Attack the Block

19 November 2018

Attack the Block 2011

• Director: John Cornish
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Leon Jones, Franz Drameh, Simon Howard, Danielle Vitalis, Page Meade, Sammy Williams, Michael Ajao, Luke Treadaway, Nick Frost
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jodie Whittaker – Doctor Who, Broadchurch, Adult Life Skills, Good Vibrations, The Kid, Kick Ass Girls 2 St Trinian’s
• John Boyega – Star Wars the Last Jedi
• Franz Drameh – River, Edge of Tomorrow
• Luke Treadaway – Fortitude, The Hollow Crown, Cheerful Weather for the Wedding
• Nick Frost – Huntsman Winter’s War, Doctor Who, The World’s End, The Boat That Rocked, Hot Fuzz, Kinky Boots, Shaun of the Dead
• Why? Jodie Whittaker
• Seen: 18 November 2018      

       On her way home from the evening shift as a nurse, Sam (Whittaker) is mugged by a gang of young hoodlums from the Block, i.e. London’s Wyndham Tower. She escapes when a creature from outer space comes crashing down. She runs, the hoodlums chase the creature and kill it. They bring it to the Block’s drug dealer and imagine becoming rich and famous with it. More aliens land. Led by Moses (Boyega) these kids on bikes with a variety of weapons, parents and grandparents who haven’t a clue what they’re up to, and a couple of ten-year-old wannabees in tow, go out to kill the aliens. Moses is arrested and identified by Sam but the aliens kill the cops and Moses and Sam are trapped in the same police van.

       From there it gets….well, buckle up, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride. Just another alien vs the kids and a local nurse in the Block night.

       It’s funny, exciting, scary, and – monster alien killer dog/gorilla things notwithstanding – realistic. With a dash of serious class, gender and ethnicity analysis.

       A social realism political alien monster movie with Jodie Whittaker as one of the heroes, what more could one ask?

4 ½* of 5