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Today I took myself to the movies to see Tomorrow When the War Began
I have to admit, the trailer had me worried that they were going to turn this dearly beloved childhood book into "Home and Away Goes to War". I should've known better. Pretty much every Aussie actor goes through Neighbours or Home and Away (or, lately, H2O: Just Add Water) to earn their stripes, and while the acting in this was a bit patchy, you could tell they were all trying their hardest and each character actually stood out fairly well. This is a good, faithful adaptation of the book without being stodgy or weighed down by forcing too many plot moments in. There are a couple of stilted Important Speeches that feel a little too much like a literary thought, but there are also some cool 'splosions. One of the coolest things about this series is that in this group of teenagers who start guerilla attacks on the army that invaded their country, their leader, and the main character, is a girl. This film passes the Bechdel test with flying colours, has fantastic girl interactions, and the female characters are fleshed out and interesting - basically, it's kind of a feminist wet dream. Not only that, but the boys are cute AND the lead character's love interest is of Asian descent. How crazy is that? There is also a brilliant moment where two of the girls are discussing the complexities of boys, oblivious to the enemy forces sneak up beside them - a perfect summary of these ordinary teen girls stuck in an extraordinary situation. Andy Ryan runs away with a couple of scenes as a stoner who kind of sees the start of the war as a lark, and provides some surreal humour and a very strong moment. The movie LOOKS fantastic, too - not surprising as it was shot by Stuart Beattie. I think they try a little too hard sometimes to make it more Australian for overseas audiences, and Rachel Hurd-Wood's English-Australian accent seems to have been adopted by all the girls in the cast, but it's a top effort at an action adventure film for Australian audiences.
3.5 out of 5
Green Queen
I have to admit, the trailer had me worried that they were going to turn this dearly beloved childhood book into "Home and Away Goes to War". I should've known better. Pretty much every Aussie actor goes through Neighbours or Home and Away (or, lately, H2O: Just Add Water) to earn their stripes, and while the acting in this was a bit patchy, you could tell they were all trying their hardest and each character actually stood out fairly well. This is a good, faithful adaptation of the book without being stodgy or weighed down by forcing too many plot moments in. There are a couple of stilted Important Speeches that feel a little too much like a literary thought, but there are also some cool 'splosions. One of the coolest things about this series is that in this group of teenagers who start guerilla attacks on the army that invaded their country, their leader, and the main character, is a girl. This film passes the Bechdel test with flying colours, has fantastic girl interactions, and the female characters are fleshed out and interesting - basically, it's kind of a feminist wet dream. Not only that, but the boys are cute AND the lead character's love interest is of Asian descent. How crazy is that? There is also a brilliant moment where two of the girls are discussing the complexities of boys, oblivious to the enemy forces sneak up beside them - a perfect summary of these ordinary teen girls stuck in an extraordinary situation. Andy Ryan runs away with a couple of scenes as a stoner who kind of sees the start of the war as a lark, and provides some surreal humour and a very strong moment. The movie LOOKS fantastic, too - not surprising as it was shot by Stuart Beattie. I think they try a little too hard sometimes to make it more Australian for overseas audiences, and Rachel Hurd-Wood's English-Australian accent seems to have been adopted by all the girls in the cast, but it's a top effort at an action adventure film for Australian audiences.
3.5 out of 5
Green Queen
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I was a bit worried when Lincoln Lewis was cast, then I had a seat next to him at the Stargate convention and figured he can't be all that bad ;)
The way that Chris was portrayed actually irked me. I didn't like his speech in the middle. Or more to the point I didn't like the way it was delivered, as it was, from memory, essentially ripped straight from the book.