Attack the Block

"We should call the police."
"You'd be better off calling the Ghostbusters love."

A group of teens mug Sam (Whitaker) on her way home.  Before they can take all of her stuff, a stray firework strikes a nearby car.  When the gang investigates, their leader, Moses (Boyega), is attacked by a creature that scratches his face.  They kill the creature and decide that it is an alien.  Thinking they could make money with it, they take the creature to the apartment of their drug dealer, Ron (Frost).

They notice more creatures falling from the sky, and decide to kill more.  Armed with whatever they can find: a samurai sword, a baseball bat, etc, they head to the park.  But the new wave of aliens is bigger and stronger than the first, and they are outmatched.   As they run away, Biggz (Howard) is trapped in a recycling bin and Pest (Esmail) gets injured.  The streets aren't safe, so they force Sam to fix Pest's leg.  With the police and gangster Hi-Hatz (Hunter) in pursuit, and the aliens on the streets, can Moses, Pest, Dennis (Drameh), Jerome (Jones), Biggz, and Sam save the block?


I read about this film through Entertainment Weekly.  As a Nick Frost fan, I was excited to see the film and immediately added it to my Netflix queue.  Prior to this film, I had only see Frost in films and TV shows with Simon Pegg.  Despite his prominent billing (and all the film artwork includes him), Frost took a supporting role in the film.  He is great, but only appears in a few scenes.

The guys in the gang are unknown actors.  John Boyega carried the film well and had the strongest character.  The other standout performance was Alex Esmail, who gets the funniest lines.  The other guys in the gang are o.k., but not memorable.

It's funny and intense... there is significant language and violence throughout the film.  But an excellent action comedy film.

Attack the Block (2011) 88 minutes
Rating: R for creature violence, drug content and pervasive language.
Director: Joe Cornish
Starring: Jodie Whitaker as Sam
John Boyega as Moses
Alex Esmail as Pest
Franz Drameh as Dennis
Leeon Jones as Jerome
Simon Howard as Biggz
Luke Treadway as Brewis
Jumayn Hunter as Hi-Hatz
Nick Frost as Ron