Attack the Block was a fun time at the movies but also somewhat disconcerting. The problem is that the film is an alien invasion in a UK projects with a fair amount of laughs but given the recent goings on in London, the film seems like it should represent much more than it does. The film doesn't hide the fact that the thug teenagers have problems with the law and that those problems aren't all their fault. At one point, when going to the police is mentioned as an option, one of the main characters sighs hopelessly something like, "They'd just arrest us anyway." One of the other kids muses that the aliens might be a government conspiracy, "“First they sent guns, then drugs, now monsters. We ain’t killing each other fast enough, so they sent aliens along to speed up the process.” There is a kind of sense of hopelessness, both the kids in their predicament and because the predicament has raised these kids to have a jaded view of the world and themselves. However, that's just the film's plane of existence. The movie doesn't really seem to make anything more of the main characters' issues than your typical action film does. It doesn't seem to have any lasting meaning or message and that was kind of bothersome to me, given that we're in troubled times and could use a new voice. Now, I know I overthink things but with the riots in London, it just felt odd to sit back and ignore what message kids could get out of the flick.

The other reason I mention all of this is because part of me wants to describe the filmgoing experience as "pleasant" which is completely the wrong word. But all in all, the film never really excelled at any aspect. It wasn't as much of a comedy as Shaun of the Dead but it wasn't all that scary either. The film had some fun moments but not too many laugh out loud set pieces; the tension was there but I was never really scared or tense; and the action scenes were fun but almost always had you wondering, "Man, these things don't run very fast." Initially, I considered this film to be a cult classic but I think it's more likely to be one of those second echelon "lost" classics, the ones that celebrities will cite as cool movies they remember but that most people won't have seen or been blown away by. I have no doubt that it will find an audience on DVD and there will probably be rumblings of a US version of it (or someone will just rip it off and come out with their own Aliens in the Hood movie) but I can't say that I would say it's a great or even very good movie. It was good. A solid 7 out of 10. Of course, in today's movie marketplace, 7 out of 10 is close to being one of the better movies of the year.

I'd definitely recommend checking it out but don't go in with huge expectations because the film is what it is, a effective if not excellent low budget indie flick. But for all of my good not great pronouncements, I should add that the acting is very good, especially from the kids. I think their performances were also what got me so focused on the deeper issues because I really bought them as inner city kids, struggling to find a way, any way, even if it isn't a way out.