ATTACK THE BLOCK
Starring: Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail
Dir: Joe Cornish

****

America does alien invasions on a grand scale, whether it's Independence Day, Skyline or Battle Los Angeles. The English reaction is typically more working class, perfectly embodied by Attack The Block which, despite critical and box office success in the UK, has taken over a year to get to New Zealand.

This sees a gang of hoodie-wearing thugs in a London tower block taking on a bunch of giant dog/'bear thing” creatures from space who have the temerity to land on their manor: no one messes with the boys from the hood.

The result is a highly enjoyable slice of siege sci-fi made fresh and fun by its unvarnished teenage protagonists. They are introduced mugging a neighbour and their status as young reprobates is never glossed over, but they are smart, funny and immensely likeable as they step up to become earth's default defenders.

It looks good, the aliens are effective, there's a great urban soundtrack and the cast is very engaging. There's even a bit of social commentary but, most importantly, this is a continually exciting blast of alien action.

They just come around in faster and faster cycles, don't they? The Amazing Spider-man (****) isn't exactly a remake. Is it a reimagining? Who knows. But once again we start the Spider-man saga from the beginning, the familiar spider bite origin story tweaked a little but basically the same. Andrew Garfield takes over as Peter Parker, a bit more teen-angsty this time, courtesy of a sub-plot about his missing parents. Gwen Stacey, as opposed to girl-next-door Mary Jane, is the love interest. Other than that it's much the same, improved by careful character motivation, hampered by unlikely plot coincidences. But it does look good.

Despite this millennium's plethora of zombie flicks I still a bit of a sucker for Spain's [*REC] films. The third instalment [*REC]3: Genesis (*** ½), taking place simultaneously with the first two, makes a few changes to the format. It starts in the familiar POV video manner as Koldo and Clara celebrate their wedding, multiple handicams documenting events. But as the reception goes quickly pear-shaped (as tends to happen with outbreaks of flesh-eating zombies) the film becomes a straight-ahead splatter-fest because, no, you wouldn't keep filming under such circumstances. Reminiscent of the old Italian Demon films, this is a bunch of bloody fun. It's short, sharp and solid - gory, inventive, melodramatic, and oddly touching as husband and wife struggle to reunite amongst the carnage.

Seeking Justice (** ½ ) has a crap title and stars Nicolas Cage. Hmmm... But Kiwi Roger Donaldson is directing and makes an efficiently impressive job of what is essentially B-movie pulp. Cage is a mild-mannered English teacher. After his wife (January Jones) is raped, he is approached by a man (Guy Pearce) offering to immediately kill the assailant in exchange for a future favour. He agrees and, wouldn't you know it, becomes embroiled in a deadly, morally dubious world of vigilante justice. Donaldson's efforts, the absolute seriousness of everyone involved and continuing story twists almost make it possible to suspend disbelief about the increasingly absurd story developments. Almost.

In Absentia (*** ½) Trishia and Callie are sisters. Trishia's husband Daniel disappeared seven years ago; she is pregnant and about to declare Daniel 'dead in absentia” Meanwhile, Callie discovers a sinister tunnel, neighbourhood pets vanish and Tricia starts having disturbing visions. Absentia has awards from no fewer than nine film festivals (mostly the likes of Shockerfest or Shriekfest – surprising given there is virtually no blood) and uses its low budget well to build an ominous mood as the sisters prepare to move house and bad things engulf them. The minimalist approach and poetic touches make a change from regular Hollywood slickness.