Tomorrow (December 7th, 2008), TNT has an all new Sunday night beginning with the third installment of The Librarian series followed by the series premiere of Leverage (as you can read in our review, the best new show of the year). Since we have already reviewed Leverage, it’s time that we give you the scoop on the third (and self proclaimed final) Librarian movie.
For those of you who haven’t seen the first two movies (myself included), The Librarian series follows Flynn Carson a genius who is part of an organization that searches around the world for ancient artifacts in order to keep them out of the hands of people who would use them for their own nefarious plans. This time Flynn is after the Judas Chalice that has the power of bringing people back to life as vampires and also gives vampires unlimited power.
Since I had not actually seen the first two Librarians, I went into my screener copy of the latest film with little knowledge about the series. While it would probably be better to see the previous films, there really is no need to since the movie is easy to follow even without prior knowledge of the series.
You might be wondering if you should even bother watching The Librarian Curse of the Judas Chalice? While it isn’t the best movie I have ever seen and you can tell at times that this is a TV film, it is still a very good TV movie.
For those of you who haven’t seen the previous movies I would probably compare it to Indiana Jones, National Treasure and every other treasure hunting movie created. This movie is less realistic than all of those movies though. If you’re looking for a realistic treasure hunting movie The Librarian is probably not your cup of tea. If you don’t mind some sci-fi mixed with your treasure hunting you should enjoy the film quite a bit.
The story overall is solid. While the movie has some funny moments, I wish the film would have added at least a little more since the points where they added in humor were probably the best parts of the film. As I mentioned earlier, you can tell at times that this is a TV movie. What I meant by that is at times you can tell that this movie didn’t have nearly the same budget as major motion pictures. I think the script could have used a little work and the special effects are only serviceable. What more do you really expect out of a TV movie? While I might seem to be harsh on the movie, it is just because I think it could have compared well with some major motion picture releases if the movie was polished up a little. The Librarian is still one of the best TV movies I have ever seen.
Overall the acting is pretty solid overall. Noah Wyle is good in the title role even though I think he could have made the character a little nerdier since he is a nerd afterall. Bob Newhart is good in his limited role and Jane Curtin was also decent. Bruce Davison and Stana Katic could have done a better job though. Bruce Davison’s character was pretty boring and Stana Katic’s accent was hard to understand and pretty annoying.
While The Librarian Curse of the Judas Chalice wasn’t a great movie, you really can’t find a better TV movie. If you are a fan of treasure seeking movies and don’t mind a little sci-fi mixed in I think you should enjoy the film and should check it out tomorrow on TNT at 8/7 C. Also be sure to check out Leverage afterwords since as I have already mentioned it is the best new show of the year.
