Consistently, predictably, dependably, unwaveringly ERRATIC

Holy shit, I had no idea Tomorrow When The War Began was being made into a movie! For those who do not know the series, Australia is invaded by an unnamed army; a bunch of rural kids who were out camping when the invasion happened escape capture and become guerilla fighters. I loved these books as a teenager, they were awesome. I loved that the main character was female. I loved that the teenagers were still teenagers. They did some amazing things but they still made mistakes, still got caught up by rampaging hormones, still had to deal with fear and grief and trauma. They were teenagers fighting a war they'd never expected but they weren't superheroes. Sometimes I wanted them to do better, to do more, but part of the point of the books was that they were kids, not legends, not superheroes. They could still bleed. They could still die. They didn't have special skills or knowledge. They were better off for being rural kids, some of whom could drive, were used to manual labour and knew about machinery and explosives. And they used what they knew. But they didn't know anything unexpected.

Looking at the trailer, the casting seems pretty faithful to the books - except for the lead, Ellie. But that may be faulty memory on my part (I thought she was blonde.) And Caitlin Stasey looks rather more striking and elegant than I ever imagined Ellie. *shrugs* But that's my imaginings.

Overall, I'm fairly impressed by the trailer. It looks Australian, the kids look Australian and I recognised a lot of things from the book. And Ellie and Lee's romance! Corrie and Kevin! Homer being struck dumb by Fi! The dialogue sounds a bit stilted but ... yeah, it works better on paper. Aside from that ... I really want to see this. 

Oh and all those explosions? That's not Hollywood ramping up the action factor. These kids are really good at blowing shit up.

(They have managed to collect some niftier guns, though.)

I started reading the books again today. It's been a few years but they're still terrific. John Marsden wrote a number of books besides the Tomorrow series that featured in my teenage years. All with female protagonists. And they're all still on my shelves and they will remain there. *firm nod*