Attack the Block 2011 Movie Review

Joe Cornish's directorial debut "Attack the Block" has been reviewed to death, given endless critical praise, and gained a cult following before it even made it out of theaters and onto disc\media devices. It's exciting to say that all of the reviews were right. This film deserves the praise. Joe Cornish is a writing buddy of Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) with whom he co-wrote the upcoming Spielberg film, "The Adventures of Tintin." Needless to say, I expect Joe Cornish will be a household name in the near future. "ATB" is a science fiction coming of age dramedy that follows a gang of teenage criminals forced to take back their block (hood) from a swarm of angry beast like aliens. The film relies more on drama then comedy and contains many unique and intense action set pieces.

"Attack the Block" world premiered in a very small theater at the SXSW film festival 2011. After its premiere it was quickly the most talked about film of the festival. Weeks went by and talk of distribution and a theatrical release of the film seemed to be blowing up the blogosphere. "ATB" quickly became the most sought out film to see for movie fanatics  in the know. Advanced screenings were popping up in all major U.S. cities with a July 29th 2011 theatrical release. Then July 29th came and only if you lived in Los Angeles or New York City would you have the opportunity to see this film. Afterwards it expanded to a few more cities and stopped. It did not attack my block or any blocks within a 10 hour radius of me. The film was given an extremely disappointing number of screens, even for a limited release. Apparently internet buzz doesn't have a direct effect on how the theatrical turn out will be for a low budget film with no well known cast members.

British cinema has been criminally under watched over the past decade. If the film is not a period piece then it rarely receives even a limited theatrical release in the United States.  With that in mind, it's exciting to see the publicity that "ATB" was able to get. If this film can push American audiences toward an appreciation for UK cinema then that is its greatest accomplishment. In the early 2000's  Guy Richie was able to get an International interest with "Snatch" and "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" here's hoping  this can be the beginning of a resurgence.

Everything positive that has been said about "ATB" is true. The characters are interesting, the dialogue is unique, and the aliens look great. This is the film that "Super 8" wanted to be. It's "The Goonies" meets "Boys in the Hood." Find a way to see this movie. It hits DVD/Bluray Oct 18th in the U.S. and is currently available in the U.K.

Rating: 8.9/10