Attack the Block (2011)

 

Attack the Block (2011)

 

I didn’t expect to love this film as much as I did. Its central conceit promises something narrow and dumb: Aliens attack the Ghetto and it’s up to the Gangbangers to push them back. It appeared to be a one joke movie, and that joke was borrowed from another movie, “Cockneys vs Zombies” (2012), which was entertaining, but entirely forgettable.

 

Now, note the dates: “Attack the Block,” actually came out first, but I became aware of it second. Though this movie received surprisingly rave reviews, it failed in the box-office. Because of “Attack the Block’s” undeserved obscurity, I had thought it borrowed from “Cockneys vs Zombies” but it was actually the other way around. I’m not exactly sure how a low-budget, well-reviewed, comedic, Monster Movie with lots of action, fails to properly recoup, but this isn’t the first time it has happened (example: “Slither” (2006)).

 

One of the film’s greatest achievements was how it negotiated radical tonal changes, usually a movie killer, so triumphantly. This flawless dance allowed the film to be what it promised, Action/Comedy, but so much more. It opened the door to layers of Social Realism that it should’ve been denied, and those moments of Realism allow layers of subtext that few films, including far more serious ones, achieve. Its major theme, put so simplistically it is misleading, is about achieving personal growth by kicking Alien Monster butt, is silly, but can still be satisfying. With this film though, unlike any other movie I can think of in recent memory, when you put your foot in its shallow water, you’ll be surprised at how deep it sinks.

 

Part of my love of this film is that it opens explicitly referencing an Honored Classic of World Cinema that I actively hate, and after it reminds us of it, it shows it can treat its Characters with greater Insight and Humanism, erasing the earlier film before moving on to the more purely Escapist.

 

The Classic Film I’m talking about is Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” (1971), which I view as among the shallowest expressions of Inhumane Nihilism ever. That film sides unconditionally with (note: I didn’t say sympathize with, it aggressively sides with) the repulsive Main Character Alex DeLarge (Malcom McDowell) while granting him no more psychological depth than that he likes Classic Music. Well, Hitler liked Classical Music too, are you ready to side with Hitler now? It finds amusement in Alex’s Violence, Rape, and Murder, and then celebrates his successful reversal of his forced Rehabilitation. All Characters trying to punish, control, or even redeem Alex are viciously mocked. Moreover, it’s untrue to the themes of the Anthony Burgess novel it is based on (originally published in 1963).

 

This is what “Newsweek” had to say about “A Clockwork Orange”:

 

“At its most profound level, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ is an odyssey of the human personality, a statement of what it is to be truly human.”

 

And I say, eat my shorts.

 

Though “Attack the Block” eventually retreats into comfortable SF formulas (and there’s nothing wrong with that) it doesn’t do until staking its ground regarding how the Tribalism of Social-Economic Class shapes our identities, disturbingly reminding us that Criminal Children are still children, and refusing to surrender its own Moral Sense even when it asks you to identify with apparent Villains.

 

So, my ultimate heresy: this might not be as self-consciously revolutionary as the Kubrick, this apparent throw-away is a more honest fiction, and therefore, the greater work of art.

 

At lot happens in the first five minutes, and though this is ultimately a Comedy, as this film opens there nothing is nothing even remotely funny about it.

 

Moses (John Boyega) is the leader of a Gang of Teen Thugs: Pest, Dennis, Biggz and Jerome (Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones and Simon Howard, respectively) who ride around on bicycles wearing hoodies and bandanas looking for trouble. They speak in a dense, but I assume realistic, street-slang, which should’ve been impenetrable, but instead has the surprising clarity of “A Clockwork Orange’s” invented Cockney/Slavic argot.

 

The first thing they do is swoop down on, terrorize, and rob a defenseless woman, a Trainee Nurse Samantha Adams (Jodie Whittaker). We instantly dislike these cruel, posturing Punks. Except for Moses, they are younger than most movie hoods, but wholly Unsympathetic, evoking instant Contempt and the urge for Vigilante Violence against them. First time Writer/Director Joe Cornish, who up-to-that-point was best known for TV skit comedy, sets out to pull off a really tough hat-trick. He immediately, and deliberately, makes the Main Characters Contemptable, then asks the audience to change their minds about them later in the film.

 

It just happens to be Guy Falk’s Night, one of England’s more dubious holidays (it celebrates the torture and execution of Terrorist suspects) and the fireworks in the sky disguise the crash of something within confines of the Wyndham Estate, a real place, a South London Council Block (in USA terms, think a high-rise, high-population-density, low-income, Housing Project). So, only moments after abusing an innocent young woman, Moses leads his gang to the crash-sight, thinking it was a small aircraft they can loot (note that there was no thought of assisting survivors).

