Attack the Block

Editorial

If you struggled to understand everything that was going on in Trainspotting, you'll also need all your powers of concentration for this sci-fi comedy. In the same way that Danny Boyle's characters speak in the thick patois of their Scottish surrounds, the main players in Joe Cornish's directorial debut converse in the lingo of South London yoofs, innit.

But don't let that put you off, as it's still possible to comfortably follow the action. Cornish (an emerging talent who is also a co-writer on The Adventures of Tintin) has penned the script in such a way that everything makes sense — in context. The use of language also

lends authenticity; if a gang of bored teenagers were to face down an alien invasion, you imagine it could play out something like this.

The fact that the action all takes place in and around one block of flats is a necessary element of this urban yarn but, as a result, familiarity can breed contempt. The aliens are fun and the young cast impressive; Simon Pegg's mate Nick Frost and rising English star Jodie Whittaker are the older heads on show, though the former is underused.

If there's a serious point made among the jokes it's that everyone — regardless of class and race — pulls together in a crisis. Sure. Just revel in the silliness.

Dan Poole