Film Review: Attack The Block [dir. Joe Cornish; 2011]

As far as multiplex-friendly, 90-minute long, 80s-inspired alien invasion movies go, Attack The Block does a decent job of ticking all the right boxes: it pushes its plot along at breakneck speed, it sports an excellent electronic score and it features endearingly minimal special effects. It also goes above and beyond the call of genre duty in its decision to set the action on a south London housing estate (an inspired choice) and to feature a gang of hoodie-wearing, mobile-phone-stealing yoofs as its main characters. But the very aspect that makes Cornish's directorial debut so original and endearing (ie the verbal spats between the youngsters and the adults they encounter as they try to rid the country of monsters) constantly has to make way for the demands of the story, which is a shame, because a bit more talking and a touch less action might have made the film much more memorable.