Sunday, September 4, 2011

Attack the Block

A group of juvenile delinquents rob a young woman on the streets of South London and as they are about to walk away with the spoils a massive object falls from the sky and destroys a nearby automobile. The leader of the gang looks inside the car and sees a hideous creature and dispatches it with his blade. Soon, the entire block will be under an alien invasion and the gang, along with the girl they robbed, must defend their prized turf. "Attack the Block" is funny British escapism in the same vein as Ali G, "Four Lions", and the Simon Pegg and Nick Frost movies (Frost appears here in a humorous role as a pot dealer). The dialogue is comprised almost entirely of incomprehensible British street slang which is part of its charm and director Joe Cornish does an excellent job working with a slim budget. I felt the novelty beginning to wear off towards the end at which point the film regroups for a pretty spectacular finale. "Attack the Block" achieves its objective of taking a concept and making it funny and entertaining.