Left Behind II:
Tribulation Force

As the Antichrist fortifies his position in the End Times, a small band of true believers look to stand in his way

	Left Behind II: Tribulation Force
	Starring Kirk Cameron, Brad Johnson, Chelsea Noble, Clarence Gilyard, Gordon Currie and Janaya Stephens
	Directed by Bill Corcoran
	Screenplay by Pamela Wallace
	Based on the novel by Jerry B. Jenkins and the Rev. Tim LaHaye
	Cloud Ten Pictures
	94 min.
	MSRP: $29.95 DVD, $27.95 VHS

By Matthew McGowan

t's been a week since millions of Earth's inhabitants mysteriously vanished into thin air. And while desperate family members hang posters of the missing, martial law is declared in an attempt to hold back the tide of chaos that threatens to overtake communities across the globe.

Looking to restore some peace and order to the world, the U.N. empowers Secretary-General Nicolae Carpathia (Currie) to declare one world currency, an act the suspiciously appealing leader follows up by consolidating the world's media and—after railing about religious divisiveness tearing the planet apart—preparing to declare one world religion.

None of this sits well with the Tribulation Force, a small band of Christians who have come to realize that the recent disappearances were actually The Rapture (as prophesied in the Book of Revelation), and that Nicolae Carpathia is none other than the Antichrist himself.

Leading the fight to spread the truth are pastor Bruce Barnes (Gilyard), airline pilot Rayford Steele (Johnson), his feisty daughter Chloe (Stephens) and renowned television journalist Buck Williams (Cameron), who has witnessed Carpethia's disguised evil before and will come face to face with it again.

Because of the trust he engenders worldwide, Williams is sought out by Carpethia to help the secretary-general communicate to the world in these difficult times. Williams accepts, but with his own agenda in mind—access to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, which was closed off to the public after a mysterious incident in which several men were burned alive, and at which the Tribulation Force suspects some Christian truth is being revealed.

At the same time, though, Williams is asked to cover a press conference to be given by the world's leading religious scholar, Rabbi Ben Judah, who supposedly has a message of the greatest religious significance. But what will that message be?

The apocalypse itself would be preferable

Like its 2000 predecessor, Left Behind, Left Behind II: Tribulation Force is based on the hit series of Christian apocalyptic novels by author Jerry B. Jenkins and the Rev. Tim LaHaye, so it's no surprise that viewers get more of the same in this installment—much self-righteous proselytizing on film that's really only marginally entertaining.

Even shorter on action than the first movie, Tribulation Force might call itself a religio-political thriller, if it weren't for the fact that its "thrilling" elements are mostly flat. The plot just sort of bleeds along, clumsily interspersed with the occasional scene of romance (between Buck and Chloe), conversion (of non-believers allowed a few doubting-Thomas lines in order to prove the truths of the faith) and gospel preaching—all of which are fairly hackneyed. And what production-value ground the film gains with its decent cinematography it loses with its set design, in which the occasional overturned chair, broken window and dim and dirty street stand in for the end of the world.

Unfortunately, things like laughable names and ridiculous accents (i.e., Carpathia's B-grade Oldman Dracula) don't help Tribulation Force's cast of characters, who, though occasionally three-dimensional in their human/sinful shortcomings, are mostly just uninteresting and unappealing. And while viewers might be able to see the boy-faced Cameron as a world-renowned journalist if they really try, the former Growing Pains star (sans "Boner") is somewhat off in the timing department here.

But perhaps some of the most offensive things about this movie are its relations to current events. At best, capitalizing on sentiments that have become inextricably linked with Sept. 11 (via shots of walls of posters of missing loved ones, an entire subplot of an injured firefighter and the remarkably WTC-like towers that appear in the background of the video's boxcover) and (literally!) demonizing things like the U.N. and the critique of religion is of dubious taste; at worst, it's irresponsible. Not quite entertainment, not quite a sermon, Tribulation Force is some strange (if not creepy) hybrid. Sermontainment?

I think one of my "favorite" scenes has to do with the character Ivy Gold (gotta love those names). Before she turns to Jesus, Ivy, a co-worker of Buck's, is a spunky, "alternative" type—you know, funky clothes, braids, looks like a backpacker, the whole works. Post-conversion, Ivy's alternativeness translates into her wearing a honkin' beret (pulled way down on her head—Monica Lewinski-style?) in church. Time of tribulation indeed! — Matt

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