Attack the Block
Metascore
75 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 27
  3. Negative: 1 out of 27
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  1. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Joshua Rothkopf
    Jul 26, 2011
    100
    Starring a tough-minded band of scrappy teens who actually do some solving, it's the movie "Super 8" wanted to be - or should have been.
  2. NPR
    Reviewed by: Ian Buckwalter
    Jul 29, 2011
    90
    Boyega is absolutely riveting, leading with a stern glower, and constantly trying to prove himself. Yet Moses has a deep well of tenderness and honor beneath the façade, and Boyega almost single-handedly makes you care not just about his character, but about everyone in any gang that would align itself with him. He's that magnetic.
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    Jul 28, 2011
    90
    This fabulously inventive debut feature, written and directed by the British comedian Joe Cornish, never flags.
  4. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Mark Holcomb
    Jul 26, 2011
    90
    The smartest, funniest cheap monster-movie import this side of June's "Trollhunter," Attack the Block is a near-perfectly balanced seasonal trifle: Anchored in social realism yet determinedly goofy, it's neither too eager for laughs nor overtly preachy.
  5. Boxoffice Magazine
    Reviewed by: Pam Grady
    Jul 24, 2011
    90
    Cornish's idiomatic dialogue is hilarious and the longtime comic's sense of timing is perfect.
  6. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: John DeFore
    Aug 25, 2011
    88
    In the end, police descend on the block at the very moment their presence becomes irrelevant. They misinterpret everything; locals watch as they blame all the wrong people. Soon their flashing lights will drive away, and the block will go back to taking care of itself the best it can.
  7. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    Jul 28, 2011
    88
    It's hot, fierce, funny, vicious and ready to bite, baby.
  8. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: M. E. Russell
    Sep 8, 2011
    83
    A terrific midnight movie of the future -- a tough, funny, fast-moving and tightly constructed John Carpenter riff in which a bickering group fights a pack of space monsters in and around a single location.
  9. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Nathan Rabin
    Jul 28, 2011
    83
    Attack The Block turns its modest budget into a virtue by focusing on character, especially the surprisingly charged, complicated dynamic between enemies-turned-allies Whittaker and Boyega.
  10. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Keith Staskiewicz
    Jul 27, 2011
    83
    There could be a few more scares and laughs, but it's a blast to be drawn into this urban ecosystem that is, to us Yanks, itself a bit alien.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.2 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 118 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 40
  3. Negative: 2 out of 40
  1. TVJerry
    9
    In this imaginative variation of the classic theme, a South London gang takes on a small-scale alien invasion. These are just teenage punks pitting their moxy and street skills against creatures that are vicious, but surprisingly vulnerable, kind of a dark (literally) versions of a Sendak beast. From the way the thugs talk to the racial/social themes, this film should gather a cult following for its originality. The action scenes are well-staged and the characters develop nicely. Give this a chance and it'll pay off!… Full Review »
  2. Pelletor
    8
    This is raw, funny and not the run-of-the-mill. Subverting a genre is almost a cliche these days - this subverts the genre and manages to do it without making the viewer yawn or sigh. Its good, so try it.… Full Review »
  3. LamontRaymond
    2
    Joe Cornish makes a fundamental blunder with the story that cripples the movie before it really gets going. You don't allow your lead character - your hero - to band together with his young masked male friends, to surround a terrified nurse, and then threaten her with a knife until she surrenders her bag, her ring, etc. TARP (the average reasonable person) probably ancipated a rape. Joe must not have a mother, sisters or female friends he cares a whip about. It's a little tough for the lead character to redeem himself in the eyes of the audience after an opening act like that. Even when the same youngster (Moses) forces himself into the young lady's flat to flee the aliens, he never gives the lady a choice but help his buddy. He later semi-apologizes to her, saying he did it because he didn't know she was "from the block." Yes, he would have robbed her of her dignity with a clear head if she was from the next block. It was interesting that I saw this film a couple of nights after the London riots began because the youngsters from this film looked a lot like the rascals looting and burning the stores around that great city. In this context, and thinking about my own sister and mother, I just couldn't find myself so easy to forgive Moses and his pals for their crimes againt the young nurse. Beyond this fundamental problem, the movie is just not all that funny, and the aliens are not all that scary. Sorry, Joe. Try again.… Full Review »
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