It's the year 2040 and only ten percent of the land remains above the water. Global Warming has melted the ice caps and the water is still rising. A father (James Brolin) and his two sons run a salvage operation. In the first scene they are in the Los Angeles basin, which is covered in hundreds of feet of water. They recover a book and Jack (Ian Somerhalder of VAMPIRE DIARIES) is almost eaten by a mutant shark. Then, the family goes off to New Rome, where the father delivers the recovered manuscript to a priest. He is looking for a scepter for the Vatican, a scepter once wielded by Moses to part the Red Sea. They think it can make the flood waters recede and enable mankind to reclaim the planet. However, when they go to the hidden burial site mentioned in the book they find a sword there instead, an 800 year old sword that belonged to the Templars. They took the scepter and hid it somewhere in Dresden Germany. So another search is on.
Nicholas Filiminov (Ben Cross), a guy who has the largest real estate holdings on the planet, is also looking for this device. He hires scientist Giovanna Becker. She was Jack's old girlfriend and used to work with them on their boat. As things escalate the father is killed and it's explained to the two sons that he was a member of a secret cult that had been looking for the scepter for thousands of years. Cross wants it so he can raise the water levels even higher, so everyone will have to rent his house boats and pay him rent just to stay alive.
The movie is uneven, going back and forth from a futuristic action to a tame family flick. The special effects shots of the drowned cities are cool, as are the underwater scenes with a drowned out Los Angeles. I was also impressed by that big set piece at the end, when they discover the source of the power. But most of the movie takes place above water. Also, some things didn't make much sense--wouldn't everywhere they went be insanely crowded? And how can the water rise even more if the polar ice caps are already melted? If you are looking for some light fare you'll probably enjoy this.
It's the year 2040 and only ten percent of the land remains above the water. Global Warming has melted the ice caps and the water is still rising. A father (James Brolin) and his two sons run a salvage operation. In the first scene they are in the Los Angeles basin, which is covered in hundreds of feet of water. They recover a book and Jack (Ian Somerhalder of VAMPIRE DIARIES) is almost eaten by a mutant shark. Then, the family goes off to New Rome, where the father delivers the recovered manuscript to a priest. He is looking for a scepter for the Vatican, a scepter once wielded by Moses to part the Red Sea. They think it can make the flood waters recede and enable mankind to reclaim the planet. However, when they go to the hidden burial site mentioned in the book they find a sword there instead, an 800 year old sword that belonged to the Templars. They took the scepter and hid it somewhere in Dresden Germany. So another search is on.
