This Australian action drama, adapted from John Marsden’s book, follows the path of eight teenagers on their quest to save their town from a foreign army that has taken it hostage for no apparent reason. This quest leads them to do things they would never have imagined and teaches them many things about themselves and about their friends. Director: Stuart Beattie Screenplay: Stuart Beattie Producers: Andrew Mason, Michael Boughen Cinematographer: Ben Nott Editor: Marcus D’Arcy Studio: Ambience Entertainment Omnilab Media Starring: Rachel Hurd-Wood, Caitlin Stasey, Phoebe Tonkin, Lincoln Lewis, Deniz Akdeniz, Chris Pang, Ashleigh Cummings, Andy Ryan, Colin Friels Running time: 104 minutes Age Restriction: 13 LV
The film is set in a small town, Wirrawee, where seven teenagers set out on a camping trip before they have to go back to school. They decide to go out into the forest further than they usually venture, to a place call Hell. A few days are spent having fun and enjoying each other’s company. They take no notice of several hundreds of military aircraft flying over them the one night.
They return home to find the entire town deserted and all the phone and internet lines not working. They begin to wonder what happened while they were away and start searching each of their homes for any sign of life. The only life that was found was Kevin (played by Lincoln Lewis)'s dog. Kevin insists that the dog must tag along with them on their search.
They split up to find more information about the bizarre situation and find that the entire town is being held captive by a foreign army at the Carnival. Ellie (played by Caitlin Stasey), one of the teenagers, witnessed a man being executed because he was fighting back to the soldiers. She is then spotted by a spotlight and they then need to flee from the soldiers chasing after them.
The group then gathers and decides that the only safe place for them to be is where they had been camping, in Hell. They encounter several problems on the way and Lee (played by Chris Pang) gets shot. Luckily, a doctor who is also hiding out from the soldiers comes out and helps Lee. They continue on quest back to Hell and decide to stop at a house on the way to rest. They find Chris, a stoner who has no idea as to what is going on. Chris then joins the pack.
Back in Hell they have a nice campsite set up and manage to get some rest. However, they feel that they can’t sit back and do nothing so they decide to go back to fight for their town. They devise a plan to blow up the bridge that will deny the army access to the town. This part is probably the only part in the film that keeps you interested as it gets quite intense.
The acting is appalling and the Australian accents worse. The film starts off slowly with you thinking that something is going to happen and its going to improve, but it never really seems to reach its pinnacle. There are several things in the film that just don’t make sense and the end leaves you with many unanswered questions. These questions could lead to a sequel, but I hope that it doesn’t for our sanity.
The only good thing that film has to offer is the soundtrack, however that is not enough. I would not recommend this movie as there are no enjoyable parts in it besides the end credits, which were done in a clever, animated way.
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