There are two films this summer that feature young teenagers fending off an alien invasion. One was directed by a big Hollywood name with a loyal fan base; the other was made by a first-time filmmaker. One had a budget of $50 million, enough to provide some serious special effects; the other cost just $13 million to make. Against all odds, though, the Brit flick “Attack the Block” is a far more entertaining — and unquestionably more original — movie than the Spielberg homage “Super 8.”
Produced by the team behind “Hot Fuzz” and “Shaun of the Dead,” but filmed by debut director Joe Cornish, “Attack the Block” is outrageous fun. The sci-fi action comedy begins with a mugging, as nurse Sam (Jodie Whittaker) is jumped by a gang of hoodlums near her apartment in London. She gets away unscathed when the teens are distracted by something landing on a nearby car.
| On screen |
| ‘Attack the Block’ |
| 4.5 out of 5 stars |
| Stars: John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Nick Frost, Luke Treadaway |
| Director: Joe Cornish |
| Rated: R for creature violence, drug content, and pervasive language |
| Running time: 88 minutes |
Moses (John Boyega), the gang’s leader, takes the opportunity to check the vehicle for valuables, but that’s not what he finds. Instead, some sort of creature scratches his face and scampers off. Moses won’t stand for such disrespect, so he follows it into a shed and kills it. Dragging away the body and examining it in the light, he realizes what he’s slaughtered isn’t from Earth. The gang thinks it could be worth something, so they take it to the safest place they know: Ron’s weed room. Ron (a typically quietly hilarious Nick Frost) is a drug dealer who works for the nasty Hi-Hatz (Jumayn Hunter). But the boys need to worry about more than someone nicking their kill: This won’t be the only creature to fall out of the sky that night, and the rest seem intent on avenging their kinsman’s death.
They all give voice to a certain comical common sense, made funnier on these shores because of the strangeness of hearing young hoodlums with English accents. They’re muggers, sure, but there’s something appealing about them anyway. And that sympathy increases when they again run into Sam and both sides realize that staying together is their best chance of staying alive.
Not all of them do. This isn’t “Super 8,” whose sentimentality wouldn’t allow major characters to bite the dust. But “Attack” isn’t really any darker. The wall-to-wall laughs won’t allow that. “Attack the Block” is one of the funniest films of the year, an even bigger achievement when you realize that almost all the young actors in it are making their feature debuts. They’re all spot-on, even those who play Probs and Mayhem, young preteens who want to be part of the gang and bring a Super Soaker to help battle the aliens.
“Attack the Block,” though a wildly funny film filled with foul language, manages to be deeper than its summer predecessor, too. No one needs to say much about class or race for it to infuse the film with another level of tension. Director Cornish, in his first try, has mastered a subtlety that’s eluded “Super 8” director J.J. Abrams.
