It’s looking like this year will be remembered as the year of the alien invasion movies. So far we’ve had Battle: Los Angeles, Transformers 3, Super 8, Cowboys and Aliens, and more. However, the best alien invasion movie so far this year is one most people might not have even heard of yet.
Attack the Block is an independent science fiction film from London, produced by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), and directed by newcomer Joe Cornish. The film is about a group of South London hoodlums in an apartment complex called “the Block” who have to fight off an alien invasion. It’s not a particularly new plot, but it’s the way that it’s handled that makes it unique.
Unlike most adventure films of this sort, the audience is not meant to like the kids from the beginning. Pest, Dennis, Jerome, Biggz and their leader Moses are not the typical heroes you’re used to. The first scene of the movie involves the group of wannabe-gangsters mugging a helpless woman as she walks home from work. The characters are unlikeable at the start, but when the first alien crashes to earth and the kids go after it, you begin to understand their personalities and motives a bit more.
The aliens themselves are much different that your average alien invasion film. The characters in the movie describe them as “giant, black ape-wolf looking things” which is a fairly accurate portrait of what they look like. The monsters are ape-like black blobs with no eyes and fluorescent glowing blue teeth. Other than the teeth, they’re almost impossible to see at night, which adds to the suspense quite a bit.
Basement Jaxx- The Ends
Basement Jaxx – “The Ends” from “Attack The Block” by Basement Jaxx
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