DVD Gem - Attack the Block

After watching this little cracker of a movie the other day, I really wished that we had gone to see it on the Opening Night of the Brisbane International Film Festival.  It is such a good movie that would be so fun to see with a group of people who could cheer and fist pump along with you.  This is going into my "DVD Gems" category because it is a fantastic movie but one that people might not have heard.  Do yourself a favour and hire it out!

Here are some reasons that I guess you might not have heard of or watched this movie:

Attack the Block is the first movie written and directed by Joe Cornish, an associate of the Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg/Nick Frost trio (Shaun of the Dead guys).  His only previous fame came from co-writing the screenplay for Tintin with Edgar Wright and Steven Moffat.  The cast are largely young, unknown or first time actors.  The budget was only $13 million (Battleship had a budget of $200 million).  It lasted only 2 weeks in our cinemas, if that.  You might have heard people saying that it is hard to understand what the actors are saying between their thick South London accents and street slang.

Here are some reasons you should see this movie:

1) It's really fun.  The movie is set over one night where an alien invasion is overlooked by the authorities due to coinciding with a giant fireworks display, so it's up to a gang of thug teens of about 15 years of age to defend their council estate (The Block) from the nasties.  The 5 boys are quick to twig to the alien threat, retreat to the Block, arm themselves and fight back.  It's like a darker Gremlins or Goonies.

2) The aliens are a point of difference to other alien movies.  The aliens that have been created for this movie look like nothing else you've seen, are super cool, and aren't here for earth domination.   They can also kill or be killed quite easily.  They are really threatening and scary, great effects for such a small budget.  There is some gore and violence.

3) It's bold.  The movie opens with the five teens menacing and mugging a female nurse who is innocently walking home.  Arming themselves to fight aliens is pretty simple when they already have knives, baseball bats etc. in their personal aresenal.  These are the guys we're supposed to cheer for against the baddies in the rest of the movie?  Well, yes, but for a first time writer/director he is very clever at not making these boys sypathetic and doesn't actually ask you to care about them even while you do want them to overcome the alien invasion.  As the nurse who is forced to team up with the kids who mugged her only a few hours earlier if she is to survive, Jodie Whittaker walks a very good line between reminding them they're not heroes and understanding them.

4) It's funny.  There are a lot of funny moments between the boys and some allies they pick up along the way, including unfortunate drug purchaser Brewis who's always in the wrong place at the wrong time, head drug dealer of the Block Hi-Hatz and his employee Ron (Nick Frost).   Little fellas Mayhem and Probs also provide a fair bit of the comic relief as they try to tag along with the older boys.  The accents are far from the worst that have been put on screen (I've still not seen Snatch in full - can't understand a word they're saying?) and they are smart by using the street slang repeatedly so that even if you don't know what a word means the first time, it gains context until you understand it.

5) It's kinetic.  The film has an appropriately beats heavy soundtrack that accompanies the action which just keeps pumping along.  There are only a few moments to draw a breath as they try to figure out how to overcome an ever growing horde of dark black creatures.

I hope I've convinced you that this is a real DVD gem.  We really enjoyed it and look forward to more from this talented Brit.