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Attack the Block | 2011 | R | - 3.8.10
Several teen boys in South London team up with a bumbling drug dealer (Nick Frost) and a neighbor (Jodie Whittaker) to defend their block against an alien invasion. Also with Alex Esmail, John Boyega and Luke Treadaway. Directed by Joe Cornish. [1:28]
SEX/NUDITY 3 - A teenage boy half-jokingly hits on a woman, asking her if she has a boyfriend and telling another teenage boy that she is "fit" (i.e. attractive). A teenage boy jokingly asks a woman if she "fancies" him because she instructed him to take off his clothes.
► A teenage boy makes a crude remark to another boy about the boy's pubic hair growth and the boy makes a crude joke about having sex with the teen boy's mother. A teen boy makes a crude joke about a woman being attractive, offering to take off his pants for her as she cuts off the leg of his pants. A man makes a crude joke that a monkey and a fish had sex in order to produce an alien.
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VIOLENCE/GORE 8 - A man is tackled by many large aliens (they look like a wolf and ape hybrid), one alien rips the man's nose off (we see the nose thrown through the air and hit the ground), and blood and gore from the man's face is visible as he shouts; more aliens descend on him, presumably killing him as we continue to hear the man's muffled screams.
► A man is chased into an elevator with two other men, a large alien leaps into the elevator as it closes, and screams and ripping flesh are heard; the elevator doors open, and one of the men in the elevator is seen covered head to toe in blood and gore.
► A large alien grabs a man, slams him against a wall and rips at his neck (we see blood and gore spray from the man's neck as he dies); a second man fires a gun at the large alien, and it collapses and falls away from the other man's corpse. A large alien attacks a policeman, we hear a scream and we see a spray of blood hit a car. An alien attacks a policeman, smashing him against the window of a van; we see a woman's face in the window watching in horror as blood smears across the window.
► A teenage boy is attacked by a large alien, he struggles as the alien smashes him against the ground and it is implied that the boy is killed; we later see three other teens and a woman surrounding what is implied to be the boy's body (the body is not shown) and we hear them telling a man that a boy had been killed by an alien.
► A large alien crashes through the window of a living room where several teen boys, teen girls and a woman are sitting; the girls scream and run for safety, two of the teen boys fight the alien, it bites through a motorcycle helmet held by one teen, lunges toward the woman, pinning her against a wall, and one teen boy stabs the alien through the chin and head with a ninja sword (blood spurts from the wound as the alien dies). Four teen boys and a woman scream as a large alien breaks through the door of an apartment, and leaps toward one of the boys; another boy chops off the head of the alien with a ninja sword, killing it.
► A teenage boy on a motorbike rides into a blur of smoke caused by firecrackers, and he narrowly misses a large alien that attempts to grab him; the boy jumps into a van where another teen boy and a woman are hiding, he drives away, the alien falls off the van and we hear a thump as the alien is run over (a spray of blood covers the windshield).
► A large alien chases several teen boys, three of the boys escape into a building, and the fourth runs in as the alien smashes through the glass of the door and grabs the boy's leg; the teen shouts, the other teens drag him away and we see blood pour from the wound on his leg.
► A teenage boy fires a firecracker into a smoke-filled hallway, the boy, other teens, a young man and a woman enter the hallway holding up various makeshift weapons, and we see a glimpse of a teenage boy being grabbed and dragged away by an unseen alien; another teen boy grabs the leg of the boy, the alien bites the boy, blood sprays from the boy's wound, and the second teen boy lifts the other boy away safely (he is later seen unharmed).
► Two boys spray a large alien with gasoline, they throw a street flare, and the alien catches fire and writhes on the ground, shouting and rolling around in pain. Three teen boys use firecrackers to set two large aliens on fire; the aliens scream in pain and we see their bodies writhe while on fire. A teen girl uses the exposed live wires from a broken lamp to hit a large alien; the alien is electrocuted and falls to the ground, dead. Four teen boys instruct another teen boy to set off a firecracker in a small shed where an alien is hiding: we see a series of small firecracker explosions, the boys enter the shed through the smoke, the sounds of hitting, punching and laughter are heard and moments later the boys carry the dead body of an alien from the shed.
