Tower Block (2012)

Wonderful character development!

Sadly Over-hyped

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

As much as I would like to say this is a good movie, there are things that don't add up in this film. Technically it would have needed more than one sniper to cover the premises even when plenty of surveillance cameras are installed to track the movement of these trapped residents. Let say that tower block has only 18 floors, the highly-trained sniper would need to be somewhere higher than the roof of that building to shoot at the fire hose that the guy was holding onto while climbing down the building on the other side. Since there was only one sniper (obviously it is impossible for him to be staring at and shooting at all four facades of the building at the same time and it didn't seem like the sniper had installed cameras all over the building, those residents could have all gotten down to the first or second floor of the tower block through the elevator shaft and broken into the flats that have windows facing the other side and climbed down from there.

*********************MAJOR SPOILERS***************************Tower Block is sort of a cross between Attack the Block, Saw & The Negotiator. This is probably another film that is easiest to summarise simply by dividing it into good and bad. I'll start with the good;GOOD - The opening scene shows a youth being beaten up and subsequently killed, albeit unintentionally. When a police officer makes door to door enquiries with the residents, he speaks to Becky (Sheridan Smith) who claims that she hasn't seen anything and refuses to assist the police. This might seem strange to those that live outside the UK, but in certain areas of the UK and within certain communities, the police are seen as 'the enemy' and people refuse to 'grass' for fear of reprisals. This doesn't necessary set the characters as being 'bad', but merely explores what parts of our society are like within the UK. I also liked the way that there were a good mix of characters living in the block - it would have been easy for the filmmaker's just to have a load of unlikeable chavs (or delinquents for those who are unfamiliar with UK slang), but there were clearly a mix of good and bad people which again meant that the characters weren't entirely clichéd. We don't get much background information on the characters, but we know enough about them to understand that they all have their own identify. Again I felt it was a fair representation of our society. A special nod should also go to Sheridan Smith and Julie Graham who I felt probably gave the strongest performances. There is a particularly effective scene between the objectionable Kurtis (Jack O'Connell) and family man Neville (Ralph Brown). Kurtis had been taking payment from the residents to 'protect' them, but when Kurtis pushes Neville too far he punches him and knocks him to the ground. I believe the point of this scene was to show how weak and cowardly bullies are and effectively Kurtis did try to bully many of the residents throughout the film. I thought that was a good bit of writing. Tower Block moves at a very brisk pace and I don't recall there being a dull moment throughout the film. It certainly kept me entertained for the majority of its 90 minute running time. BAD; OK, it's impossible to overlook how far fetched and ridiculous that this film felt at times. We have a sniper who seems to be able to pick people off the instant a curtain opens. How come he always knew which window they would appear from and be able to shoot them instantly every time? He would only be able to point his sniper at one window at a time so is it just luck that he happens to always have his sniper trained on the right window. Next we come to the booby traps - I mean geez who was his accomplice John Kramer aka Jigsaw from the Saw films. I just found it hard to believe that a police officer would have the skill or the knowledge to be able to concoct these elaborate traps. In Saw, we learn that John Kramer is able to create elaborate traps, but it's explained that he is a Civil Engineer and hence has the required knowledge to be able to create complex mechanical traps. Are we really expected to believe that a police officer is able to do this? Even if he had the skill to set these traps up (which seems unlikely to me). How on earth would he be able to do all this without anybody noticing? He also manages to block a fire exit by placing a skip in front of the door. How did he do that? Did he have a mate with a skip lorry and a skip? It just got more and more ludicrous as it went on. For me the worst aspect of the film was the final 10 minutes or so; the vigilante police officer decides to enter the Tower Block to pick off the remaining residents. What surprised me about this is that he ends up making it easier for the residents to get the better of him. If he'd stayed where he was, they still would have struggled escaping. When watching this scene, it reminded me of that line towards the end of Crocodile Dundee 2 "When we were kids, did you chase the snake into the cane fields". In other words, why did he go into the lions den (so to speak) and make himself more vulnerable. The end of the film is also a bit ambiguous as you find yourself not sure whose side you should be on - the residents were wrong because they didn't do anything to prevent the sniper/police officer's son from getting killed, but then again the police officer killed a lot of people who genuinely may not have known who killed his son. I found the ending to be somewhat of an anti-climax and also thought it was a strange way to wrap the film up. I also wasn't impressed by Jack O'Connell's 'over-acting'. Despite some of my reservations Tower Block is still worth a look. In spite of its many flaws, it is entertaining and I can honestly say that there was never a dull moment. At times the writing was really sharp, but due to the numerous plot holes and the rather anti-climatic ending it's nothing more than an average film.

