Outer space invades the inner city in “Attack the Block,” an action horror comedy from Great Britain. For fans of “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz,” this recycling of other movies (i.e. “Super 8”) although low budget, offers viewers an imaginative combo of science fiction and comic happenings. At first, South London ghetto residents of an apartment complex encounter the enemy as a street gang led by fifteen-year-old Moses (John Boyega) who is mugging a young woman, Samantha Adams (Jodie Whittaker). Then, an otherworldly thing looking like a furry ball with gleaming fangs attacks and the gang kills it. When other flying, crawling, hairy balls of fury follow, the roughnecks have some good intentions in their souls. It’s up to the nondescript rambunctious toughs, now assisted by the mugging victim, to save Earth from an extraterrestrial invasion.
Although I was disappointed with corny and slipshod special effects, the feature is basically effective. Brit comic-writer Joe Cornish, in his filmmaking debut, directs and keeps an audience entertained with a cast whose “street language” diction is often difficult to comprehend. But, it’s easy to understand what is happening.
image source: Orlando Sentinel