► During a single-shot scene, a teenage boy straps the dead body of a small alien to his back, and runs through a room and down a series of staircases as large aliens chase him; the teenage boy throws the lifeless body of the small alien into a room with other aliens, along with a lit firecracker, resulting in a massive explosion, and people watch as smoke and flames pour out and we see the teenage boy covered in soot, dangling from a ledge.
► A large alien leaps on top of a van where a woman and a teenage boy are hiding, and the alien shakes the van, trying to smash through the roof to reach the people inside; a teen boy watching shoots firecrackers under the van and we see a massive explosion.
► Two teen boys speed in a stolen police van while a woman locked in a cage inside the van shouts at them; the driver steers into a car driven by two men, we see the front of both of their cars smashed and the two men in the car have small cuts on their faces.
► Five teen boys wearing scarves and ski masks over their faces approach a woman, one boy holds a switchblade to her stomach and makes a vague threat to cut her, the boys take the woman's purse and one boy grabs her arm, yanks a ring from her finger, shoves her to the ground and they all run away (the woman is later seen unharmed but shaken). A teen boy smashes a young man in the face with a baseball bat; the young man shouts in pain and we later see the young man's eye swollen and his nose bloody.
► A teenage boy rides in a blood-soaked elevator and we see blood and gore covering the walls. Five teen boys discover the burnt corpse of a large alien in the smoldering remains of an explosion. We see two bodies covered with body bags and surrounded by crime scene tape. A woman inspects a wound on a teen boy's leg, we see blood covering the leg and the woman tells the boy that he can get an infection if he does not seek medical help. A teenage boy shouts in pain as a woman wraps his bloody leg with a pillow and bandages. We see four small cuts on a teenage boy's face, a teen girl asks him what had happened and he implies that an alien had scratched him. Several teen girls are disgusted when five teen boys show them the corpse of a dead alien; one of the boys shoves the corpse next to the face of one of the girls, she shrieks and the girls run away. We see a teen boy hobbling on his leg.
► During an extended scene two large aliens chase five teen boys through an office park and apartment complex: some of the boys drive motorbikes down a flight of stairs, two of them fall and smash into walls but get up unharmed, one boy on foot runs from an alien, and he narrowly escapes by leaping approximately 15 feet, from one stairway to another (he is unharmed).
► Two policemen in a police car corner five teen boys, the boys run away, one boy stumbles and we see a policeman tackle him to the ground, cuffing his hands and frisking him (the officer finds a switchblade and a packet of marijuana) as other teens watch from a distance; a woman inside the van identifies the boy as being the one that had robbed her at knifepoint.
► A small alien leaps out of the charred remains of a smashed car and onto the chest of a teen boy; the boy screams, pulls a switchblade out, throws the alien to the ground, the alien runs away, and the boy shouts vague threats about killing the alien as it runs away.
► A large alien repeatedly punches and attacks a dumpster where a teen boy is hiding; we see the teen boy inside the dumpster shaking fearfully and he leaves panicked voicemails from his phone, saying that he fears he is going to die.
► A small fireball shoots from the sky, hits a car, smashes the hood and caves in the car's roof as a five teen boys watch; one remarks that "someone is bombing us" as another teen boy says that the explosion was a firework and not to worry. A man fires a gun repeatedly at three teen boys as they run in the opposite direction (no one is harmed).
► A man holding a gun threatens a teen boy, the teen boy pulls out a ninja sword and threatens the man and they both drop their weapons. A man holds a gun to the head of another man, several teens walk into the room and the man drops the gun. A woman waves a guitar in the air and threatens four teen boys; one of the teen boys calms her down and she puts down the guitar.
► Several teen boys, a young man and a man watch as explosions hit the ground repeatedly, and one of the teen boys remarks that they are going to kill the aliens causing the explosions. A woman sneaks past a room filled with large aliens and into an apartment where she turns on the gas of the oven and stovetop, implying that the gas will be used to cause an explosion.