 

Well, it wasn’t a small aircraft, it was from Outer Space. A smallish Monster emerges and immediately kills a cute dog. The delinquents respond by beating the Monster to death with baseball bats.

 

The punks don’t know what they’re looking at, and though they do think in terms of Aliens, they don’t immediately commit to that conclusion, “Maybe there was a party at the zoo, and a monkey fucked a fish.” That not jumping to a conclusion is the first demonstration that these ignorant-looking social-cast-asides have some innate intelligence, and the fact that they are smarter than they look becomes more and more important as the film progresses. But I should say that they aren’t brilliant either, not even Moses, who will prove the smartest and most resourceful one. There’s a telling moment later in the film where he vents his rage at the whole world outside the Block by arguing that the Government has sent the Aliens purposely to rid society of its poorest people. This contradicts the evidence he’s seen with his own eyes, but it honestly reflects the Government total disregard for Moses and his ilk.

 

The next thing we learn is a subtle surprise (this is not a subtle film, and relies on very few surprises, but what surprises there are, are surprisingly subtle, because they are Character Revelations, not Plot Twists). Moses and his gang are actually the absolute bottom of the totem pole of the Block’s criminal hierarchy. The real boss is Hi-Hatz (Jumayn Hunter), who is both Sadistic and Stupid, but rules the Block through fear. It maybe jarring that such an imbecile would rise so high in a Competitive Marketplace, but there’s some Realism even to that.

 

Back in the 1980s a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology named Sudhir Venkatesh, largely by luck, got unique view into the financial model of the inner-city drug trade in a Chicago Housing Project (a place very much like Wyndham). These Criminals were several steps below what we generally refer to as “Organized Crime.” Through an analysis based on interviews and internal business records, Venkatesh demonstrated the workings of the Criminals’ franchise model, designed so that only a few at the top fully reap the benefits of the vast labor force on the bottom. It also made it clear because the sales were not only street-level, but literally on-the-street, securing and defending territory was more essential than any of the other aspects of Business Management. This created a situation where, at the bottom of the hierarchy, advancement was overwhelmingly based on the capacity to inspire fear over the fulfilling any of the other functions of the business. This was a key reason why Crack Gangs tended to be Younger, and proved more Violent, than those who dealt in many other forms of contraband. The dumber, but more impulsively violent, Criminals frequently Lorded of the more innately skilled Black-Market Capitalists.

 

As soon as Moses and Hi-Hatz are in the same room together, we know instantly Moses is the more skilled Criminal, yet Hi-Hatz dominates and Moses accepts that. The dead Alien was handed over to Hi-Hatz because he’s the Boss -- later this will prove a key plot point, because a lot more Aliens are coming, and they will prove a lot bigger and harder to kill.

 

Hi-Hatz is also the film’s worst-written Character, and Hunter stands out as the weakest link in the otherwise flawless cast. While researching other reviews of this film, I noted that Hi-Hatz is never mentioned, even though he has more screen-time, and is of more plot importance, than a few others who are inevitably written about. By this point, the narrative is starting to shift, we’re beginning to be asked to soften our opinion of Moses’ thugs as Writer/Director Cornish shows increasing compassion for his anti-Heroes, but Cornish, himself, remains seemly incapable of tolerating really stupid people.

 

It is incrementally demonstrated that many of these kids were in part, or completely, abandoned by their families, and those among them that retain the strongest Family Ties are the least Thuggish. The Peer Group that embraced them has, in equal parts, Protected and Corrupted them, but there are additional layers of the peer group in play, including those who look down on their delinquency, but still feel strong familial and social loyalties. These are best represented by four female characters in the Gang’s age group, Tia, Dimples, Dionna, and Gloria (Danielle Vitalis, Paigey Meade, Gina Antwi and Natasha Jonas, respectivly) who are relatives, girlfriends, and/or wannabe girlfriends of the Child Gangsters. The girls welcome the boys’ company while haranguing them about their behavior, and clearly will side with them against all Outsiders, not only savage Aliens, but also the Police.

 

This isn’t as anti-Cop movie as many stories told from the POV of young Hoods are, but it certainly has nothing good to say about the Boys-in-Blue either. The Cops know nothing about these people they are supposed to Serve-and-Protect. They arrest the wrong people for the wrong reasons and are almost as alien to the Block as the Alien Monsters; so much so that, though they realize there’s an emergency and try to institute a lockdown, even when the movie is over, they still haven’t realized there’d been an Alien Invasion.

