Monday, September 03, 2012

Attack the Block (2011) dir Joe Cornish

Finally got around to seeing this yesterday with a buddy of mine.  I had heard a lot of good stuff about it but had avoided reviews and most of the trailers.  Must say that it was worth the wait.

At the base level, it's a British teen gang vs aliens movie.  What could have easily been a shite movie was anything but.  Cornish's big screen directorial debut was quality across the board from the acting to the action to the creature design.  The pacing is tight and Cornish manages to maintain the tension even through "down" moments.  There's a great deal of humor throughout the movie as well and though I normally am not a huge fan of horror/comedies, I felt it worked nicely.  The development of empathy for teenagers (who at first I didn't really like at all) wasn't overwrought.

What set Attack the Block apart from some of the American gangbangers vs monsters/aliens/vampires movies I've tried to watch was simply the high quality of Attack.  It wasn't amateurish and I'm not sure if I would even put it in the B-Movie category (though I wouldn't put it on the level of some of Kubrick's better films).  An unexpectedly pleasant surprise that I'd recommend to action/horror fans.  It does have a R rating for some solid gore (one effect was particularly hardcore) so if you're expecting something Goonies-esque or a family movie you've been warned.

Oh, and the soundtrack was an awesome blend of classic reggae, OG rap, and a couple of tracks I didn't recognized but liked.

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