On her way home in South London, trainee nurse Sam (Whittaker) is mugged by Moses (Boyega), who is then attacked by a small ape-like creature that has fallen from the sky. After killing it, Moses and his pals take it to the 19th floor flat of their drug dealer (Frost), who's working for the unstable mobster Hi-Hatz (Hunter). But things escalate from here, as an army of larger wolf-gorilla creatures with glowing teeth descend on the block. And Sam needs to team up with her tormenters and a local stoner (Treadaway) to fight them off.

The film's freewheeling chaos captures the lively energy of life on a grim British estate, with these over-excited teens blithely lying to their oblivious parents as they head out to hunt some aliens, innit! The cast brings a terrific realism to these young guys, whose bravado is linked to their group dynamic, so when it's shaken by these invaders, small cracks start to reveal the young boys underneath as well as a bit of surprising heroism.

Writer-director Cornish keeps the screen busy, with a variety of colourful characters and aliens that are refreshingly real on-screen (as opposed to digital creations). All of this generates some genuine suspense along with the earthy humour that pervades each scene. We may not be able to decipher the inner-city slang, but we certainly understand the adventure these guys are having. On the other hand, most of the intensity is due to sudden jolts, and the comedy is more amusing than laugh-out-loud hilarious.

So it helps that the script has several very witty touches, such as Moses' conviction that all of this is some sort of government conspiracy aimed at the black subculture and the way everyone is forced to use normal household objects to fight off the invaders. But in the end, it's a bit too grisly and messy to really engage us, and aside from Moses we never get to know the characters well enough to really identify with them.

themes, language, grisly violence

18.Apr.11