Review of Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010) by Edward C — 25 Nov 2013

Firstly, I am not patriotic. That in mind, I love when we Aussies bring out a film that gets international recognition. Unfortunately, these aren't often good. GOOD Aussie films like The Square, Cthulu, Dying Breed, Rogue, Cactus and Red Hill get virtually no recognition at all (and those are just some of the bigger films!). Tomorrow however, much like Wolf Creek, is actually good, AND received international acclaim. Just to clarify though, I don't think it really deserves to ever be compared to Greg McLean's Wolf Creek, despite my having just done that. Wolf Creek was a genuine fucking masterpiece, Tomorrow is what we refer to as "a bit a alright"; which is only a real compliment when given to a lady.

The film was long, but I ended up feeling like it really needed to have been longer, the set-up was just right, but the second act felt rushed to the point of stupidity. Though my final rating isn't dependant on how the film racks up to the John Marsden book it's based on, I'd like to make a point of stating how infinitely better a character that Lee was in the novel. This fact was in no way what so ever the fault of actor Chris Pa- PSYCHE! All his fucking fault. This guy is not an actor. Neighbours could maybe of made use of this kid on an off day.

By stark contrast, Caitlin Stasey who portrayed protagonist Ellie Linton actually DID come from Neighbours, but scarily enough she did a great job in Tomorrow.

It's one of those films where you can't help but find yourself arms outstretched, screaming at the television as the characters make stupid errors. Which is a double edged sword, on one hand, it means you've got fuckstupid writers, but on the other, it means you've got great writers. Paradox? What I mean is, to have the script be so badly written that the people behind it honestly thought we would ignore the plot-holes and retarded decisions is just plain weak, but to get the audience gripped by characters in such a short amount of time all comes down to great story telling.

The thing to really look forward to here is the intrinsically Australian environment, and even more than that, are these little tidbits you would miss if you blinked. Quotes like "The book's better than the movie" as genuine pieces of conversation are well worth the films downfalls.

All in all, the action is great, the soundtrack and actors are at an average bearable, there's a number of subpar moments, but none of which you can't get over. The ending to me seemed weak, but I asked some international friends of mine what they thought, and they all told me the same thing; "Nah we totally bought that, Tomorrow is basically a documentary about how arrogant and badass Australians really are, right?".

63%.

-Gimly.