Although that's not saying much, let's be honest. Aliens tend to strike landmarks or major capital cities. We've seen the White House explode, The Great Wall of China infiltrated and the Golden Gate Bridge destroyed. So it's quite refreshing to focus all the science fiction energy into a block of flats on the outskirts of London, but that is where the originality ends. The plot is as simple as you think, aliens fall from the sky and hunt down a group of youths in a council estate where they must defend themselves and save the planet. British B-Movie goodness is the best way to describe this unusual flick. Illustrating the intimidation of youths ("chavs" between you and I) that lurk in the darkness which is then turned around to view them as fearful. It subtly conveys the adaption these delinquents need to make in order to fit into the environment they reside in, where they are simply forgotten about. However, any meaningful themes are tossed aside to make way for simple entertainment. "Black gorilla wolves" galloping through dimly lit corridors, screeching with their neon blue jaws. Extremely basic designs yet these extraterrestrials are certainly memorable. Acting was functional, Boyega and Whittaker shining above the rest. My judgement for this film simply comes down to my own personal taste, which is why I think it is mediocre at best. I physically cannot stand the accent. "Oi fam I'll merk u boi init, don't touch me fam yeah? I'll cuss u.". It's like a complete different language, I honestly need the subtitles on. The rapid execution of dialogue means I can't keep up with what is being said, therefore negating any humour that is injected into the screenplay. Speaking of the script, it's hit and miss. The British wit works well but, again, some of the lines really don't have any effect on me. The film pretty much starts immediately, leaving no time for character development or backstory. As a consequence, the characters are expendable. Perfectly watchable sci-fi, just not to my taste.

I am not a huge fan of horror films and the reasons I chose to see this film was because it featured John Boyega in a pre-Star Wars part and because the plot is creative. Overall, I found it to be watchable but nothing I'd jump to recommend. I do, however, admire the film's ability to tell the story with a very small budget. The plot involves a tough London neighborhood which is invaded by weird alien creatures. These things are NOT particularly nice and when the cops don't seem to be coming to the rescue, the local junior hoods rise to the occasion and declare all out war on them.If you do watch this film, understand that the story is very, very simple and the language is raw. Aliens versus punks and that's about it. But it manages to work well for what it is. My only qualms is understanding some of the language....it's hard for many to understand the slang and accents so I'd strongly recommend you turn on the closed captions unless you can easily follow the dialog.

So I actually bought this movie - rented - after I read the reviews and saw the ratings and , I mean, people were raving about this movie like it was made of gold. Now see I live in a country where Trump is president so it all makes sense now. People just like dumb sh**. So basically if you're over 30 and you stopped smoking weed ( that's a big one) this movie is just going to be dumb. Idk, maybe it's me- I don't like drug movies either ... i mean if you're not impressed by gangs or English slang / Ebonics, this won't be that great. It's a kids movie and I imagine kids who relate with the characters... to me , I just from the very first scene I wanted the lead actor to die and get killed by the alien. I couldn't believe that the movie was going to actually be about this group of punk kids.. but again, makes total sense nowadays . j didn't think it was funny or smart or anything. But I lived a pretty crazy lifestyle for most of my youth and I'm just over it .. smoked more weed all that. I think this movie is for people who wish they lived like this or kinda think they are like this in their heads or the other option. Just immature and stupid with really easy to meet needs as far as film goes - action, etc. I don't want to sound like Debbie downer- I mean the acting is great , the script is realistic. As far as dialogue, and it's a well produced movie. Its cute . I just wanted to warn the adults out there that this is not the movie for you if you're smart and like I said over 30 and stopped smoking weed. It isn't even entertaining - because if you don't think smart ass kids or smoking weed or gang mentality and gang bangers are funny or cool you'll just be bored as fu**. That is basically the only thing to the movie .. the plot is simple.

Since its' 2011 debut, this gem from rookie writer/director Joe Cornish has slowly worked its way into the sci-fi consciousness. The film also proves you can still make fun action movies that ooze a social conscience... and therein lies the magic.The movie kicks off with a South London teenage gang - led by a black Moses - mugging a young white woman. Immediately, my sense of social justice kicked in and I thought: "I'm going to hate this. Should I just turn it off now?" Glad I didn't.After a while I began to realize that the movie is about the enemy within... in this case represented by shadowy alien beasts invading "the block". Every time the film throws us an answer, it leads to yet another question. As others have pointed out, the movie is by no means perfect. But its' many good points far outweigh its' minor flaws.The performances are uniformly good to excellent. The special effects, while not brilliant, defy the movie's minuscule budget. All in all an impressive effort by Joe Cornish.Peter Sykes (Sci-Fi Lists)