glance.

Attack the Block is an alien invasion movie that has nothing to do with an alien invasion. Attack the Block is about responsibility to your fellow humans, it's about forging friendship through empathetic understanding and most importantly, it's about acknowledging that your actions have consequences. Unlike another recent low budget alien invasion film I watched today entitled Monsters (also much hyped), the message and subtext didn't overwhelm the film, crushing all the fun and life out of it. No, Attack the Block is a breezy and exhilarating ride during which I fell in love with the characters, no small feat considering how much I hated them after their introduction mugging a young woman. Moses, the lead character played by John Boyega is instantly one of the most compelling heroes in modern cinema. Mark my words, Boyega is going to have a huge career if he plays his cards right. This kids screen presence and charisma is off the charts. The emotional dexterity he instills in this complex character is both fascinating and heartbreaking to watch, especially considering how few lines of dialogue he has.

The aliens are a marvel of artistic restraint. So many low budget films botch the usage of CGI. Attack the Block gets it just right. The aliens are galloping pitch black entities with glowing teeth and ear shredding screams. The creature design is perfect in that it is unique, allows for the maximum suspension of disbelief and subtly serves as a visual allegory for the darkness surrounding this economically distressed housing block in general and the demon of hopeless criminal recidivism and escalation bearing down on Moses in particular.

I won't get further into this because I want everyone to give this film a watch free of spoilers and I know it isn't widely released or available as of yet. I'll just say that I went into this with a scowl on my face and left the theater emotionally drained, hopeful for humanity and happy as hell. If that isn't the point of art, I don't know what is.