Cut off from their families and their friends, these
eight ordinary - who are about 50 times more attractive than the average "ordinary teenager" - must learn to escape, survive and
fight back against a faceless enemy who have invaded their country armed to the teeth with weapons. With a price tag of just over $25 Million, Tomorrow When The War Began was
a massive risk in anyone's book - let alone an Australian Film Industry bank book.
When the average Australian film Box Office take is between $2M and $4M
- hinging your hopes on a brand name franchise is a big ask.
Luckily
for them, the movie managed a domestic haul of more than $13.3M - as
well as another few million in New Zealand. So it's hardly a massive
flop...
Then there's the other issue - is it any good?
Far
to often Aussie reviewers are easy on Australian movies for no other
reason than the guilt of being the executioner of the entire local
industry. Ever hear the
phrase "It's really good... for an Australian movie"?
Well,
that's just an Aussies way of saying "If it wasn't for my guilt about
needing to support our local industry - I would quite happily choose an
Ashton Kutcher movie over this cheap old thing".
Sadly, despite it's best efforts, most audiences will feel that about Stuart Beattie's Tomorrow When The War Began.
Don't
get me wrong, there are some world class sequences on offer here - all
the action works a treat and could stand side by side with any big
budget American film. Yet the good work is too often undone by
some soap-level performances and
cringe worthy dialogue.
Audiences could be forgiven for mistaking Chris Pang for one of the many Gum Trees in the background - he's that wooden folks!
Beattie famously scored the writing / directing gig thanks to his involvement in Hollywood Box Office hits Pirates of the Caribbean, G.I Joe : Rise Of Cobra and Australia. What the press notes don't mention is how woeful everything outside of the action was in those films.
It's kind of like letting the creators of Date Movie and Vampires Suck write and direct a cinematic version of Possum Magic because they've been involved with movies that make money.
What I'm getting at is - there is some logic at work, but it's flawed logic.
None the less, when Tomorrow When The War Began works - it really
works. There is, at times, some superb chemistry between the young
cast. There is, at times, wonderful tension and exciting action. Most
importantly, it's a pretty damn faithful adaptation of John Marsden's books
- aside from revealing the identity of the race which is invading (you
can read about Beattie's reasonings here). Tomorrow When The War Began is
certainly a step in the right direction for the Australian film industry - because
it does feel like an actual MOVIE (something uncommon with most Aussie
releases which are either cheap & depressing, or "expensive looking
tv shows"), and tweens and fans of the book will enjoy it immensely
despite it's flaws.
Sadly, we've yet to find a cinematic language that suits the Australian accent - because Tomorrow When The War Began proves once again that melodramatic, inspiring, inner monologues (a staple of American action movies) simply do not work. DVD Special Features
Considering this will serve as staple viewing for school kids over
the next 10 years, it's good to see quite a bit of effort has been put
into the Special Features and serve the purpose of education.
Included
here is a Collector's Booklet, an Extended Interview with Writer John
Marsden, a pretty solid "The Making of the Movie" featurette.
There
is also an Alternate Movie Ending and a great extra on The Books in
which John Marsden is Interviewed and reads Passages from the books. Well worth investing in, especially if you have teens.
Conclusion - Movie: 65% Extras: 70%
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