Attack the Block (15)

When a small alien crash lands onto a parked car on a South London estate a group of teenage gangstas, fresh from mugging a young local nurse, take it upon themselves to give it a good kicking then display the trophy around the neighbourhood. Unfortunately the somewhat larger aliens that follow don't take too kindly to this, and rapidly turn the estate into an extraterrestrial pitched battle that forces the bad guys to consider which side they're on.

Attack the Block is the first feature length directorial outing for writer Joe Cornish (of Adam and Joe fame), ably assisted by Nira Park (Scott Pilgrim, Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, Paul) and James Wilson (Shaun of the Dead, The Lovely Bones) on production duties. If you're noticing a connection there you're not mistaken - Cornish played a Zombie in Shaun of the Dead and contributed towards a short on the DVD, Nick Frost (who plays drug dealer Ron) starred in it, and Edgar Wright (Shaun's director and writer) gets an executive nod in the credits.

Much like Shaun of the Dead, Attack the Block is a low budget British comedy horror based around the theme of redemption, although in this case it's in the eyes of society and the law rather than personal relationships. Apart from a tight and sometimes claustrophobic camera style though that's almost all the films have in common.

Our main characters are introduced by showing them committing an armed mugging on a street in their estate. From that moment the audience is set against them, and street level thuggery is a hard position from which to climb back. They're entirely comfortable with their actions, bragging to each other and complaining that they shouldn't have robbed a nurse because they never have any money. When the alien invasion that forms the core of the film started to kick off, frankly I wanted to see a few of them eaten.

The bravado goes on for far too long, showing the younger children on the estate growing up to glorify and imitate their example. When fate throws them back together with their victim at the point tradition dictates they should all have a group hug and face their foe together, they're still dismissive and unrepentant. Any potential teamwork dynamic is broken, and attempts to salvage it become less realistic despite a few clumsy 'this is why you should really feel sorry for them' moments. Deep social commentary it is not, and you know by then that nothing will happen to allow you to forgive and forget.

The problem is then that we have a film that starts on a low, develops one-dimensionally, paces the development of the main theme completely wrong and arrives at an abrupt 'deus ex machina' ending with nothing resolved and little satisfaction to be had. It almost seems a waste to throw Nick Frost into the mix in a role he could absolutely nail, but then barely give him any space to develop it.

Park and Wilson do a good job of pulling the threads together into a sharp, punchy presentation that makes the most of the urban environment, shooting all the outdoor scenes at night to add an extra edge to the monsters. The mostly unknown young cast acquit themselves well despite having unlovable roles to play, but I can't escape the feeling the Cornish may be best at writing characters for 2 minute TV skits where emotional development isn't an issue.

The biggest tragedy about Attack the Block may simply be that its greatest fans will love it because they respect and align themselves with the main characters, completely missing the themes of redemption and atonement. In all honesty I wouldn't blame them if that happened.