Tomorrow, When the War Began [2010]

November 16, 2013

Behind this rather self-explanatory title lies a standard-issue teenage action movie with all its ups and downs. You might be wondering why I keep watching and reviewing these movies when it’s pretty clear that they follow a formulaic plot and basically have no cinematic value. The reason for this is exactly that. With these movies, you already know what to expect and they will not let you down. There’s the strong female lead, a romantic interest, group bonding, and finally teenagers becoming adults due to drastic circumstances. I use this genre as a buffer for bigger movies or just to stare at the screen instead of taking a walk or doing something productive with my time (really smart, I know).

Taking advantage of the beautiful landscapes, the cinematography was lush and sleek. It’s very easy on the eye, especially when you add to that very good-looking cast. This only confirmed the easy-going vibe I was talking about. The one thing I cannot talk about is how this movie looks and feels to teenagers, so if you’re one of them feel free to leave a comment below.

It’s a good time to be a teenager, especially in Australia. First kiss, fellatio, sex, a whole new world (two puns follow: a whore new world and a hole new world) is opening. After Ellie Linton’s father approved her request for camping with friends (just one this time: cumping with friends), she was very happy, not knowing what will follow. A couple of calls later and they are all ready for an adventure. And an adventure it will be, as they are headed for the remote wilderness in the Australian outback, a storm is brewing. That night they saw a fucktone of combat planes flying over them. In efforts to figure out this, they missed one word: invasion. It would appear that Australia has been invaded by China…

If you’re thinking that this is an original idea because it’s based on a novel, you are wrong. Red Dawn [1984] has pretty much the same story, which is the same story for its remake Red Dawn [2012]. Finally, the thing that inspired all three movies is the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005 by Time magazine.

Anywhoo lets get back to our movie that honors almost every possible stereotype about Australia (I guess the crocks and Aborigine are missing) and every Hollywood teen movie stereotype. Although all of the actresses are extremely hot, nudity in Tomorrow, When the War Began is scarce, consisting of an occasional sideboob or two. Because this is not an American movie, it looks and feels more serious, but you just can’t escape the fact that these are actually teenagers fighting an army. Still, we were all young once…