Movie Review - Attack the Block

Attack the Block (2011)

Starring John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Luke Treadaway, Alex Esmail, Jumayn Hunter, and Nick Frost

Directed by Joe Cornish

Attack the Block is a fun little comedy-horror-sci fi-action flick from first time feature film director Joe Cornish (who also wrote the film).  The simple story -- aliens invade South London and a group of hoodlums attempt to save their community -- goes by at a super-fast clip with the 85-minute running time never wearing out its welcome.  

That said, that same quick pace hurts the film a little bit in that there's really never any time to get to know the characters.  As the niftily-designed aliens begin their attack and folks begin getting picked off one by one, we in the audience find ourselves not really caring all that much because we never connected with these folks in the first place.  Still, the cast of young relative unknowns (save Nick Frost of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead fame) is certainly game for all the genres thrown their way.

Director Joe Cornish proves to be quite adept at making his kitchen sink of a screenplay work, making sure that the notes of comedy, horror, and sci fi all get adequate screen time.  Admittedly, some of the dialog thrown out is too English to maybe fully understand everything, but that's not Cornish's fault.  All in all, Attack the Block is a nice little flick that should it come onto Netflix's Instant Watch would certainly be worth your time.

The RyMickey Rating:  B