Tomorrow, When the War Began Released 8 April 2011 Director Stuart Beattie Starring Caitlin Stasey, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lincoln Lewis, Deniz Akdeniz, Phoebe Tonkin, Chris Pang, Ashleigh Cummings Writer(s) Stuart Beattie Producer(s) Michael Boughen, Andrew Mason Origin Australia, United States Running Time 103 minutes Genre Action, adventure, drama Rating 12A

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The Chinese are coming! The Chinese are coming!

Red Dawn was the 1984 John Milius film that starred the late Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen, who’s been in the papers somewhat lately. It was the story of how a group of young American kids took up arms after their country was invaded by the Soviet Union. Even at the height of the Cold War, many critics dismissed it as a ludicrous, right wing paranoid fantasy. However it gathered something of a cult following and two years ago, a remake was announced, with the invading army coming from China now that the Soviet Union is defunct.

On first inspection they appear to have make some odd choices for the remake. Instead of America, they’ve moved the action to Australia and they’ve changed the name to the more cumbersome Tomorrow, When the War Began. Hang on though, turns out that this isn’t the actual remake of Red Dawn at all, though you’d be forgiven for thinking so, such are the similarities in the plot. The actual Red Dawn remake, which has been delayed by the financial problems of its studio MGM, is still to arrive later in the year.

Tomorrow, When the War Began is actually based on a well-loved series of novels written by John Marsden in the ‘90s. Though their plot was similar to Red Dawn, they were less concerned with politics and more focused on how a group of teens would react to finding themselves suddenly in a war situation.

The film begins amiably enough with life-long best mates Ellie (Caitlin Stasey) and Corrie (Rachel Hurd-Wood) planning a camping trip to celebrate Ellie’s upcoming eighteenth birthday. They invite a mix of stereotypes on the trip with them. There’s Corrie’s jock boyfriend Kevin (Lincoln Lewis), Ellie’s rebellious next-door neighbour Homer (Deniz Akdeniz), ditzy blonde Fiona (Phoebe Tonkin) and religious goody-two-shoes Robin (Ashleigh Cummings). The last but most unlikely member of the group is Lee (Chris Pang) an Asian guy invited by Ellie, who has the hots for him.

They set off on the trip to a remote part of the outback they jokingly nickname ‘hell’. On the last night though they notice a load of planes flying overhead. On return to their homes the next day, they find their houses deserted, their parents missing and power and phone lines cut. It transpires that those planes had been carrying troops that have taken over the country. The country of origin of the troops is never clearly stated, they’re just called ‘coalition’ troops of Asian nations, but let’s face it, it’s pretty clear it’s meant to be China.

The seven, plus a stoner they pick up along the way called Chris (another stereotype checked off the list), go on the run, desperately trying to evade capture by the troops. Eventually they band together and decide they have to fight back, using guerrilla tactics.

This is the directorial debut of Australian screenwriter Stuart Beattie who has scripted the first Pirates of the Caribbean film and Collateral. He’s also written some real garbage though like 30 Days of Night and G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra, which is possibly one of the worst films ever made. He certainly hasn’t done his cast any favours with a seriously cheesy script. It reads like a soap opera and is acted the same way, not surprising since most of the cast are drawn from the likes of Neighbours and Home and Away.

In truth the actors do their best but none of them really convince as teenagers as they all look too old, indeed they’re nearly all in their early twenties in real life. Plus, they all look too perfectly beautiful for real teenagers to be able to identify with them. Hiring an Asian actor to play Lee, whose ethnic background was never revealed in the books, seems to be a cynical piece of casting designed to offset accusations of racism. Well you can’t criticise them for promoting paranoid hatred of Asians if one of the group is Asian, can you?

Too much of the film is a set-up for future sequels, which have already been commissioned, as the film was a big hit in Australia. In truth the action scenes are done pretty well, especially considering the budget wouldn’t have been huge.

It’s hard to see this film getting much of an audience in the world market though. It might have played well to right-wing Australians who are used to soap opera acting, but the rest of the world will probably just consider it a rather silly, poorly written mess.

- Jim O’Connor