Review: Attack The Block

Alright, so I may be a couple of weeks behind with the review but better late than never right?! Joe Cornish's genre-crossing "Attack The Block" takes the 'urban youth' slant to a new direction.  Whilst the trailer portrays the film in a humorous light, the director envisages his production differently.  In a recent interview with Empire magazine, Cornish suggests "...The film's a dark comedy, but scary and suspenseful first and foremost.  The laughs come as a release". 

Without ruining the story too much, the film revolves around five teenagers who midway through an attempted mugging are interrupted by an 'alien' crash landing next to them.  Their reaction, naturally, is to kick the sh*t out of it and parade the corpse back through their estate. When more of these creatures begin to arrive, their bravado quickly gets the better of them and they end up holed up in 'the block', trying desperately to fend off the "gorilla looking, wolf motherf***ers".

For the first few minutes of the film, the almost cringey dialogue of the main characters, ('blood' & 'fam' concluding most sentences), make for uncomfortable viewing but this is gradually phased out and as the suspenseful narrative of the film takes over and the blend of action, sci-fi horror and genuinely funny asides from the young lads ("That looks like a dog!", "Well you go outside and try feeding it some Pedigree Chum!") work brilliantly together.  Perhaps it's just my Film & Media background but to me, Cornish's film also carries a pretty deep underlying message that revolves around the apparent leader 'Moses' and his coming to terms with his lifestyle and the effect his actions carry.

Since the surprise success of Kidulthood, the last few years have seen several attempts to break into the British urban youth culture genre.  The likes of "Shank", "4,3,2,1" & "Anuvahood" have personally all been disappointments but "Attack The Block" has bucked that trend.  The clever writing, comedic values and the sci-fi twist on the stereotypically gritty and grimy perception of inner-city youth culture really adds to this production; both as a film and a message carrier.

"Attack The Block" is out now and probably nearing the end of it's run in cinemas so make sure you go and check it to avoid the wait for the DVD!