Attack on Paradise: Fantastic Fest Review

Fifteen years ago, The Raid: Redemption was unleashed on the world and knocked action movies on their backside. Since then, the one-man-versus-an-army setup has become a lot more common, but it hasn’t lost its appeal. Usually, the premise is simple: one man is trying to get to the bad guy, and everyone wants to stop him. So I appreciate it when a movie changes things up a little. In Bob Colaers’ new film Attack on Paradise, our hero just wants to get to his mom, giving new meaning to the term: “momma’s boy.”

Seven years ago, Suleyman (Saïd Boumazoughe) was trying to get home when a run-in with two cops landed him in jail. Now he’s out, and all he wants is to see his mother. But life at his old housing complex has changed. An old friend tells him that a guy named Prince (Achmed Akkrabi) has gone full Nino Brown on the place, using it for his many illegal activities and making outsiders feel anything but welcome.

Suleyman isn’t an outsider. In this neighborhood, he’s something of a legend. But he doesn’t want that life anymore. He finds his mother living on a lower floor instead of in their old home. She seems to think Prince is doing good things for the building, though the police unit preparing to raid the complex, conveniently called Paradise, would disagree.

Among the officers is Yasmine (Clara Cleymans), a rookie eager for action. The raid starts well enough, then quickly takes a turn. Meanwhile, Suleyman’s mom needs medicine from two floors up, and he’s going to have to fight his way to it. Suleyman and Yasmine cross paths and end up working together. Prince is about to learn that you should never stand between a man and his mother.

Written by Sven Huybrechts, Salahdine Ibnou Kacemi, and Boumazoughe, Attack on Paradise doesn’t break new ground. It gives you exactly what you’re hoping for: some great ass-kicking. The movie plays a bit like a video game. There’s a goal, and to reach it, Suleyman has to fight through a few smaller bosses before getting to the big cheese.

I brought up the greatness of The Raid at the start, but let me get one comparison out of the way: this isn’t the nonstop action that that film is. It’s still plenty entertaining, with some great kills that will surely get a reaction out of you.

However for the most part, Attack on Paradise does its own thing, and there’s a lot to like. Steven Vanvolsem shoots the fights so you can actually see what’s happening, even in the darker scenes. Boumazoughe, who also co-wrote the film, puts his all into playing the hero. I could dwell on a few things that didn’t work for me, including a storyline that disappears almost as soon as it starts, but that isn’t really what you come to this kind of movie for. This film delivers the action you expect. It may be a little predictable, but the punches land, and they hit hard.

Brian Taylor

Member of the North Texas Film Critics Association, and lover of all things Cinema