Attack the Block

A nifty and swift alien invasion stoner romp, Attack the Block, takes place in a seedy neighborhood in South London and follows the adventures of a gang of pop cultural aware miscreants who rage war on some nasty extra-terrestrials.  Directed by Joe Cornish, making a stylish debut, and backed by nerdy Brit royalty Edgar Wright, Attack the Block appears anxiously awaiting it's eager cult status.  It helps that the writing is sharp, the violence is cartoonish, but also a lot of fun, and for the more observant viewer, there's even perhaps a hidden social commentary that feels ripe and right on target.  But who are we kidding-- in a film about bad boy youths claiming ownership of their neighborhood, only to be threatened by some nasty outer space creatures, what's expected is some zesty and fun alien ass-whopping, and in that respect, Attack the Block certainly doesn't disappoint.  The creatures themselves, made on the cheap, are big black bear looking monsters with neon razor sharp teeth, and while incredibly, also pretty terrifying.  Rhyme or reason matters little, though some exposition is given for filler-- the carnage is giddy fun.

After a coincidental and petty mugging on a new member of the block-- a pretty and tart nurse named Sam (Jodie Whittaker), a gang of teenage hoods headed by street smart hood named Moses (John Boyega) must battle the cops, a even badder drug dealer, and mysterious space dogs that start plopping down from the sky.  Yet really what matters most is ultimate street cred...and that's the slight, but pliable joke and nudge on real life bad neighborhoods that feel in a startling and strange way, sort of authentic.  Attack the Block is a grade-B schlocker (along with earlier summer monster mash TrollHunter, this is proving a good season for fun indie trash), but it's handily aware of that, and subtle and smart enough to sneakily transcend it's own genre limitations, while still honing in it's silly parodist humor and snarky dialogue.  Come for the bloody inner city youth vs. aliens absurdest violence, stay for clever banter.  B