Movies

Suspenseful and action packed, Tomorrow, When the War Began is a successful big-screen adaptation of John Marsden's beloved novel.

Director Stuart Beattie — in his first outing at the helm after racking up a formidable resume of writing credits including Pirates of the Caribbean and Collateral — captures the atmosphere of rural Australia as well as the resilient spirit of youth faced with unspeakable horror.

Tomorrow follows eight high school friends in the remote country town of Wirrawee, who set off on a camping trip to an area appropriately called Hell. But when the group returns, they discover Wirrawee has been invaded by foreign soldiers and the entire population rounded up like cattle at a prison camp.

Realising capture means certain death, the teens flee the enemy presence and devise a plan to save their friends and family.

Tomorrow has the look and feel of a Hollywood movie. Key action scenes, from a truck chase to a bridge explosion, are staged on a grand scale. Beattie doesn't shy away from the violence, either — the first death is surprisingly graphic (parents, leave small children at home).

The performances are inconsistent. In a cast of Aussie soap stars and unknowns, some rise to the occasion (Deniz Akdeniz as Homer and Ashleigh Cummings as Robyn are naturals) while others are stiff (Rachel Hurd-Wood as Corrie). And in condensing Marsden's book into a two-hour feature, Beattie's script makes some unrealistic leaps in character development.

But when a movie is as entertaining as Tomorrow, faults are largely irrelevant. This is a promising start to what will hopefully be a long-running local franchise.