 

The film never leaves the Estate and constantly reminds us that no one outside cares about anyone inside, may they be good, bad or indifferent. The lack of importance of these victims is best demonstrated by the absence of TV Newscasters. Think hard, when was the last time you saw a violent Alien Attack movie that didn’t have staged TV-News Commentary?

 

Writer/Director Cornish says this story was inspired by a night when he was mugged by youths as young as those in this film, and realized that the Thugs were as scared as he was. Quite deftly, he brings us Plot and Character development in tandem. He also shows real affection for (almost) all his Characters, and very effectively develops a surprisingly large number of them in a film that clocks in at under 90 minutes.

 

The Child Gangsters share a slang distinguishes them from the entire of the society outside the Block, but each of the young actors additionally distinguish themselves with personal quirks of speech, attitude and costume.

 

Wisely, as our attachment to the kids grows, revealing youthful vulnerabilities and even a few virtues, the film never sugar-coats them. The sentence, “I ain’t even lying to you man,” is uttered at least three times by three different boys. They postured like they were independent, but that was never true. Now, they’re really in over-their-heads and desperately need help, problem is, they’ve spent the whole of their young lives lying to everyone they meet, may it be Cops, higher-ranking Gangsters, or Loved Ones, and are now seen as the Boys Who Cried Wolf. In one very funny scene, Character Jerome calls his family on his cell phone, desperate for help, but they are unimpressed. Desperately, he cries, “This is too much madness to explain in one text!”

 

Race is an issue here, the Block is mostly Black, and the Criminal Class even more so, but this takes a backseat to observations about Class Isolation: the Criminal Class are at the bottom, but still there are a few Whites moving semi-comfortably in the Housing Project. We see precious little of those who live outside the Block, but among those living in it, those gainfully employed within it, like Character Samantha, appear to be living in all-White bubbles within the Radical Racial Mix. The film implies that those on the bottom are more Color-Blind than those above them.

 

Our Thugs on bikes soon they upgrade to a motor-scooter, but there is only one, because only one of them has a job, Dennis, a Fast-Food Restaurant’s Delivery Boy. Because they are Thieves, they upgrade again, to stolen motor bikes, except they’re still two vehicles short, so there’s still a boy a bicycle who must carry his comrade who would otherwise be on foot. This is a nice progression, saying a lot about the environment in which this unfolds, but soon after that, when the action retreats inside a building under siege, and anything with wheels is beside the point.

 

The film is full of ironic referencing of films of Director Steven Spielberg. The bicycles of our wannabe Gangsters could’ve been props in “ET: The Extraterrestrial” (1982). It also is ruthless in how it reminds us of Spielberg’s, “War of the Worlds” (2005); Spielberg had resources unavailable to Cornish and gave us a film of epic scope but allowed the disaster to resolve with a sentimental affirmation of the resilience of the Nuclear Family and the USA’s virtuous bourgeoisie, but this film is much about the Nuclear Family either not living up to its promise, or being abandoned altogether. “War of the …” was essentially a road movie, while this is more a base-under-siege story, showing people with almost nothing fighting hard to keep it. “Attack the Blocks” makes up in passion what the budget denied the film in scope.

 

Our Thugs eventually discover they have a Home-Field Advantage and resources they never considered before. Since this is London, not Chicago, there is a notable shortage of firearms (even less than most other British crime films) so the kids fall back on baseball bats, small knives, firecrackers, squirt guns and a fake samurai sword (though only a wall decoration, it is long, thin, metal and sharp). In the end, their knowledge if the building is what makes all the difference.

 

The Aliens themselves are fine creations, practical effects augmented by CGI so the actors could react to them in front of the camera, but most of the Monsters’ best details were added during post-production. They are original too, not an advanced species, but only animal-level in their Intelligence; they didn’t come here piloting FTL Spaceships, but hibernating in rocks buffeted through the Universe by Solar Winds. Though the science doesn’t survive much scrutiny, it’s internally consistent, and there are no Scientist Characters anyway (the boldest scientific pronouncements come from an ineffectual Stoner, Brewis (Luke Treadaway)).

 

The Monters appear to be eyeless, seeming to rely on some other kind sensory information, there’s even a scene where that is demonstrated, but how the sense is supposed to work remains unexplained. It might be in their fangs, which glow in a pleasingly scary contrast against their blacker-than-black fur. The physical differences between the first-appearing Alien and those that follow proves to be a plot-point. They are savage, fast, excellent climbers, and the Human characters alternately describe them as looking like bears, gorillas, or werewolves, and finally use all three words in the same sentence.

