Attack the Block (2011)
Chosen by me because I like going to the cinema a lot and I'm a massive fan of Joe Cornish.
Attack the Block is a very strong debut film from one half of the terrific double act Adam and Joe (the only radio show I ever listen to) with one fairly major flaw that it mostly gets around.
The film is very clever, though not as funny as I would have liked (it doesn't reach the gag levels of Shaun of the Dead say) but asks you to buy into the redemption story of a bunch of kids who mug a nurse.
I'm very into the idea of 'Chavs' as heroes. Doctor Who in it's very successful relaunch played into this a little. In the first season of Misfits the most stereotypically 'chav' character of all of them is the only one who is not always guided by selfish desires.
There's an idea here that these inner city youths are much better equipped for an Alien invasion than, say, I would be. A lifetime of being crapped on means they won't meekly accept what is happening or wait for the police to sort it out (this of course brings it's own problems the film is smart enough to point out).
That said it expects us to cheer on the main character who only 90 mins earlier was threatening a young woman. It does a good job of explaining where he is coming from, but not excusing.
The aliens are slightly detailed but fun, it cheats a little for the 'heros' redemptive moment (suddenly the aliens become much slower and useless than we had seen) but has a neat little gag which inverts the Zombie (or maybe Invasion of the Bodysnatchers?) cliche and has being a normal human working for stealthing past the creatures.
I look very forward to what Cornish may have up next (beyond scripting on Tintin and Ant-Man) on the basis of this strong, smart fun movie.
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