The plot is very simple, the few remaining residents who all live on the top floor of a block of flats that's about to be torn down, end up being trapped by an unseen sniper, whose picking off the residents one by one."Tower Block" is a movie that keeps you hooked from start to finish, with a simplistic plot that never becomes ridiculous or over the top, and even creates a realistic situation which does make it scarier and the fact that you don't know where or why the events in this movie are happening, which adds even more tension and terror to the proceedings.Another terrifying factor of this movie is that no-one is safe even children, which in my opinion was very unsettling and the fact at the opening a young boy is banging on doors begging for help and nobody helps, which is sadly unrealistic. Tower Block really works as a thriller and as a horror movie and doesn't pull any punches and okay doesn't break any new ground but has enough violence and tension that makes an awesome movie. It also helps that this movie has a cast and characters that are very real and played just right. Firstly Sheridan Smith plays the street smart Becky perfectly, who surprisingly becomes the group's leader and has all the right moves that makes her the ultimate final girl. Jack O'Connell also delivers a strong performance, its difficult portraying a guy who's at first unlikeable and awful, but as the numbers drop he becomes more and more rounded, and also Russell Tovey also another standout as the alcoholic loner.All in all This movie works really well at crafting a claustrophobic atmosphere, with a brilliant cast that makes this experience feel very real.

This is a fantastic movie and even more so given it's a low budget indie entirely filmed in one small location! I have great admiration for a team that can put together something with the quality of this movie particularly with those obstacles. The direction is top notch, building suspense throughout, delivering unpredictable shocks & events and developing some lovely relationships between the people trapped in the building. The cinematography and music score are spot on lending a hand to the overall gritty industrial mood of the environment and sense of impending doom & hopelessness. But it's not at all a depressing movie. It's actually quite uplifting. I loved the characters and their believable and interesting interactions. There was some top notch acting from several people and the character of one in particular was so well acted & developed I wanted to see more of him!! Several other characters were also very likable and engaging while others were infuriating but you still didn't want them to get hurt. It's a fine movie indeed that makes you care so much for the people they've invented that you feel sad when the movie ends and they've gone. Yeah the plot had some holes here and there but they are not that significant in the context of how incredibly well this movie is put together. Most of the time it hung together well, people behaved as anyone would in the situation and it was mostly unpredictable. Special marks for having a strong female character, for not pulling punches about who "bites the bullet" and who doesn't and for the interesting side story of the alcoholic lad. And of course for the thoroughly fascinating stand-over guy. (I'll be looking for more movies with that young actor in them!!)The "reveal" and final scene could possibly have been handled better, but I've seen a lot worse and I was happy enough with it. In any case, the journey to get there was so engrossing and enjoyable it really didn't matter. The only truly (wholly) negative reviews I've read about this movie have focused on very trivial details (nit picking) &/or a couple of plot holes to proclaim this pretty much the worst movie in the history of the Universe. This seems a little petty & extreme to say the least. It's most certainly NOT the worst movie, nor is it the best but it's definitely one of the better ones, regardless of any flaws it may have. I say, you show me a movie totally without flaws and I'll find at least one anyway! :)I thoroughly enjoyed every moment and recommend it unreservedly for people who enjoy good drama, thriller, suspense, action movies etc and for those who like to see how a movie can be brilliant without the need for a huge budget and fancy effects.