 

The film opens with Violence but then takes a surprisingly long time to Kill any Humans, but make no mistake, when the violence comes, it’s rough, and this film isn’t afraid to Kill children.

 

Inevitably, Character Samantha rejoins the story when she and her Attackers find themselves trapped together and forced into an initially hostile alliance. For too long, Heroines in SF films were mostly notable for smiling when subject to sexist remarks, needing to be rescued, shrieking hysterically and having their clothes strategically shredded. That changed with Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in “Alien” (1979), but not very much, now SF heroines remain either Bimbos or Amazons, often-times walking together in the film. Sam is neither, she starts the film not-unrealistically fearful, then proves to be intelligent and insightful as no other Character is. She eventually even proves Courageous, but no Action Hero, and that Courage doesn’t emerge until she bonds with the Child Thugs and no longer feels alone. Also, unusually and welcomely, there’s no Romantic sub-plot, though two characters: Brewis who is age-appropriate and member of the Upper-Middle Class but only present on the Block to score drugs, and the other the second youngest of the Child Thugs, Pest, do try to flirt with her. A nice Comedic touch is that the more age-appropriate would-be suitor comes off more ridiculous than the child.

 

 

Of the Child Criminals, it is Moses that we receive the most backstory on, and Writer/Director Cornish especially shows his skills there. A quick glimpse inside Moses’ apartment reveals more about him than a long expository monologue would. At the time, Samantha and Moses are in different parts of the building, coordinating their plans via cell phone. One quick glance at his living conditions and Samantha realizes things about him she could’ve never guessed otherwise.

 

Samantha: “How old are you?”

 

Moses: “Fifteen.”

 

That was a surprise, he isn’t actually much older than his Comrades, he just taller. This must be part of the reason that he bows to Hi-Hatz, who is so much less a man than he. He also the wannabe Gangster most abandoned by his own family, raising himself and taking on the role of surrogate father to the rest, most of whom are slightly less disadvantaged than he.

 

When Samantha for says, “You look older,” he thanks her in a manner that is heart-rending, because you know that in his ears he’s hearing, “You seem like a man.”

 

Those two actors, Jodie Whittaker and John Boyega, provide the film’s best performances. Whittaker was already a rising star, but this was Boyega’s first film and proved star-making. Since then, SF has proven very good to the pair, Whittaker taking over the role as TV’s “Doctor Who” in 2018 and Boyega taking one to the leads in the “Star Wars” film series in 2015.

 

All the young criminals are excellent, but Alex Esmail as hyper-verbal Pest deserves special note. He’s both a central character, and comic relief, notably he’s the child who appealingly, but futilely, tries to flirt with Samantha.

 

Edgar Wright is the tremendously successful Writer/Director/Producer of multiple now-cult-classic Comedies, usually involving Actor Nick Frost, who has a small role in this film. His SF,F&H outings have special baring here: “Shaun of the Dead” (2004), “Scott Pilgrim vs the World” (2007), and “World’s End” (2013). Wright was Cornish’s Producer here, and likely central to the fact that the film’s low budget was still decent (somewhere between $9 and $13 million USD). There is evidence of a Wright influence in style, but Cornish has very much his own vision and is arguably more serious-minded in content.

 

The Cornish and Wright collaboration continued, as they co-write the Screenplays Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin” (2011) and Marvel Comics’ “Ant-Man” (2015). Cornish also Directed another film with Fantasy content, “The Kid Who Would Be King” (2019) which was much more expensive and sweeter-natured than this film, but also financially unsuccessful.

 

Contributing greatly was first-time Cinematographer Thomas Townend, who made the film surprisingly colorful given that it all takes place at night and the interior lighting alternates between harsh and uncertain. The interior’s uncertain light proves a plot point because the Alien’s blacker-than-black fur marks then as nocturnal hunters. The Monsters aren’t smart enough to kill the building’s power supply, so the Heroes should’ve been at a disadvantage indoors, but the lighting repeatedly fails, probably because of the bad maintenance of government housing.

 

There’s also a pulsing, hugely entertaining, score by DJ duo Basement Jaxx.

 

This film was released in May of 2011. By August, London was torn apart by days of rioting in looting following an ambiguous Police Shooting of a suspected illegal Gun Dealer. This film’s images of the Police Lockdown, mostly viewed by residents looking out their windows, seemed to eerily anticipate the Real-World events.

 

Trailer:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0ntk1o4V3k