by Stefan Abrutat
We seem to be in the grip of a spate of alien invasion movies. With last week’s release of Cowboys and Aliens, and the recent Super 8, Battle: Los Angeles, Monsters, District 9, Skyline, Paul and Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon, this subgenre of science fiction is exploding. Every few months a new breed of aggressive multi-mandibled beasties plunge through our stratosphere to begin kidnapping, or eating, or breeding with, or experimenting on (or all four) any earthlings in their path.
Attack the Block is made by the same people that gave us Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, which means I expected a good ride and some hearty laughs, and I wasn’t disappointed. The plot involves a gang of teenage muggers who take up arms to defend their rundown London housing project during an alien invasion. The aliens, in this case, are black splotches of fur with double rows of giant, luminous teeth, that arrive individually in personal meteors. It’s Guy Fawkes’ Night in Britain, when the country explodes in firework displays to celebrate the foiling of a 17th century plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament. It’s these displays that camouflage the arrival of the aliens and the leftover fireworks supply our protagonists with some convenient firepower.
Rating: R. Running Time: 1 hr 27 minutes.