Review of Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010) by Jordan F — 15 Apr 2011

Not bad, not bad at all considering what i've seen from Australia cinema.

1st of all, of course this film is ridiculous! I mean... Australia gets taken over by the Korean's or whoever in like one week and no ally comes to save them? Lol. That being said it was still an enjoyable film.

The film is set in a small town and centers around Caitlin Stasey who plays Ellie Linton. Ellie has a secret crush on (on snap watch out!) an asian guy called Lee that she's been wanting to ask out. Her sheltered life and sexual innocence drives her to plan a teen camping trip out in the bush (Aussie slang for woods). However her dad won't let her unless she brings at least six friends. So of course Ellie picks out a couple of her prototypical friends, the religious girl who won't dare commit a sin, the pretty rich girl who is isolated by her family, the couple, the gun-ho wild man, and Lee the smart but kinda ruthless guy.

So off they go hiking, splashing and overall just having a good time, after some flirting and bonding these adventurous youngsters return to a mysteriously empty home. All of their parents are nowhere to be found and one of the boy's dog's has been shot and left to rot outside. After some sneaky investigation they realize they've been invaded! Asia has finally gone on it's massive conquest of the entire planet and the poor Aussie's were caught defenseless.

They realize that rescuing their parents is suicide against such odds so instead they form a guerrilla war fare group hiding in the forests and doing as much damage to the enemy as they can manage. At the same time having that teen love drama that we all love. /s.

This film is well shot, well edited and really fun. The special effects are up to par and don't look like they cost 10$. It's like a TV action drama except it's able to bring itself up a level to being worth of being called "a movie". It's also fairly well paced. However unoriginal and stereotypical Tomorrow, When the War Began it's still a well made film. The acting is slightly better than passable even with some of the very corny dialogue. It's kinda trashy but trash that's been correctly put together.