While currently flexing his screenwriting muscles on forthcoming big hitters Ant Man and The Adventures of Tintin, writer, broadcaster and all-round funny bloke, Joe Cornish (one part of comedy duo, Adam and Joe), provides a taste of whats to come with his feature-length directorial debut, Attack The Block.
When a mugging is interrupted by the sudden arrival of a small, furry alien, a gang of youths chase down the extra terrestrial and beat it to death. However, the gang, led by Moses (Boyega), are faced with the arrival of a dozen more furry but much bigger aliens intent on getting revenge on Moses and his gang of young cronies. In order to defend their block from an alien invasion and protect the human race from certain world domination, Moses and co. must tool up and take the aliens down.
While theres certainly a touch of Shaun of the Dead about Cornishs horror/thriller/comedy (Edgar Wright acts as producer here, with Nick Frost enjoying a small-ish role), Attack the Block is a different kettle of fish entirely, sharing more in common with classic Carpenter than it does with the rom-com-zom. It has its laugh out loud moments, but Attack the Block is a far more serious, far darker and a far more original and self-assured outing.
Indeed, Cornish has made a brilliant sci-fi debut and has given the genre a distinctive yoof culture twist (Cornish apparently spent months researching London youth culture before writing the screenplay), and the result is a riotous, action-packed and wholly polished affair. Its a weird and wonderful debut, and a promising start for what could be another great Brit talent.
The Blu-ray disc, as well as boasting top visuals and a belter of a soundtrack, includes an audio commentary and plenty of behind the scenes footage, making it a winner of a disc all-round.
Overall Verdict: A blinding first-time effort from funny man, Joe Cornish.
Special Features:
Cast and Crew Audio Commentary
Creature Feature Featurette
Meet the Gang featurette
Unfilmed Action featurette
Thats a Rap featurette
Trailer
Behind the Block featurette
Reviewer: Lee Griffiths