Attack the Block is the alien invasion film – a subgenre that’s been mined and reworked ever since Orson Welles terrified radio audiences with his realistic rendition of War of the Worlds. Mankind sits at the top of the food chain on this planet – which breeds a certain level of comfort. One of the best ways to subvert that feeling requires bringing in an outside predator – one even higher up on the pyramid than we are.
That’s what Cornish has done here – like so many others before him. However, the interesting new wrinkle added to the mix is that best hope for humanity in this particular tale isn’t the government, the military, or the cops – it’s a group of five young thugs who terrorize their London block.
Led by Moses (John Boyega), we first meet our “heroes” as they rob a young woman (Jodie Whittaker) at knife point. In the middle of the attack, a streaking meteor destroys a nearby car – only this isn’t some hunk of space rock plummeting toward Earth – it’s a pod containing a vicious alien life form. Moses and his gang confront it head on – and after emerging victorious, take it to the local drug lord for storage while they figure out how best to turn their find into a life-changing payday. Unfortunately for them, this wasn’t the only creature falling from the sky – and soon their entire block is under siege. Can they stop an alien invasion armed only with cheap ninja swords and fireworks? They’ll give it their best shot.
The most interesting things about Attack the Block are the lead characters themselves. One of the biggest complaints leveled at Cornish’s film since its debut is that it glorifies a group of characters who aren’t particularly likable. I find this complaint fascinating on a number of levels – as if Attack the Block was the first film to ever feature antiheroes, or outright bad people in lead roles. I hate to play the race card, but it’s interesting to me that people love the characters in Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (who are all violent criminals who killed innocent people – including Michael Madsen, who chops off a cop’s ear for his own amusement), but find these young kids so offensive. It seems to have at least some tie to many people’s fear of young men…
And to be fair, Moses and his gang are a little bit scary and aren’t really good kids – but part of the craft of creating compelling fictional characters involves those very characters experiencing a character arc during the course of the story. Cornish succeeds in this regard – Moses and his pals are changed by the end of Attack the Block – and maybe even for the better.
This sort of Goonies in the ‘hood vibe is part of what makes Attack the Block so engaging even when it makes the occasional misstep.
For all of the things Cornish does get right with his characters and the story, no one will ever mistake him for a master of cinematic subtlety. The film features a bit more exposition than I like to see in this kind of feature (the premise is so familiar that we don’t need much in the way of explanation about what’s going on…) and his attempts at social commentary are earnest, but still ham-handed even by genre flick standards. Even important plot details foreshadowed early in the film are done so in such a way that they all but scream they’ll be important later.
This probably shouldn’t really matter much, though – because Attack the Block isn’t the kind of film that should be particularly subtle in the first place. The feature works best when its gang of ne’er do well kids are engaging these pitch black monsters with flourescent teeth (creatures that appear to be a nod to Eric Chahi’s 1991 videogame Out of This World) in battles to the death. There’s a level of inventiveness in the movie’s scenarios that make up for a lot of the minor shortcomings.
The cast helps, too. Boyega is no-nonsense as Moses, a kid who stands at a crossroads in his life even though he doesn’t realize it. The actor provides the emotional center for the film and he pulls it off impressively. He’s all attitude and swagger and London slang, but Boyega gives us glimpses of the character’s depth in the film’s slower moments. He’s not a stupid thug – he’s a kid making less than smart choices in a bad situation, but he’s learning as he goes. The character does arc – even if we’re left wondering what’s next for him as the film closes.
The rest of the cast (including Alex Esmail as Pest and Nick Frost as a local pot dealer) are equally entertaining – but they’re supporting characters and tend to provide more comic relief than actual character development. That’s not a problem – this is a horror film with comedic moments – and the tone is pitch perfect in that regard.
Attack the Block was one of my favorite films – because it takes the kind of siege movies I love and tweaks the formula in slight, but meaningful, ways. It’s not a perfect film – but for a feature by a first time director, it’s really quite impressive.