BOX OFFICE REVIEW: Attack the Block

[JessHorsley]

Writer-director Joe Cornish's action-comedy kicks alien arse...

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If you're a fan of British comedies Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead, you'll no doubt instantly become a fan of Attack the Block. Written and directed by comedian Joe Cornish, Attack the Block delivers a hilarious look at what happens when aliens accidentally - and unfortunately - invade a South London burrow filled with angry youth armed with baseball bats, knives, fireworks, Super Soakers, and foul mouths.

Filled with interesting characters whose interaction and conversation is both witty and poignant (and filled with dry humor British comedies are known for), Attack the Block takes the stereotypical alien movie and turns it on its head. First, the main characters aren't good guys. In fact, they're not really guys at all; they're boys, the oldest only 16. Second, they're bad from the very beginning, mugging a woman at knife-point in the first five minutes of the film and setting the stage for how we as viewers will not only relate to them, but how we'll feel for them as well.

While we want to hate these five teenage hoods - Moses (John Boyega), Pest (Alex Esmail), Dennis (Franz Drameh), Jerome (Leeon Jones), and Biggz (Simon Howard) - we quickly realize they're the only thing keeping the world safe from an invasion of violent, sex-starved aliens, one starts to feel for them.

In fact, we not only become attached to the five boys thanks to their humor and attitude, but because they're charming in a way that makes you both smile and grimace all at once. And while the dialogue is heavy on the British accents (making it sometimes hard to understand what's being said), the film at its worst is funny and, at its best, down right pee your pants hilarious. Like the previously mentioned Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, there are one-liners galore in Attack the Block that'll have fans of the film quoting it for months (and maybe years!) to come.

Destined to be a cult classic, Attack the Block is one action comedy no movie-lover should miss. Rated R for creature violence, drug content and pervasive language, Attack the Block is showing in a theater near you now.

- Jess C. Horsley

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