The first novel in John Marsden's best-selling Tomorrow series gets a big screen adaptation.
I’ll get it out of the way quickly – I’ve never read any of John Marsden’s Tomorrow series of books. I don’t have the excuse that they were before/after my time as everyone seemed to be reading them when I was at intermediate. For some reason I’ve always ignored the series, despite knowing that the seven novels have sold around 3million copies in Australia alone and been translated into a bunch of languages.
This lack of knowledge was quite refreshing as I went into the first movie adaptation with no expectations for once – I didn’t even know what it was about apart from a bunch of teenagers were at the centre of it. The plot, for the only other person in Australasia who hasn’t read the series, revolves around a group of Australian teenagers who go on a camping trip, only to return and discover their parents gone and their hometown deserted. They soon realise everyone has been rounded up by an invading army (the country is never mentioned). With their families held prisoner, they decide to engage in guerrilla warfare against the enemy.
First time director Stuart Beattie (screenwriter of Collateral and Pirates of the Caribbean among others) doesn’t waste too much time getting to the meat of the story, using high-school stereotypes as shorthand for characterisation. There’s best mates Ellie (Caitlin Stasey) and Corrie (Rachel Hurd-Wood), troublemaker Homer, Corrie’s jockish boyfriend Kevin, rich ‘townie’ Fiona, hardcore Christian Robyn, and misunderstood Asian kid Lee. I can’t forget the requisite stoner – Chris, no teenage movie is complete without one.
Beattie mimics the novel in aligning the audience with the teenagers POV – any adult presence is limited to a couple of scenes. While there may be a massive war going on we only ever see what the group sees and the film is as much about their changing dynamics and the breaking down of their self-imposed stereotypes as it is about them trying to take on the invading forces.
When the group do encounter the invaders Beattie shows he knows how to deliver action without dampening tension. There’s a great scene with the group hiding from searchlights, and the garbage truck chase sequence wouldn’t be out of place in a Hollywood blockbuster.
Tourism Australia owe Beattie and his crew a few cold ones as a large chunk of the movie is a giant advertisement for the country. There are some absolutely stunning helicopter shots of the Blue Mountains and their camping location; an ironically titled place called ‘hell’ is just the sort of isolated paradise that brings people to Australia and NZ in droves.
Apart from the odd weak performance – I never warmed to Rachel Hurd Wood as Corrie (possibly due to an occasionally clunky script) and the credulity-stretching premise (would a bunch of inexperienced teenagers really be able to outwit a country’s soldiers, navy and air force?) Tomorrow, When The War Began is a well-made action-adventure that will appeal to more than just fans of the novels.
3 1/2 Stars
Andrew Cozens
N.B. There are plans for two more movies and a TV spin-off if this $20million production is a success – it would be a shame not to see a continuation of the story.