In this study, we first present a classical finite element (FE) method for a two-dimensional (2D) viscoelastic wave equation and analyze the existence, stability, and convergence of the FE solutions. Then we establish an optimized FE extrapolating (OFEE) method based on a proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method for the 2D viscoelastic wave equation and analyze the existence, stability, and convergence of the OFEE solutions and furnish the implement procedure of the OFEE method. Finally, we furnish a numerical example to verify that the numerical computing results correspond with the theoretical ones. This signifies that the OFEE method is feasible and efficient for solving the 2D viscoelastic wave equation.