Friday 8 July 2011

Attack The Block (2011)

Jodie Whittaker in a fun role.
At a glance:
While the rest of the wakin world have turned up in droves to put even more money into Spielberg and Bay pockets, might we suggest a different but equally enjoyable intergalactic battle at the cinemas this season – Attack The Block! Doin precisely what it says on the tin, Attack The Block: Gangsters vs. Aliens is Gremlins-meet-Goonies as we follow a gang of rowdy South London teens whose ordinary rowdy lives are changed overnight with an outrageous alien attack on their council flats, followin what they thought was a meteor shower on Guy Fawkes Day.
Bad news on the doorstep:

Run!!!
Well, maybe not bad news for you - but I caught this on a midnight show on account of the fledglin distributor Platinum Pictures, who ain't quite figured out how to do press previews yet. Well, I'm happy enough they took a risk with this movie. I don't remember if they made a profit off this late release.
Perennial wonderment:
Aside from the committed, largely teenage cast, the real stars of the show - impossibly black, wolf-like critters (it's“even blacker than my cousin Femi” says one of the characters) – manage to hit that editin ambiguity where the creatures appear believably menacin without expensive SFX work. How often does that happen, eh?
Reminds me of:
Kabluey (2007), Skyline (2010), The Goonies (1985) and Gremlins (1984).
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Just another day in the hood.
What really elevates this from a pet project to an impressive, well-thought debut feature from frequent Edgar Wright collaborator Joe Cornish (the duo are behind the screenplay for Spielberg’s upcoming Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn) is the prevalent humour in the movie and how the audience can find it easy to relate to the simple and identifiable characters, save maybe their difficult London accents that may alienate the untrained ear of audiences in this region (or even maybe American viewers, as evident in some reports recently about worried U.S. distributors). Nevertheless, Attack The Block: Gangsters vs. Aliens is a refreshin and welcome addition to the saturated monster movies we have come to expect from the market out there.