War of the Worlds (without aliens)

By Jonathan Fisher, September 2nd, 2010


What a burden of responsibility lies on Stuart Beattie's shoulders. Tomorrow When the War Began is as iconic a piece of adolescent literature as Australia has produced, and seventeen years after its first publication, a big screen adaptation has finally been produced. As a film, Tomorrow Where the War Began is a perfect indicator of the strange place that Australian cinema is at. Gone are the days in which our staple productions were dark personal dramas. The new fare appears to be more populist, high-budget, and (for better or worse) action-oriented -- in other words, more American. There is a problem, though. We don't have the depth of young talent, nor the experience, of Hollywood. Most young Australian actors worth their salt are making a living on American silver screens or television. As a result, the cast of Tomorrow When the War Began -- while attractive and talented -- reads like a who's who of Australian soap operas.

Despite the perils of attempting such a large-scale, lavish action movie with this cast of young up-and-comers, Tomorrow When the War Began is a good film, even if it's clunky at times. The basic premise of the film is this: a group of teenagers from a small Australian town go camping for a weekend. While they are away, a foreign power invades Australia and, when the teens return, their once secure and stable society has completely collapsed.


It was a brilliant premise in John Marsden's book, and it's a brilliant premise again here. The concept of society completely disintegrating is an innately fascinating one; particularly as the world has recently become more willing to accept that all of this affluence could collapse more easily than we'd like to think. The catalyst of society's collapse in this film is an invasion by a foreign power -- a shadowy Asian force, presumably China, or perhaps Japan. A part of me shudders when I consider that it may be North Korea. In other stories it's been invasion by aliens (War of the Worlds), or an epidemic of global proportions (28 Days Later... and Zombieland, which shares some oblique thematic similarities to Tomorrow When the War Began).

Tomorrow When the War Began has an added twist in that its protagonists are young teenagers. The books have a particular appeal (or, at least, they did to me) in that they depict teenagers -- so used to being told that responsibility and maturity are for other people -- demonstrating skills that they are so eager to display: self-reliance, quick thinking, compassion and resourcefulness.

Director Stuart Beattie (an accomplished member of the Australian film industry -- screenwriter of the mega-blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean and the Michael Mann-directed film Collateral) takes a rather schizophrenic approach to this material. On the one hand, he builds a hugely believable scenario, and does the right thing in revealing scant details of the foreign invasion. There are no news broadcasts or other mediums that inform the characters, and us, what is going on. The closest we come to discovering just what has happened is through a frantic cameo by Colin Friels as the local dentist, and a scatter-brained recollection of a bad experience by the local stoner, Chris. There are one or two action sequences (a battle between two fighter jets observed by the teens, a high-stakes road chase involving a garbage truck and several spider-like battle vehicles) that remind us just how far things have fallen through the floor. They are very effective, and the film is worth viewing simply as an example of a brilliant, Australian-made high-budget thriller.

The film's problems lie in its inability (or rather, its limited ability) to really engage with the contentious issues it tries to embrace. Religion, for instance, appears early on to be a subject the film is willing to take a few risks about. One of the teenagers is a devout Christian (or, rather, her parents are devout Christians and... well, monkey see, monkey do), and briefly raises ethical concerns about murdering others to ensure her own survival. This is discussed between the teenagers for the briefest of moments (and with the superficiality that a brief discussion ensures), and then is shelved. Shelved, that is, until the same character has a change of heart and guns down several opposition soldiers. What exactly is the movie saying here? That killing is alright in times of war? That may (or may not) be true, but I was disappointed that in a movie that clearly could say a lot about how ill-equipped teenagers are to deal with the philosophical quandaries posed by religion, decided to almost completely opt out.

With regards to addressing that irritating question (is Tomorrow When the War Began worth watching?), my answer would be yes. I'd also add that if you read, and loved, the book as a teenager, then it's likely that you'll enjoy this adaptation. This is a sturdy, well-made, sometimes thrilling movie. But it could have been a whole lot more. It also could have been a whole lot worse.