3/5
Written by Luke Barnes
Summary
Aliens land in a London council estate during Bonfire Night, a gang of youths are the only thing standing in their way to world domination.
Personally, I think this film is a little overrated. It is a mostly good film sure, but it is not a classic as some seem to view it as.
I dislike the way the characters in this film talk, the street slang sort of language is quickly overdone, and worse yet it perpetuates stereotypes about the youth of the working class; there will be plenty of people in the same situation that don’t talk like that and that aren’t in gangs. So presenting the majority of the tower block being criminal in some fashion feels a little off to me.
Moreover, the film lacks the charm of an Edgar Wright picture, if you will pardon the comparison. The characters feel hard to root for or care about because they don’t really do or say anything to make you like them. The only two that I felt any kind of positive feeling towards are Luke Treadway’s Brewis and Nick Frosts Ron, the latter of whom I only really like because Wright has conditioned me to always find him charming whenever he is on screen.
The thing I will give this film credit for is the scale and spectacle of it. For a modestly budgeted film they do a lot with the effects and the way they build tension. So much so that even though you only ever see the aliens for a moment here and there it feels like more, and enough is left to the imagination to make it interesting.
Overall, as a one off I think this film is a fine watch, it doesn’t need a sequel though, however.
Pros.
The scale and spectacle
Treadaway and Frost
The aliens
Cons.
None of the characters are particularly likeable
How it portrays working class youths
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Another Millennial Reviewer 