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Submitted by Steve

The second film in the Apocalypse series.

POOPER:
The Day of Wonders is the day the world must either choose to take the mark of the beast or die.  Stone successfully uploads the virus, preventing the program from running.  Stone becomes a believer and joins the resistance.

LONG VERSION:
Set three months after the events of the first film, Thorold Stone (Jeff Fahey) is an agent of One Nation Earth, or O.N.E., a police/security force charged with the round-up of Christians.  His wife and daughter disappeared on the day of the rapture.  After he and his partner arrest the members of an underground church accused of blowing up a school bus, Stone receives a CD from one of the members who was a former member of O.N.E.  She claims that believers, or “haters” as the world now calls them, are being framed by O.N.E. for committing various crimes, and the contents of the CD will show the world the true plans of President Franco Macalousso (Nick Mancuso).  The world believes Macalousso is the Messiah, but is actually the Anti-Christ.  Stone and his partner are about to leave the scene when they come across the men who were actually responsible for the bombing, one of whom was holding the detonator.  While in pursuit, they run into Len Parker (David Roddis), the former head of the WNN news network who now runs O.N.E.  Len shoots the two agents, thinking he killed both, but Stone survived.  He then walked through a wall to escape.  Back at O.N.E. headquarters, he learns that Stone is still alive and might have the CD.  He then orders him to be shot on sight and to recover the CD.

Now in hiding, Stone goes to Willie (Tony Nappo), a wheelchair-bound engineer friend who confirms the detonator is from O.N.E., which proves the haters are correct when they say they are being framed.  It gets them wondering what else Macalousso is lying about.  Stone also learns that the CD is part of a virtual reality program called the Day of Wonders that Macalousso plans on revealing in a few days.  As part of the Day of Wonders, O.N.E. is delivering a virtual reality helmet to every person in the world.  Stone and Willie decide to take the CD to the hideout of a local group of haters, since Willie’s step-sister is one of them.  That step-sister is Helen Hannah (Leigh Lewis), the WNN anchor from the first film.  She escaped from the O.N.E. and is now the head of the local resistance movement.  The people Stone arrested at the beginning of the film are also members of the resistance.  Since Willie is unable to hack into the Day of Wonders CD, it’s decided to have someone break into the headquarters and upload a virus onto the Day of Wonders mainframe.  They believe that this will show the world who Macalousso really is.  While this is going on, Helen is trying to convince Stone that God does exist and that Macalousso is not the Messiah but the Anti-Christ.  Stone tells her that if God existed, why did He allow his mother to die of cancer when he specifically prayed for her to live.

Parker eventually tracks down Stone and tells him that he has his wife and daughter.  If Stone turns himself in, Parker will let them go.  In reality, Parker is impersonating their voices.  Helen tells Stone it’s a trick, but he is unconvinced.  However, he does volunteer to go to the headquarters and will upload the virus.  Meanwhile, Willie is finally able to hack into the Day of Wonders CD.  With the help of Cindy (Carol Alt), another resistance member who is blind, they finally see what’s on the CD.  Macalousso will take away all of their physical deformities if they agree to renounce God and worship him.  To show their proof, they will wear the mark of the beast.  Willie and Cindy take the mark, and they are no longer handicapped.  They come out of the program and demand to know from Helen the location of the other resistance groups.  She refuses to tell them and escapes from the hideout.

Willie calls Stone on a walkie-talkie and tells him he must access the program before he can upload the virus.  Stone puts on a helmet and sees Macalousso, along with Stone’s family.  He tells him they can be reunited forever if he just takes the mark.  Stone realizes that what Helen said about Macalousso is the truth, and refuses to take the mark.  He decides then to become a believer in God, and Macalousso rewards that decision by making his wife and daughter disappear and puts him in a guillotine.  Even though they are in a virtual reality program, the guillotine is real.  Just as Stone’s head is about to be cut off, Helen arrives at the headquarters and takes off the helmet.  Stone tells her he was serious about the decision and begins to upload the virus.  Before it can finish, Stone and Helen are captured by Parker and his men and placed inside the building’s furnace.  They are joined by the other members of the resistance Stone captured earlier.  As they sing Amazing Grace, Parker turns on the furnace, which should burn them alive.  Incredibly, they are unharmed by the flames.  Meanwhile, the virus has finished uploading and the Day of Wonders program is destroyed.  Back at the furnace, Parker turns the flames up all the way, but the people inside won’t burn.  Parker then opens the door, which causes him to burn up and eventually burn down the O.N.E. headquarters, which is attributed to Helen and the resistance movement.

The movie ends the next day.  All of the members of the resistance, including Stone and Helen, watch a speech from Macalousso.  He says that the haters have committed another crime against world peace and ruined the Day of Wonders.  However, it was only delayed, not destroyed.