Attack the Block By Joe Cornish

UK, France (2011) - Panorama

London’s teen gang protects the block from aliens: short synopsis and the most precise way to sum up Attack the Block, written and directed by Joe Cornish. Luckily it is not enough to describe his directorial debut which shows the alien movies how it really should be done. This reasoning rises from the movie’s main idea as to why the aliens are coming to London: mixing coincidence with biology Cornish makes the plot more logical supposed to “destroy the Earth” scenario.

First exciting moment of the movie comes in the very beginning: Sam (Jodie Whittaker) is walking on the street talking to her mom on the phone when she’s suddenly ambushed by a gang of teenagers. Everything starts to build up from there. It is nice to see that Cornish isn’t afraid to create his own alien-species with a gray partly hairless four legged female killed by the leader of the gang Moses (John Boyega) and the furry gorilla look-alike male aliens with glowing teeth who rip up throats and pull off heads.

Supporting characters are there to provide the comedic aspect, Pest (Alex Esmail) the cheeky gang member, Ron (Nick Frost) the man who takes care of the pot farm and Brewis (Luke Treadaway) the stoner who always seems to be in the right place at the wrong time.

There is no doubt that Cornish is a multi-talented filmmaker who isn’t afraid to explore different styles, mixing together comedy, sci-fi and horror, paying just enough attention to all of them. Together with pleasing cinematography by a feature film newcomer Thomas Townend and original film score from Basement Jaxx along with Stephen Price Attack the Block paints a hero out of a bad boy with a softer side.

by Getter Trumsi