Up-and-coming writer-director Joe Cornish is making his way up the movie ladder with his alternative take on the well-trod alien-invasion genre. Later this year, his joint writing efforts with fellow Brit Edgar Wright (2007's "Hot Fuzz" and an executive producer on "Block") will be released in the form of "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn."
"Attack the Block" is Cornish's first outing as a feature-film director, having previously written and directed for TV and radio — most notably as one-half of the presenting team on "The Adam and Joe Show." And what a confident and ambitious debut this is — not to be compared to, or even put on the same shelf, as Wright's "Shaun of the Dead."
The films employs the basic premise of humans versus aliens. Its focus is directed to a niche group of people experiencing the beginnings of an invasion, then putting together and executing a fight against the invaders. What makes this movie stand out from the rest is the setting — a council estate in very rough inner-city South London — and the cast, a band of evil little 15-year-old hoodies/chavs with foul language and a tendency toward petty crime.
Out on a routine mugging, the group of lads witnesses a fireball fall from the sky and crash onto a nearby parked car. They kill the alien that was inside the meteor and bring it back to their tower block as unlikely heroes. Tagging along with them is the nurse they were mugging, played by Jodie Whittaker (2007's "St. Trinian's"). This brings down more invaders, and the rampant youths form a plan and band together to fight back.
"Block" has a fun vibe throughout, with great performances from the young cast, all first timers in feature film. In particular, John Boyega stands out as lead hoodie Moses. The tight relationships between the characters gives an air of honesty to the film, and Moses’ growth through fighting the aliens is a welcome contrast to the surprising amount of violent ends some of the cast meets. Brit staple Nick Frost also makes an appearance as pot dealer Ron.
Cornish has employed some quality special effects when it comes down to the killings and alien viewings. He’s pulled out all the stops in creating some hard-hitting fight scenes of bloody mayhem, complete with blowing up aliens using fireworks. The aliens are nothing like anything else seen in this genre — sharp-toothed creatures that look like the ferocious love child of a wolf and a gorilla.
A big feature of this teen sci-fi invasion movie is the characters' authentic accents. This is not to be confused with the Cockney accent — this is South London, innit. Think rapper Dizzee Rascal, not actor Michael Caine, and you’ll be a lot closer to a new form of “language” invading the streets of the capital. Distributor Screen Gems is so concerned with the strong, almost unintelligible form of English, that they are considering adding subtitles to the film before its general release in the United States. In case they leave them out, here is a quick guide to South London speak:
Axe - instead of ask
Creps - trainers
Endz - area, neighborhood
Low batties - trousers that hang low on the waist
Skets - derogatory term for loose girls
Sick - good
Chat - talk back
Nuff - really, very
Blud/bruv - brother
Tooled up - to be prepared with weapons
Innit? - sentence closer, seeking agreement
4 yaps