► Two boys show four teen boys a BB gun and a large water gun filled with gasoline, and they offer to help the teen boys in a fight; the teens ignore the boys, take the BB gun and walk away. Two boys are seen lighting a trashcan on fire; they laugh and tell a group of teen boys that they are "props and mayhem" and would like to help them fight aliens (the teen boys laugh and walk away).
► A man, a young man and two teen boys holding machetes, baseball bats and firecrackers walk into a police barricade; we hear shouting and moments later we see the teen boys being arrested, they struggle with the police officers and we see the young man shouting at a police officer as he is being handcuffed. We see a montage of five teen boys grabbing various weapons, including ninja swords, a stack of firecrackers, a baseball bat, a large chain and a machete. Several teen boys playfully tackle another teenage boy.
► A dog runs after a small explosion, we hear the dog yelp and it is implied that an unseen alien attacked the dog, killing it.
► A young man jumps over a fence and rolls onto the ground with a thud; he is unharmed. A teen boy shoves past a young man. A teen boy shoves his way past two young women and into a room. A man shoves another man and walks past him.
► A young man discovers a bombed car and acts frightened. A man driving a car swerves, almost running into another car; the two men in the car act surprised. A woman is startled when a firecracker blows up behind her.
► A teen boy with a small bloody cut on his face tells two men that he had been attacked by an alien and had been forced to steal a police van. In a soliloquy, a teen boy remarks that since "black boys" are not killing each other fast enough, the police had sent drugs, guns and now aliens to aid in the destruction. A woman tells an older woman that she had been frightened when teen boys had robbed her at knifepoint. An older woman tells another woman that teenagers are dangerous and have knives. A teen girl says that a teenage boy is out of control with violence, robbing people at knifepoint. We hear a portion of a woman's statement to the police when she describes being held at knifepoint by teen boys that stole her belongings. A woman tells teen girls that a teen boy had held her at knifepoint and robbed her. A man jokingly tells a young man that several teen boys had kicked an alien to death, so they are dangerous. A man tells another man that a person had been killed by having his neck ripped out by an alien; he then tells the man that he had shot the alien, killing it. A woman shouts at five teen boys as they run down a hallway, ringing doorbells and talking loudly. A teenage girl makes a joke and threatens to shove an alien's fangs into the backside of a teen boy. A teen boy jokingly tells another teen boy that his father will cut off his genitals if he gets in trouble. An older woman half-jokingly remarks that fireworks that are being exploded outside "could be "World War 3." A teen boy shouts jokingly at a woman, saying that an alien attack has nothing to do with rap music, drugs or violence in video games. A teen boy jokingly tells another teenage boy that he is defecating on himself.
LANGUAGE 10 - About 68 F-words and its derivatives, 2 sexual references, 25 scatological terms, 2 not fully enunciated scatological terms, 5 anatomical terms, 3 mild obscenities, name-calling (pest, monster, too tiny, snitches, potty mouth, annoying, big gorilla wolf [expletive deleted], waste, sausage, touchy, funny looking, hostile), exclamations (bloody, shut up), 3 religious exclamations.
SUBSTANCE USE - On multiple occasions we see a teen boy smoking marijuana cigarettes, including with four other teen boys, who also smoke marijuana cigarettes (the teen acts intoxicated), a young man smokes a marijuana cigarette with a man and they act intoxicated, several teen boys, a woman and a young man are seen locked in a room filled with marijuana plants and one of the boys says how much he wishes he could smoke marijuana, two men are seen smoking marijuana cigarettes in a room filled with marijuana plants, a man packages marijuana into small packets and instructs a teenage boy to sell it, a teen boy is arrested and a police officer finds marijuana in the boy's pocket and tells him that he is going to jail for possession of marijuana, a teenage boy tells another teenage boy that another teen "only does buzz" (implied marijuana use), a young man and a teenage boy say they are "profoundly stoned," and a man says that he is "too stoned" to deal with aliens.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Actions have consequences, alien invasion, revenge, lost youth, racism, effects of poverty on youth, disappointment, anger, selling drugs.
MESSAGE - All actions have consequences; some are good and some are bad.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.
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We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we do not always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.