Tomorrow, When the War Began

Australia 2010, 110 minutes
Dir. Stuart Beattie
Rating: [M] Aro Recommends for ages 10+
Genres: Family, Action/Adventure / Invaders

Feat. Caitlin Stasey, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lincoln Lewis, Deniz Akdeniz, Phoebe Tonkin, Chris Pang, Ashleigh Cummings, Colin Friels

Aroview: John Marsden's enduring 'Tomorrow' series of novels for young adults receives its first big screen treatment in this story of foreign (Asian!) takeover on Australian soil, and the small band of teenagers who form a guerrilla resistance against the invasion.

Adapted by Stuart Beattie, who attained success penning COLLATERAL and contributed to the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN scripts, is ironically more assured with the action set pieces than he is with some of the turgid teen-speak, leaving his cast none the wiser (or more sympathetic) than their simple stereotypes. The show then rests on the charisma of lead actress Caitlin Stasey as it otherwise plods towards the inevitability of two sequels.