Had to laugh at SF Chron's Mick LaSalle's moronic review - concluding it's surprising this thing ever got released. Poor Micky couldn't understand the accents. Wonder why it's typically getting rave reviews then. Not normally a fun of this genre, but I loved it. It's clever, funny, keeps u on your toes and a brilliant twist on the "hoody" gangs theme. Super impressive for a first time director!

A movie about aliens invading sounds stupid I know but it's surprisingly awesome, mostly because of the characters are very well done and extremely likable I was honestly sad when some of them died, and the plot is actually well done, and the action is fun, and it also packs some comedy in there, it's made by the people who brought us Shaun of the Dead so if you liked that then you should like this, I highly recommend.… Expand

I feel like people should ignore most of the slightly-negative reviews this film has garnered. People seem to accept that AtB is a tightly made blast of a movie, but get turned away by the characters' petty-criminal beginnings. The film in no way condones what the characters do, and never simply forgets that their actions early on are inexcusable. Where normal heroes would simply start off admirable, and continue that way, AtB gives us people we begin disapproving of, and challenges us to come around over the film's duration, just as it challenges them to acknowledge, understand, and ultimately regret their actions.

Go see it, it's great fun.… Expand

Definitely one of the better movies I have seen recently. Its nice to see a summer movie that doesn't just focus on huge amounts of action and massive explosions with boring characters and very little character development. It's a mix of action, horror and comedy with an interesting plot and setting, a good script, some great acting. A great directorial debut from Joe Cornish and hope to see more from him and the cast of actors in the future.… Expand

The best movie of the year and I don't use that term lightly. This film has something for everybody, suspense, humor, scares, excellent characters, good writing, genius direction, brilliant actors and a coming of age/redemption story like I've never seen. All cloaked in a badass movie about thugs vs. aliens. I only wish I could have more of these characters (and that the film got the release it deserved). Better than Rise of the Planet of the Apes, better than Transformers (what isn't?), better than Super 8, Captain AMerica, and everything else this year. Think the best parts of "The Warriors" + the best parts of "Battle: Los Angeles" times 10. Watch this film.… Expand

Every now and then a movie comes along which just gets everything right. Attack The Block has humour, good visuals, a great cast that manages to steal every frame they're in, a fitting musical score and camerawork that just draws you in. The accents are marvelously well done. I'm not a native English speaker but it was no problem for me to keep up with what was being said. (Admittingly, I did view the movie with English subtitles). Absolute recommendation for fans of science-fiction and British comedy.… Expand

Attack the Block is a movie which meshes the science fiction genre with comedy. This is not something that is generally pulled off very well, since on several occasions the film will seem as if it is beating you over the head with sci-fi references, rather than making an original piece of work. The good news is that director and screenwriter of Attack the Block, Joe Cornish, did the exact opposite and made not only a great sci-fi comedy, but a very realistic portrayal of life on a "block" as well as the bonds which form between those who live there. Cornish also directs a very talented cast of newcomers, who are about as fun to follow as this movie is as a whole. Just to be clear, the movie is a lot of fun. Attack the Block may not be the greatest alien movie ever made, but it's definitely the best one to come out in a while. It's fun, violent, original, and for once this summer you're given a movie in which you can become emotionally invested in the central characters! Isn't strange how rare that is nowadays!… Expand

Creepy in a funny way and vice-versa. This flick runs on a simple but very well handled Sci-Fi story.
The characters are interesting, the actors well cast, and the ambiance of dread versus funny relief takes you all stressed-out from beginning to end.
More unlikely heroes and unlikeable characters you'll be hard press to find, and that combination makes this film even better, since you are never inside any kind of comfort zone.
A well recommended under exposed jewel.… Expand

Easily the most fun I've had in the movie theater all year (to think I only went because a friend suggested it while we were bored). It's part sci-fi, part comedy, part adventure, and to me, what Super 8 wishes it could have been.

One of the best films to get to the cinema in years. Absolutely refreshing change to the tired old Hollywood clichés. Captures youth culture and class inequality perfectly. A clever film with enough humour and atmosphere to keep you enthralled from start to finish.

I cannot see how anyone can find any fault with this movie. I'm not saying it's perfect, I'm saying those imperfections are what makes this one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. 10/10 go see it!!

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Sometimes the simplest premise and the necessities of moderate budget constraints can lead to an understated sci-horror movie that shines with low-key wit, involves us with colorful characters by not forgetting their humanity, and dares to completely tell its story instead of neutering it in hopes of lucrative franchised bastardizations. Joe Cornish manages to accomplish all of this in Attack the Block, a zeitgeist experience, if ever there was one, of realness, fakery, nonplussed attitudes, a variety of cliches, and decade-spanning B-movie horror sensibilities. If that weren't enough, there's fur-ball monsters with large day-glo mouths and teeth to match, with wonderfully nondescript black bodies, yet ingenious in design because it's all about those teeth, and desperately keeping necks, arms, and legs away from them, that propels this sci-horror gem's action along. Thomas Townend exploits those wonderful teeth with his cameras in two key scenes: during the first appearance of a fur-ball alien the boys think is as easy a target as the hairless, light-skinned one they attacked and killed earlier, and when pot dealer Hi-Hatz (Jumayn Hunter) makes the mistake of not looking out the apartment window. It's amazing how much bang for the buck you can get from such a simple creature design when paired with those ominous, neon teeth.

The many meteors carrying these aliens crash into the neighborhood on Guy Fawkes Night, while fireworks are going off all around. The first crash comes after would-be youth gang's Moses (John Boyega), Pest (Alex Esmail), Biggz (Simon Howard), Jerome (Leeon Jones), and Dennis (Franz Drameh) hood up to mug Sam (Jodie Whittaker) in the street as she's heading home to the Block, the apartment building they all live in. The smashed up car the small meteor hit provides Moses an opportunity to rifle through it, and the chance for Sam to get away. She does, and Moses avoids being nipped by an alien. He and the boys chase after it with youthful abandon, after first grabbing their assorted weapons including bats, a samurai sword, knife, and some firework rockets. Moses kills it and takes it to pot dealer Ron (Nick Frost), who then takes Moses and the creature to see Hi-Hatz, the bigger dope dealer, in his steel-door fortified, ultraviolet-lighted, pot-growing room. Moses is looking for a place to stash the creature safely, but he also wants to impress Hi-Hatz so he can accelerate his criminal career path. It's the deviation from this path that Moses must ultimately confront when he realizes the consequences of killing the first alien. The fur-balls are nastier, bigger, and unrelenting in their pursuit of him and his gang, but why they keep coming after him is a mystery eventually explained, while holed up in that fortified pot-growing room, by Brewis (Luke Treadaway), the pothead, nerdy, white kid caught up in the mayhem. (Sure, go ahead; imagine a hash pipe's worth of Cheech and Chong-styled humor undercut through all this, if you like.)

Between the gang's bikes and scooters transportation, the frantic chases, Sam and Moses reluctantly teaming up but growing to understand and like each other , Hi-Hatz having it in for Moses because Hi-Hatz refuses to understand or like anyone, the Block's cramped apartments and dreary hallways becoming a battleground, and those fur-balls climbing the building when they're not prowling its hallways--you may feel a subdued 1980s deja vu, but the sensation may also bring some 1950s kitsch and 1970s flow along with it, modulated by Steven Price's techno score.

Then Cornish rythms up with dialog that's one-liner bright and character revealing, pushing his story up two notches beyond the superficial people-fodder most often seen in horror and sci-horror. You may not like these kids at first, but after the movie, you'll wish you had them living in your Block when the alien invasion comes.… Expand