Attack the Block

Alien invasions at the movies have been painfully pitiful affairs of late. Between last year's moronic Skyline and this year's atrocious Battle: Los Angeles, the whole concept of hostile extraterrestrials has been dead on arrival. But now that aliens have decided to Attack the Block, there's finally a pretty decent invasion on the big screen. Well, decent enough to slightly mask the taste of those aforementioned disasters. The Block of the title is an inner-city London neighbourhood where a ragtag group of wayward youths spend their time talking tough. The Attack of the title begins when a group of aliens drop, rather violently, into the neighbourhood and start wreaking havoc. Thus begins a sort of single night adventure, as the kids decide to wage war against the creatures with whatever weapons they can procure from their bedrooms. It's a fun concept and it's handled with plenty of smarts, but despite all it gets right, I'm still struggling to care about any of it.

So it is a good alien invasion, a unique one and an entertaining one, but it's also a slight one. Attack the Block is over almost before it begins and the quick pace nearly renders the experience ineffective. The sum is the problem here, but thankfully, the parts still have much to offer. Writer and director Joe Cornish brings a worn authenticity to his depiction of the Block and everything about the location feels lived in and grounded. Most of the action takes place in the apartment building where several characters live or on a couple streets within sprinting distance of the apartment and Cornish is able to keep the area fresh and interesting.

He never utilizes the sense of isolation in a particularly claustrophobic manner, though, so the tight setting is never as meaningful as it could be. The setting suggests that a creepy sense of inescapable danger is imminent, but it never materializes on screen. Cornish stages a few sequences that are meant to at least mildly induce fear, but the result is a tepid grasp at terror. There's really nothing to be afraid of here, which is less of a deal breaker and more of a missed opportunity. With such a solidly defined setting, it feels like a waste that the story is unable to capitalize upon the theme of isolation.

With the horror elements achieving only a mild satisfaction, it's up to the comedic aspects of the movie to pull up the slack. The jokes aren't entirely helpful, either, although Cornish does dig up a few good gags. The comedy mostly stems from a wide collection of one-liners, some of which are funny and others of which are obvious and barely able to register a chuckle. Much of it is just silly (when one characters asks what Ron's weed room is, another character responds that it's "a room full of weed and it's Ron's"), but some of the jokes are quite insightful. When one character explains that all of the night's extraterrestrial violence has nothing do with rap music or video games, the script adopts a quick-witted social commentary that's as funny as it is insightful. This is the movie's finest moment and it's this kind of thing that I wanted more of.

The other jokes aren't all horrible or anything like that. They're just simple or obvious or more worthy of a smile than a laugh. Attack the Block is a mildly amusing movie where it strives to be a very funny one. But when it does nail a great joke, it amplifies the enjoyment of the movie and provides a small glimpse of how wonderful the experience almost is. It nearly reaches its goal, but comes up short, just as it does in the horror department, where the ingredients are there, but the final result simply isn't scary. Of course, this is a lot to get right and Cornish succeeds quite admirably in other areas.

The entire cast is very impressive and the majority of what works with the characters can be attributed to the solid performers. I struggled to locate any semblance of an emotional connection to the people onscreen and there is a disconnect there, but the cast is a talented bunch and the lead actors are entirely believable. John Boyega is a standout as Moses, the tough, no-nonsense leader of the inner-city youths. Jodie Whittaker nicely juxtaposes the scrappy intensity of the kids with her gentle exterior, which quickly gives way to an equally scrappy strength that the kids don't see coming. The other roles are smaller and more predicated on minor chuckles, but the kids still impress all the way through.

This all adds up to another element that works quite well, but fails to fully satisfy. It's no great fault of the actors, since they give it everything they've got, but the marriage of brains and heart proves to be an insurmountable obstacle for Cornish. Attack the Block is quite smart, but the emotional experience is hollow. When it came time to cheer on the kids for the big finale, it was pleasant enough to do so without feeling forced, but my level of emotional investment was on the ground floor.

Despite all this mopey negativity I'm hurling at the movie, Cornish does exhibit a great ability to seamlessly establish multiple elements related to characters and objects and then employ those elements at unexpected times throughout the narrative. Attack the Block is at its best when it manages to surprise in the midst of the mayhem. Cornish focuses on small details in certain places and then uses the disappearance and reappearance of various characters to shake up the conflict and prevent the plot from going stale. It should also be noted that the creature design for the aliens is quite inspired. Jet black fur is met with glow-in-the-dark teeth and the result is far more intriguing than it sounds.

So it's great to see a big-screen alien invasion that doesn't completely stink. I have plenty of reservations with this one, too, but every complaint is mixed with a compliment. The biggest problem is that Cornish's movie never grabbed me and shook me into actually caring about what was happening. I was entertained, but I left feeling empty and unsatisfied. When Attack the Block works, though, it works very well and Cornish flashes a lot of creative ability for a first-time filmmaker. Following a pair of stinkers, extraterrestrials finally invade our planet with a bit of class and certainly better results. I liked much of what they had to offer this time around, but I remain surprised that the main victim of this invasion turns out to be my enthusiasm.