Attack The Block

Alien invasion. London. Nick Frost. What else could a girl want from a film?

Attack the Block follows a group of teens and a few others in the middle of an alien invasion in South London. The film has been compared to Shaun of The Dead, which happens to be one of my favourite films so the stakes were high.

The film opens when the gang robs a nurse called Sam, without knowing that she actually lives on the block just like they do. They later have form an alliance to get through the night, when the aliens follow the kids to their apartment block and all hell breaks loose. Trust, responsibility and courage form the film's themes we explore through the eyes of adolescent individuals from the wrong side of life.

I first saw this at a film festival, where this was screened as a surprise film, we only figured out a week before the screening what we were about to go see. And I admit, I was really disappointed when I heard that I spent money to go see this, I had no interest in this film. But, I was surprised, because I walked out of the theater with a huge grin, because this film was funny and scary and surprisingly impressive.

Let's start with the cast. A bunch of unknowns, only one I recognized was Nick Frost who seems to be in every British comedy. The cast felt fresh and real. You really can't have glamorous A-listers shouting out "ALIEN INVASION, BRUV!", now can you? The language is something that I truly loved. Since I'm not British, it was kind of hard to understand at times (the screening nor my dvd had subtitles...) but it also felt like a piece of true inner city London. There is nothing glorious or fancy about the situation, so why shouldn't our protagonists swear and use the proper language? The slang can also be a major turn-off for some, because it sounds so foreign and weird if you are not a Londoner. But I liked it, I just didn't understand everything 100%.

AtB is Joe Cornish's first film, but you could never tell that from the film itself. It's made with confidence and steady vision. It pays homage to the great alien movies made before, but also tries to reinvent the genre a little bit. We don't have the unfortunate hero, who just happens to be in the wrong place and just has to save the whole world, possibly even sacrifice himself in front of his new found love interest. Instead, we have a group of kids, who are way over their heads, who gear up (baseball bat, a sword, fireworks...) and plan to invade their block back. It's not about survival, it's not about life or death, it's about territory. The kids are of course scared and fully aware that it's dangerous, but they face dangerous every day living in the block. It's their world and they are going to protect it.

The aliens. Very interesting and weirdly, very fuzzy. There were things that I absolutely loved about them and things that I missed. A huge plus was to hide their eyes and only show their glowing jaws and teeth. I also liked to black ("It's too black to see") colouring, but they were a bit funny looking, because of the hair, was it hair? and the way the moved on all four legs. They looked like a gorilla and a Xenomorph had a baby that hit puberty and decided to dye its' hair black. But overall, I think the aliens were scary and were presented well.

That said, I think this is one of my top5 alien-movies. Attack The Block delivers laughs and a few gags as well. It works perfectly when you're searching for an entertaining alien film with gore, but don't expect too much emotional drama.

Warrior

Warrior is a film that I don't think anyone who has seen it, anticipated how strong it would be. For me it was the film, that I noticed only because I saw it so many times IMDB's front page and reading reviews that praised it. Where did it come from? And after seeing it, how had I missed it before?

Warrior is Gavin O'Connor's film about two brothers set on a collision course in Sparta, an Mixed Martial Arts event, where winner takes it all, all being a shitload of money. Contestants will brutally beat each other to the edge of passing out or literally passing out. There aren't many rules in this sport and the fights are brutal, but not as brutal as the contestants themselves. Our brothers come in us true underdogs. Brendan is there to collect the prize to support his family, but Tommy, after being AWOL for almost 15 years is there for a whole other reason we learn only in the end, because it turns out, Tommy has many secrets and he isn't so proud of them. Both brothers have cut all ties to their alcoholic father, who in Tommy's request starts training him, like in the good old days. Only that everything has changed.

Just reading the summary makes this seem like a guys' film, but believe me, it is not. This film had me in tears. This isn't about MMA or guys brutally kicking and punching each other, this is a film about family. And that is exactly the reason this film stands out. Also, making this even more interesting, the lack of women is nice. Brendan has a wife and two girls, but apart from them, there aren't that many women in the picture and I found it... interesting, because the dynamics between a father and his two sons proved to be strong and more complicated. Men are known for having a hard time showing their emotions so we have all this build up anger and grief and bitter that bursts out of our characters. The boys don't have a gentle mother who would protect her sons and provide a shelter from their father. Tommy had to actually watch his mother die slowly and painfully and Brendan didn't get to say goodbye to her. So even if we don't have their mother as a physical being, her presence is there and gives the characters depth and adds tension between two brothers.  

Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton give fine performances in this film. Tom Hardy's performance as Tommy brought Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain into my mind. He has strong, silent force in him, this one. From the beginning, we know very little about Tommy, but Hardy makes us believe that there so much more to Tommy than meets the eye and we are rewarded for our patience in the end. Hardy's performance gives the audience glimpses of the broken man Tommy has become, before we find out his real motive for entering Sparta.

Joel Edgerton is almost left in the shadow of Hardy's strong performance, but in the end, can hold his own and makes Brendan a very grounded, a very real character. He is the guy all the girls can see marrying in the future, he is the sweet guy next door, but when faced with a dilemma that could cost him his family, he fights fiercely, because his family is all he has and can't bear the thought of losing it. If he were to lose this fight and going home empty handed, he would see himself a failure, he wouldn't see himself as a father or a husband, he would have failed and let down his family.

But it's Nick Nolte who steals the show as the boys' alcoholic father, now trying to make amends. The scene where he visits Brendan is absolutely heartbreaking. Nolte brings reality to this character, in the way that we all recognize him. He is not a saint, even though he has been sober for years now, and he knows that his alcoholism will always be the huge elephant in the room standing between him and his family.

The ending is quite clichéd, but then again, why have these clichés become clichés? Because they work and they do draw tears from our eyes. So, bravo. This is a well-made movie that stands out because of its' strong focus on the shattered dynamics of a broken family and its' strong perfomances by Hardy, Edgerton and Nolte. I recommend this film to each and everyone of you.

-Coffee Cat