11.14.2011

Review: Attack The Block


2010
Directed by:
Joe Cornish
Category: Sci-fi

I'd been wanting to see this one ever since word of mouth had spilled out from all the film festivals here in the states back in 2010. Pretty much all hailing it as brilliant, hilarious and creatively written and directed by one Joe Cornish. From an artistic angle, this film is visually brilliant, inventive and completely badass. This one reminded me a lot of a modern take on films like The Monster Squad and The Goonies. Only here, these kids are not cute or nice. In fact, they're thugs who rob innocent people at knife point and use pretty much every single bad work in the dictionary. So they are not likable in the least. But I think that's what makes it so brilliant. You don't like them yet by the end of the film you're rooting for them.

I admire how writer/director Joe Cornish kept the camera work steady and didn't go for the latest lazy trend of shaky cam and quick edits. The pacing of this thing is also to be admired. The shit hits the fan right in the beginning and it's pretty much non-stop action, comedy, horror all wrapped together by an alien invasion premises with a whole lot of chase sequences, blood and gore. His use of practical and digital effects are extremely impressive and it was nice to see him use it minimally. Most of the time, it's what you "don't" see that scares the shit out of you.

But anyway, I just wanted to give you some quick thoughts on this amazing gem before I direct you over to my buddy Martin's review of this back in September over at his awesome review site A Hero Never Dies. I thought he did a brilliant and spot on review of this film and I couldn't have said it any better myself. His take pretty much mirrors my own in every sense. A brilliant film with an impressive young ensemble cast and an extremely talented writer/director. One thing's for sure, it's completely deserving of all the positive praise it's received. 

3 comments:

  1. Loved the monsters, a fun ride....

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  2. It was a blast man. :) I loved it.

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  3. Thanks rG, you're making me blush! I missed this post somehow, glad you liked the movie and I really appreciate the link and kind words. The film will definitely be on my top ten of the year, easily one of the most purely enjoyable movies for a long time.

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