Attack the Block The alien invasion genre has been hit particularly
hard of late with the likes of Cloverfield, District 13, Battle: Los
Angeles and Aliens vs Cowboys, each one more mediocre than the last and
culminating in the downright awful Skyline. So kudos to director, Joe
Cornish, for at least trying something a little different. But although
it's a brave move, attempting to make heroes out of a bunch of teenage
delinquent homies with a penchant for mugging defenceless women is a
tough call and Cornish doesn't quite succeed despite valiant attempts at
redemption at the end for the hoodlums. Personally, I'd prefer to see
our heroes die. It didn't help that I could barely understand half of
what these young fellows were saying (I think it's supposed to be funny)
but I guess that's just me getting old. That the film is a comedy would
seem to be supported by the inclusion of Nick Frost in the cast.
What the film does have in spades, however, is some fangtastic creature design. These are some of the coolest monsters in recent memory - jet black furry amorphous shapes imbued with a whopping set of luminescent fangs from which erupts a hellish screech. The creature design capitalises on traditional monster movie methods, maximising the imagination of the viewer by keeping visual details of the monster to a minimum. That Cornish can maintain this principle while keeping the creature in clear view much of the time is quite a master stroke.
All up Attack the Block is a middle of the road, moderately enjoyable monster movie which has much to recommend it in principle but it is let down a little in practice. It's definitely worth a look if you're a fan of monster movies or a homie. Otherwise, it's a somewhat enjoyable time-waster (with blood and teeth).
CURRENT COMPETITIONS! Get the Gringo Competition
Thanks to Icon Movies, we have ten in-season double passes to give away to Get the Gringo! Read more >> The Women in Black
Administering the sale of a deceased estate for a law firm, widower
Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) discovers a town where the children are
dropping like flies seemingly at the ghostly hands of a local vengeful
spirit - the woman of the title. Read more >>
Safe Is it safe yet? After a mixed season last year of too many films that
had a social agenda, is it safe now to go back to the cinema for nothing
more than just a good time?
Read more >>
The Avengers After years on the outer, never quite making the big time, Buffyverse
creator and Toy Story scribe, Joss Whedon, has finally arrived.
Read more >>
Mirror Mirror Funny how time and again movies with similar themes or stories seem to
hit the cinema around the same time, think Deep Impact/Armageddon or
even Naked Lunch/Barton Fink, and it's happening again this year with
(of all things) Snow White.
Read more >>
American Pie: Reunion vs. Battleship In a titanic struggle to capture the hearts, minds and disposable
incomes of an ever-younger audience, two films line up to do battle for
the crown in the great popcorn war of 2012.
Read more >>
21 Jump Street Transforming a popular TV show into a mainstream movie is very seldom a successful endeavour.
Read more >>
John Carter The votes are in and the result is clear: Andrew Stanton is the dud director of Pixar.
Read more >>
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel There is a common complaint among older moviegoers that the majority of
releases today are tailored to a specific demographic and their group
gets short shift.
Read more >>
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close As a clear sufferer of Asperger Syndrome, Oskar (Thomas Horn) is not short of an anxiety or two or a measure of compulsiveness. Read more >>
Contraband Contraband is a continuing response to the question of where does a
superstar film career go when the matinee idol good looks start to fade?
Read more >>