2012: The Rise Of Africa!

Africa rises in director Roland Emmerich's new megaflick "2012," literally. I would almost include the entire developing world if it wasn't for the annihilation of India and parts of South America. Rich nations are totally wiped out. One after another - the US, Germany, France, Canada, Britain, Japan - are swallowed up by the shifting earth's crust or tsunamis the size of the himalayas. This could be interpreted as revenge for all the crap the industrialized world has dumped on the planet until you realize at the end that a small fleet of gigantic "arks," (as in Noah), are enroute to Africa to begin the process of "civilization" all over again. Nice subtext. Ugh! Those poor people.

The film itself is decent entertainment - the visuals, special affects and most of the performances put it above Armageddon or Independence Day. But it's rife with a dour kind of melodrama and dialogue that sticks in the teeth, if not to the camera lens.