Attack the Block



""That's an alien bruv, believe it!""

- Pest

South London Gang vs. Giant Alien Gorillas.

Attack The Block is a 2011 British comedy-horror film directed and written by Joe Cornish and produced by Edgar Wright. In South London, a teenage street gang -- Moses, Pest, Dennis, Jerome, and Biggz -- are mugging a female nurse (Sam) when a meteor comes crashing down into a nearby car. It's no meteor, though -- it's an alien. A hostile, violent alien. With big scary teeth. After attacking Moses, the alien is killed by the gang -- but more come crashing down, and it’s up to these kids to take them down and save their block.

Check out the trailer here.

Attack the Block features examples of:
""What's Ron's weed room?" "It's a big room. Filled with weed. And it's Ron's.""
 * Anyone Can Die:
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When the gang sees some kids playing with guns, they confiscate them and Moses orders them to, "Go home! Lock your doors! Do your homework! Watch Naruto!"
 * Asshole Victim:  You will not feel sorry for him.
 * Badass Normal: Moses.
 * Beleaguered Assistant: Played with, as when compared to Hi-Hatz's overly confident, arrogant, impulsive and hot-headed nature, Tonks is quite calm and level-headed,
 * Bioluminescence Is Cool: The aliens have neon turquoise teeth.
 * Bittersweet Ending:
 * Bizarre Alien Biology: The males have perfectly black fur (no shine at all) and have nothing to their faces but a mouth full of four-plus rows of glowing blue teeth.
 * Black Blood: The gorillas have "the blackest blood ever."
 * Blue and Orange Morality: How the teens' code of honor appears to Sam. They don't seem to think that getting mugged is that big of a deal and only regret that they mugged her after learning that she lives in the same block.
 * Buffy-Speak/Phrase Catcher: The aliens are consistently described as 'big gorilla wolf motherfuckers'.
 * Chained by Fashion: Well, it's not a fashion choice, but Moses spends most of the movie wearing a broken pair of handcuffs.
 * Chekhov's Gun: The Union Jack draped over the side of the apartment building
 * Chekhov's Skill:
 * Also, the jump Biggz makes from the bridge to the stairwell when being chased, after previously boasting that he could make it.
 * Council Estate: The Block, where the story takes place.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Sam can be this at times.
 * Delinquent: The boys, at the beginning at least.
 * Don't Tell Mama: All the boys lie about what they are actually doing (mugging people/fighting aliens).
 * Drives Like Crazy: Hi-Hatz.
 * Eagleland Osmosis: Averted when one of the characters mentions the FBI will arrive, only to be told that "that's America".
 * Played straight when they repeatedly call the police "Feds", not realising that England doesn't have a Federal Government (besides the fact that their crimes wouldn't be Federal crimes even if it did).
 * That's actually become a commonly-used term in British teen-speak over the last couple of years. Too much watching The Wire?
 * Establishing Character Moment: Played with. The boys are introduced in an unsympathetic light, mugging a defenseless woman. Part of the point of this movie was to show that this event actually doesn't show their full character.
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin

"Moses: I think I think the government sent them things. First they sent drugs. Then they sent guns. Then these monsters. Black boys aren't killing each other fast enough so they thought they’d speed up the process."
 * Five-Man Band
 * The Hero - Moses - The clear leader of the group.
 * The Lancer- Pest - He gives Moses a lot of support.
 * The Big Guy- Dennis - The most hotheaded of the group.
 * The Smart Guy- Jerome - Probably the most level-headed one - and he has glasses.
 * The Chick - Biggz... well he does spend half the movie hiding in a dumpster.
 * Sixth Ranger - Sam, who joins the group partway through.
 * Genre Busting: Sort of an inner city horror action sci-fi comedy.
 * Genre Savvy:
 * Tonks, upon noticing that Pest is telling the truth about there being something nearby, refuses to go check on it when Hi-Hatz asks him to.
 * George Lucas Throwback: Many critics have compared it to '80s monster movies and horror-comedies like Gremlins and The Goonies.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom: Subverted - those aren't eyes.
 * Gorn: Usually keeps from being extreme about its gore, but it does have its moments- especially.
 * Hypocritical Humor: "You swear too much, lady!"
 * Improvised Weapon: One of the aliens is killed with a broken floor lamp, an ice skate, and a set of polka dot bedsheets.
 * I Just Want to Be Badass: Probs and Mayhem
 * Insistent Terminology: It's Probs and Mayhem!
 * Katanas Are Just Better: Moses, the hero, uses a katana for most of the film. It was Dennis'
 * Kill It with Fire: Probs and Mayhem vs. The Alien.
 * Killed Off for Real:
 * Lock and Load Montage
 * London Town: Although the film rather unusually opens with an establishing shot of Oval underground station, rather than the usual landmarks.
 * The Man:
 * The Man:

"Sam: We should call the police. Pest: You'd be better off calling the Ghostbusters love."
 * Meaningful Name: Moses.
 * The Medic: Sam.
 * Mood Whiplash: We go in moments from to
 * Nerd Glasses: Jerome.
 * The Nose Knows
 * Nothing Is Scarier: Played with. While the aliens are shown in full, their fur is so perfectly black that no detail can be made out except for their teeth.
 * Oh Crap
 * Perpetual Frowner: Moses pass the whole movie without a smile.
 * Police Are Useless:


 * They somehow fail to notice an alien invasion.
 * Pretty Fly for a White Guy: Brewis. His introduction? Woop Woop! Dat's da sound of da police.
 * Screwed by the Network: The American release by Screen Gems. After a successful test screening in 25 markets (22 markets had an excellent rating, the other three had a very good rating), they have proceeded to dump the film into just 11 markets with no advertising, no website and a trailer released just a week before opening. Even when the film added theaters, it was mostly in markets already playing the film. Also, reports on new markets aren't even known (this is usually reported weeks in advance).
 * The Stoic: Moses.
 * The Stoner: Most of the boys smoke but Brewis and Ron in particular.
 * Team Pet: Subverted in that
 * Teens Are Monsters: Subverted. The main characters are young hoodlums, one on his way to becoming a street pusher, but over the course of the film they come across more sympathetically and show their inner humanity.
 * Those Two Guys: Little kids Reggie and Gavin - or rather Probs and Mayhem.
 * True Companions
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Sam delivers this to the boys after one says that they wouldn't have mugged her if they knew she was also from the Block - she sarcastically asks if that means it's acceptable to mug people so long as they don't live in the same complex.
 * Xtreme Kool Letterz: Hi-Hatz and Biggz.
 * The Yardies: Deconstructed. We go into these boys' lives and see why they are the way they are.
 * Younger Than They Look: Much to Sam's surprise,  is only fifteen years old.