Film Review: Tomorrow When The War Began
There aren’t many Australian-made films out there, and there certainly aren’t a lot of action movies set in Australia. Tomorrow When The War Began is one of those rare films, and now I am going to tell you why it is not only the best Aussie film ever made, but why it is one of the best films of the year, falling closely behind Inception. So, without further ado, let’s get our army gear on, and go in guns blazing, this is my review for Tomorrow When The War Began, the film based on the best selling novel of the same name by John Marsden.
The story follows 7 Australian teenagers who go out into the bush for a vacation and a bit of fun in the fresh air. When they come back home however, they discover that their families have disappeared, army planes are flying overhead and that soldiers are patrolling everywhere. This means only one thing…war. The rest of the film is mainly about the survival of the teenagers, and leaves you with an ending that will make you certain the second book will have a film adaptation aswell. The story really hit me on a personal level, mainly because it’s set in my own country, but it’s also a film about teenage relationships and how friendships break or become stronger.
The visual effects are very action-oriented, and the explosions in this movie are really big ones. It was nice to see a film like this with such great lighting effects too, such as the spotlight scenes where one or two of the teens have to go sneaking about. I think my favourite scene with a lot of explosions and crashing was when the characters finally decide to use a semitrailer to get around, and how many soldiers get smashed around in the process. It’s not a gory film by any means, so people who are afraid of that sort of thing won’t be phased, but I was a bit surprised to see a young kid of probably about 5 in the cinema. It’s definitely aimed at teenagers in that respect. You can see what I mean by the picture below.
The sound matches perfectly with the visual effects. The sound of explosions were ear-busting, although I still have my hearing intact (I think). As far as music is concerned though, most of it is just songs from Australian artists like Missy Higgins, but it does set the tone for it being an Aussie film, and it made me fell right at home. Apart from that, there’s really not much else to say for sound.
Being an Australian film, there are of course Australian actors in it, and I can safely say that the acting really fit the personalities of the characters, although I’ve never read the book, but it was brilliant acting, nonetheless. The film features a lot of teen actors from Home and Away and Neighbours, including Lincoln Lewis, Caitlin Stasey and Deniz Akdeniz. Together, they bring the characters to life and actually give a bit of comic relief when appropriate.
Overall, Tomorrow When The War Began was a great Australian drama/action film with lots of explosions, top-notch acting and a fascinating story that you’ll be begging to see more of when the movie ends. I can’t wait for a film adaptation of The Dead of The Night, and I if it’s as good as this film, I think it’ll be become just as much of a cult following as the Harry Potter movies. I give the film a 9/10.
Awesome!
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I’d say Harry Potter has more than a “cult following”.