Attack the Block

Rating: 5/5

The best alien films of recent years have all had aliens that look unique and put the action in a new and interesting place. District 9 had prawns as refugees in South Africa, Battle LA had trained soldiers on the streets of Los Angeles, and Attack the Block has big dog-lookin' things in the London ghetto. Boy howdy does this movie kick ass. Seriously, Attack the Block will be in my top 3 movies of 2011.

On a usual night of hanging out and mugging tourists, young rapscallions Moses (John Boyega), Pest (Alex Esmail), Jerome (Leeon Jones), Dennis (Franz Drameh), and Biggz (Howard Simon) encounter and kill a small alien creature. After going to Ron's (Nick Frost) house to celebrate their kill via getting massively high, the boys see other aliens land and set out on the hunt. But these new aliens are bigger, meaner, and much tougher, and start to wreak havoc. Now the unlikely heroes and a nurse (Jodie Whittaker) who lives in their apartment building (or block), have to save the world. Or at least south London.

When one walks into a movie like Attack the Block, one has to worry. I say this because Attack the Block, like Sexy Beast and Snatch, is British, and the accents are crazy. If you don't focus on the issue too much it's easy to know what's going on, but there are some scenes where you really need to train your ears to understand what the actors are saying. Other than that, there's nothing I can complain about at all.

No seriously, this movie is pretty much perfect. It's hilarious, fantastically acted, really well directed, and has action scenes. The characters are all well rounded and memorable, the script is pitch-perfect, and the story has emotional weight and some genuinely sad moments. It's only flaw is the accents thing, but that's easy to get used to if you aren't turned off by it.

Attack the Block is a worthy entry in the growing genre of original foreign alien movies. There really isn't much else for me to mention, except the badass soundtrack by Massive Attack and Basement Jaxx. If Attack the Block was in 3D, I'd see it in IMax with super sound. I cannot wait to buy this movie on Blu-Ray. This movie isn't playing all over the country as far as I know, but if you can find it, definitely go see Attack the Block.