Tomorrow,When the War Began - 4 stars out of 5 stars

To me this is a updated remake of"Red Dawn"( which I already reviewed)set in Aussie land rather than the US.However there are already 2 sequels in the works. "Tomorrow When the war Began" is the First book in the Series known as the "Tomorrow Series", a series of seven books and a further series known as "The Ellie Chronicles" by Australian Author John Marsden,and THAT is what they claim this movie is based on.No matter,it's still "Red dawn"to me and like many other updated remakes its similar but very different.The concept of a invading Army occupying a advanced western country is so WW11 its laughable and that's what you had to suspend belief on to enjoy both "Dawn" and this film.What I did find interesting is the more realistic interactive male and female relationships of this film than Dawn.Very"Twilightish"and the cast is attractive enough and does a fair job.Not as well as Dawn,but they were really future stars and this cast,well,time will tell.I was least impressed with the lead actress Caitlin Stasey as Ellie Linton.She's no Kristen Stewart of "twilight"fame and if they hope she can carry this franchise like she does,well…..
Thats why I took 1 star off.However its good fantasy fun, but if you really like battles and lots of military action,Dawn is more for you.This is more teenage angst in the face of war.
Released in 2010 it runs 103 minutes and the trailer URL follows the pix and a IMDB summary is below.

When their country is invaded and their families are taken, eight unlikely high school teenagers band together to fight.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3928858905/