Attack the Block

"Bland social commentary but pretty good alien invasion action. "

"I thought it was great!! "

"i've been a bit lazy lately with watching movies; all i want to do is revisit old favorites. and this one is one of my favorite films ever. it's also my favorite black horror film. jordan peele's horror entries comes in at a close second (how on earth is anyone supposed to choose between jordan peele films? they're all amazing), but i haven't had the time to REALLY fall in love with those, and i love attack the block SO MUCH that it'd be really difficult for any film to catch up. recently rewatching it only solidifies that feeling. lots of spoilers ahead. attack the block has such complex characters, really slick effects, and a great sense of humor. i find it reprehensible that this movie wasn't more of a success at the box office. at the time i remember many (white) brits complaining that the characters were so objectionable as protagonists (they do start the movie off as what could too-easily be labelled as degenerate) that the whole movie was ruined for them; they couldn't root for their victories or care about them being in danger. to which i say: ********. you're telling me these characters are less than ebenezer scrooge, who regularly evicted destitute tenants and supported legislation that penalized poverty? less than the characters of snatched? less than the characters of TRAINSPOTTING? let's be real, the (white) british audience saw some kids, mostly black, mug a white woman and decided they all deserved to die. and the text of this film couldn't be further from that conclusion. the white woman in question has class and racial privilege the kids in question don't have. by the end of the film she comes to the correct conclusion, that penalizing these kids will do them no favors in their adult life, and they are more than their gang status. she uses her white privilege to advocate for them. the film ends before we see if that does any good, but i'm very much looking forward to the sequel. as for john boyega? chef's kiss. it's like listening to ravel's bolero, as he slowly drops the emotional armor and displays more emotions. he's the straight man to his often goofy friends. he's intelligent, brave, and a great leader, even if his ideas aren't always good or moral. this time around, watching him fail at his romantic attempts was endearing (she's disgusted by a rotting alien corpse he brought to impress her, and she's even less impressed to hear about his involvement in a mugging). he protects his friends and in turn they protect him. moses gives the block real texture and stakes in a way that sam and brewis do not. the former can always move out; the latter is something of a class tourist. moses has to uneasily navigate his turf between a dangerous coke dealer and the police, all while being a black teenager with no safety net. and its also a sci-fi genre movie? this film is incredible. check your biases at the door and give this movie a chance. it deserves it."

"??? where did my review go?? EDIT: that's so weird. not on the actual film page, but i can see it here in the comments below. likewise why you do this 😒"

"Incredible!! A masterpiece in sci-fo adventure filmmaking."

"Just a fun movie to watch, glad I checked it out!"

"One of my top 10 favorite movies of all time. So well done. John Boyega's first big role. He nailed that **** lol! I knew he would be a star after this!! Watch it please if you've never seen it!!!"

"Admittedly a bit goofy but super entertaining. Like gremlins meets alien + it takes place in London so the accents are fun. "

"Good sci-fi flick! Not my favorite, but not bad."

"My childhood. All I need is the aliens"