Tomorrow When The War Began

Review by Sean Lynch

An Australian movie that isn't about drug addicts or underbelly crime figures? Poppycock, Balderdash, Hoggswaggle!

But, amazingly, it's true - Tomorrow When The War Began is the first big budget step towards a brand new era of Australian cinema.

Based on John Marsden's incredibly popular novel (which every high school kid from 1993 onwards has had rammed down their throat like bad canteen food) Tomorrow When The War Began follows the journey of eight high school friends in a remote country town whose lives are upended by a war that appears to have come from nowhere.

Cut off from their families and their friends, these eight ordinary teenagers (who are all extremely attractive) must somehow learn to escape, survive and fight back to a faceless enemy armed to the teeth with weapons.

With a price tag of just over $25 Million, Tomorrow When The War Began is a massive risk in anyone's book - let alone an Australian 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.

Then there's the other issue - is it any good?

Far to often Aussie reviewers are easy on Australian movies. Ever hear the phrase "It's really good... for an Australian movie"?

Well, that's just an Aussie's 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 ol' 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 (Chris Pang could quite easily be mistaken for one of the Gum Trees at the "Hell camp" he's that wooden) and cringe worthy dialogue.

Yes, Beattie got the job 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's some flawed logic in there.

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 Marsden's books - aside from revealing the identity of the race which is invading (you can read about Beattie's reasonings here).

It's certainly a step in the right direction for Australian film - 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) are not working.

3 out of 5

Tomorrow When The War Began
Australian release: 2 September, 2010
Official Site: Tomorrow When The War Began
Cast: Caitlin Stasey, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lincoln Lewis, Deniz Akdeniz, Phoebe Tonkin, Chris Pang, Ashleigh Cummings, Andy Ryan
Director: Stuart Beattie