Plot
A teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion.
Release Year: 2011
Rating: 6.8/10 (29,029 voted)
Critic's Score: 75/100
Director:
Joe Cornish
Stars: John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail
Storyline A teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion.
Cast: John Boyega
-
Moses
Jodie Whittaker
-
Sam
Alex Esmail
-
Pest
Franz Drameh
-
Dennis
Leeon Jones
-
Jerome
Simon Howard
-
Biggz
Luke Treadaway
-
Brewis
Jumayn Hunter
-
Hi-Hatz
Danielle Vitalis
-
Tia
Paige Meade
-
Dimples
Michael Ajao
-
Mayhem
Sammy Williams
-
Probs
Nick Frost
-
Ron
Maggie McCarthy
-
Margaret
Gina Antwi
-
Dionne
Filming Locations: Heygate Estate, Southwark, London, England, UK
Box Office Details
Budget: $13,000,000
(estimated)
Opening Weekend: £1,133,859
(UK)
(15 May 2011)
(352 Screens)
Gross: $1,024,175
(USA)
(25 September 2011)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
The areas and surrounding roads are named after well-known British science fiction authors: Wyndham Tower (John Wyndham); Moore Court (Alan Moore); Huxley Court (Aldous Huxley); Wells Court (H.G. Wells); Clarke Court (Arthur C. Clarke); Ballard Street (J.G. Ballard); Adams Street (Douglas Adams); Clayton Street and Clayton Estate (Jo Clayton); and Herbert Way (James Herbert).
Quotes:
[first lines]
Sam:
[on phone]
Hi mum!
User Review
Supremely entertaining
Rating:
I purposely avoided promos and trailers for Attack the Block. Other
than aliens being involved in some capacity and Nick Frost being in the
film, I had no idea what it was about either. When it comes to movies
these days, movie studios are banking on titles to be huge hits and
promote them into the ground. You feel like you've already seen half
the movie by the time it's released while lesser known films usually
get little to no promotion and bomb because nobody knew anything about
them. And as a movie critic, going into a movie and saying you don't
know absolutely everything about it beforehand is kind of liberating.
Remember the days when you'd go to the movies not knowing what to see
and you'd pick something based on the movie poster alone? I miss the
days when there weren't a ton of commercials before the trailers, but I
digress. Attack the Block, much like any film should in this situation
is already entertaining in its own right but is an even stronger
experience if you know nothing about it going in.
This is Joe Cornish's first time sitting in the director's seat, but it
certainly doesn't feel that way. His sense of perspective is fantastic
and the lighting in the film is utilized in the alien creatures'
benefit. Something as simple as lights dimming in a hallway is suddenly
way more intimidating after seeing Attack the Block. The cast works
better as a cohesive unit rather than individually, but there are a few
that standout above the rest. Moses (John Boyega) is probably the most
obvious choice since he's the leader of the gang and the story kind of
leans in his favor, but Brewis (Luke Treadaway) is right up there as
well. His rather oblivious attitude towards aliens invading their
neighborhood due to him being stoned all the time got more laughs than
anything else in the film. He didn't even have to say anything half the
time. His appearance and body language will have you rolling at times.
Pest (Alex Esmail) steps it up a bit after he has a close encounter
with one of the alien monsters. His incessant ramblings about the
aliens along with his constant flirting with Sam (Jodie Whitaker) is
rather humorous. Nick Frost has more of a supporting role than a main
one, but is hilarious every time he's on screen. The young cast along
with its content gives the film a bit of a Goonies or even Monster
Squad kind of vibe and that is something to be proud of.
The creatures themselves may be the highlight though. Their original
design along with the way they tend to slink around in the shadows is
both incredibly cool and really unnerving at the same time. They're big
enough to be described as gorillas, are black, and hair seems to cover
their entire body. They have no eyes, have glow in the dark teeth, and
also crawl on all fours. There's a chase scene near the end of the film
that's shown in slow motion that is really spectacular. Most of me just
wanted to see more of these creatures even though they're featured
significantly in the second half of the film. Attack the Block is
homage to the great horror films from the 80s and is reminiscent of
Gremlins while offering the atmosphere of the really fantastic John
Carpenter films. Critters also comes to mind, but Night of the Creeps
was the first thing I thought of when they started falling from the sky
except Attack the Block is an all around better film.
Attack the Block is a unique vision of terror that is laugh-out-loud
funny at times, terrifying at others, and massively engaging in
between. The film wears its influences on its sleeve, but combines them
with a simple but flawlessly executed story and hilariously strong
ensemble cast to result in one of the greatest throwbacks to fun 80s
horror ever along with becoming one of the most entertaining films of
the year.
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