Storyline / Description: A teenage gang in London protects their streets from an alien encounter.

Synopsis: From the makers of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, Attack the Block tells the story of a gang of punk-ish inner-city kids who do their best to defend their block against the coming of savage aliens, making a South London apartment area into an alien warzone.

Running Time: 88 minutes   

Distributor: Screen Gems

Directed By: Joe Cornish

Cast:  John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker and Alex Esmail


Review:

When extraterrestrials come by on a London public housing, the only defense versus the aliens is a pack of adolescent hoodlums in Joe Cornish’s derived sci-fi film, Attack the Block. Cornish makes a large swash this fall as among the writers on The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, by Steven Spielberg but he builds his own filmmaking bona fides with his impressive first appearance. A hit at the U.S., Attack the Block may come out as one of the summertime sleepers. It’s not because that Edgar Wright is the executive producer, Nick Frost is part of the movie’s cast and it is no chance alone that Cornish had minor roles in Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. Fans of these movies will take over onto this comedy and box office success is promising, especially after news takes hold.

It’s War of the Worlds meets Harry Brown, or to a lesser extent claustrophobic Attack on Precinct 13 aliens popping everywhere instead of criminals. For teen leader Moses (John Boyega) and his buddies, extraterrestrials are barely one more condemnation in an already strain night replete with bumps with the police and on Hi-Hatz (Jumayn Hunt), the violent hoodlum who takes the block as his fiefdom. But it is the boys’ neighborhood, too, even if it’s a block the rest of London deflects and where residents lock away themselves inside after darkness (granted, because the crew will jump them). Nevertheless, these kids will defend their turf.