The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice
TV Series Review
If you missed the original release of The Librarian television series produced by Dean Devlin and directed by Jonathan Frakes, you are in luck! The three installments (The Librarian: Quest for the Spear, The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines and The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice) are on DVD. This is no ordinary action-adventure film series; filled with humor and a very unique main character that is very relatable.
The main character known as The Librarian is not the generic run-of-the-mill librarian type that works in a Library. Flynn Carsen (portrayed by Noah Wyle) is an avid bookworm who loves to study and is forced to find an occupation. During his unenthusiastic employment seeking (in The Librarian: Quest for the Spear), Flynn receives an unusual invitation from the New York Metropolitan Library. The decision to accept the invitation precipitates his becoming hired as the most unusual artifact hunter known as The Librarian. Flynn finds himself way over his head in a world of adventures, including searching for an artifact in King Solomon's Mines (in The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines), that few get to experience within a lifetime.
This third film of The Librarian series was not a disappointment. This TV movie instead was as good as the other two in the trilogy. The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice stood on its own; had an excellent plot plus great special effects.
The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice did stretch the believability factor with vampires existing, but this did not detract from the film; instead gave the plot more substance and validity as to the importance of locating the artifact, the Judas Chalice, that can bring dead vampires back to life. This installment further pointed out how stressful being The Librarian truly is and that even Flynn Carsen needs a vacation, some time to himself.
The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice begins with Flynn Carsen being dumped by his current and third girlfriend. Flynn is very upset when explains to Judson (Bob Newhart), his boss, and Charlene (Jane Curtin), the Library's accountant, that his girlfriend has left him and demands his time off. A Charlene point out Flynn has some personal time accrued. He immediately goes home for some personal time; completely engrossing himself in his favorite past-time, studying with his books.
After a few days, Charlene visits Flynn to see how he is, and upon realizing what he is doing, hands him vacation spot brochures. He thanks her, but ignores her advice. In a dream, a beautiful woman with a New Orleans French accent beckons to Flynn; asking for his help. Upon awakening he decides Charlene's idea to go on a vacation is exactly what he needs. Flynn finds the New Orleans vacation brochure among the others Charlene had left. He makes the decision to visit New Orleans.
This leads him into a vacation Flynn will never forget which includes accidentally bumping into Simone (Stana Katic), the woman from his dream, and becoming entangled in another adventure and search for a lost artifact, the Judas Chalice. Simone and Flynn team up. They do their utmost throughout the remainder of the movie to keep the Judas Chalice from an insidious group run by ex-KGB Senior Agent Kubicheck (Dikran Tulaine). Kubicheck wants to use the Judas Chalice to raise from the dead the infamous Count Vlad Dracul, the Impaler (more commonly known as Count Dracula), who according to Romanian lore was the most notorious vampire and had a very large army of undead. Kubicheck wants Count Vlad Dracul and his undead army under his command in order to instigate the return of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) for world domination.
The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice had me on the edge of my seat throughout the 1 hour 30 minutes in length; just right. Noah Wyle, Bob Newhart, and Jane Curtin are expert in their roles as the primary characters who work for the New York Metropolitan Library. The rest of the cast were also perfect in their roles. The bitter-sweet ending made the entire film worth watching.
Other cast members for included: Bruce Davison (Professor Lazlo, an historian), Jason Douglas (Ivan, henchman in league with Kubicheck), Beth Burvant (Katie, the girlfriend who dumped Flynn Carsen), Joe Knezevich (Mason), Joe Ross (Mr. Percy), Werner Richmond (Andrew), Armando L. Leduc (George), and Stephen David Calhoun (Nicolai, henchman in league with Kubicheck).
The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice was originally released in 2008 and is rated NR. The subject matter throughout the entire The Librarian series seemed most appropriate for pre-teen through adult. This parent and grandmother does not recommend these for young children due to there are certain scary or adventure scenes they might find too disturbing. Parental discretion is recommended.
If you are a Noah Wylie, Bob Newhart or Jane Curtin fan, you will want to see the entire The Librarian TV movie series. Are you an action and adventure movie fan? If so, put the entire The Librarian Trilogy on your "must see" list. I further highly recommend this fantastic and fun series as a great way to spend quality time with one's pre-teen and teenagers!
Enjoy!
