The Librarian III: The Curse of the Judas Chalice

Just forget that this is a Made-for-Cable (TNT) movie, THE LIBRARIAN: THE CURSE OF THE JUDAS CHALICE is such a well made Film, with a fun pulp story with great acting and decent visual effects, it easily rivals theatrical releases.

Noah Wyle is back as Flynn Carson, The geeky Historian/Adventurer - this time around after retrieving the philosophical stone at an auction house in London and getting dumped by his Girlfriend in the process, Judson (Bob Newhart) and Charlene (Jane Curtin) decide that Flynn needs a Holiday, especially after his meltdown at the Library, so Flynn travels to New Orleans for a break away from his work as 'The Librarian'

His Holiday doesn't last for very long as an incredibly sexy & mysterious woman Simone Renoir (the gorgeous Stana Katic 'Castle') A guardian to a key which gives clues to finding the Judas Chalice (An artifact capable of resurrecting vampires) needs Flynn's help, because a former Russian defence minister is after the Chalice himself so that he can resurrect Vlad the Vampire along with the forced assistance of Professor Lazlo, an acclaimed Historian who they kidnap (Bruce Davidson).

The Direction by Jonathan Frakes is first class, The acting by all is solid - Wyle,Newhart and Curtin give very likable performances as always and Stana Katic is such a mesmerizing beauty. The Visual effects (considering this is a TNT Movie) are outstanding.

THE LIBRARIAN: CURSE OF THE JUDAS CHALICE is just such an entertaining Film from start to finish - I have thoroughly enjoyed all 3 'Librarian' movies - They are the most superior quality of TVMs that I have ever seen, and would love to see another!

In bygone days people used to read cheap magazines printed on cheap pulp paper. These were full of stories which, if not particularly literary, were full of action, color and plot. Later these moved to the movie serials and B movies, whence they were lifted, in the 1970s and 1980s, as the inspiration for movies like RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, ROMANCING THE STONE and STAR WARS. This TV movie, third in the series, is in that vein.

CURSE OF THE OF JUDAS CHALICE is no ground-breaking movie, but it is enormous fun, with a script full of hip, self-aware humor -- Noah Wyle explains the key plot points as he goes along, and is twitted for always speaking in complete paragraphs -- action and a sexy vampiress. There is nothing in this that is original -- I could do a little digging and produce a list of where the key plot points and shots were lifted from -- but it is done with such good humor, that the viewer will have few, if any complaints about the result.

My sole complaint is that Bob Newhart is not on screen long enough with his deadpan delivery. You can't do much better for a dull afternoon's time-waster.

As I recall, Spielberg created "Raiders of the Lost Ark" with the idea of recreating "Saturday afternoon" movies with a little something for everyone--humor, high-stakes, scary moments, spectacle.

"The Librarian" series has the same aim and hits it well, so you're guaranteed sheer mindless entertainment. Noah Wylie's geeky "Librarian" keeps saving the day with lots of knowledge and few social graces, generally making a fool of himself along the way. Bob Newhart and Jane Curtain are such steady pros, they make you laugh without appearing to try. There's a well-cast requisite gorgeous girl in each show, and thankfully these female characters can hold their own and do as much rescuing as being rescued. Plus, it's nice to see a series that shows the value of knowledge and learning, even if Flynn has taken that idea a bit far. Geeks and friends of geeks will see much that hits home.

The special effects are good rather than great, but they work just fine. This series doesn't have the massive special effects budget that most blockbuster movies have. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing, since many big-budget movies overuse special effects to substitute for plot and character, without making the movie or the effects more interesting.

I enjoyed Librarian #3 "Curse of the Judas Chalice" probably even more than the prior 2 in the series. I loved the New Orleans setting, the female lead Stana Katic, plus this time they left out Flynn's mother (a not well written character). Watch the movies in sequence if you can. I'm recommending the series to several friends, and I'm looking forward to seeing more!

This third installment in the popular ¨The Librarian¨ franchise (1ª: Quest of the spear-2004- by Peter Winther and 2ª: Return to King Salomon's mines-2006- by Jonathan Frakes) starts with our intimate friend Flynn Carsen (Noah Wyle), he must encounter the ancient Judas chalice , a silver cup obtained by Judas Iscariote with the thirty coins after selling Jesuschrist . Meanwhile , Flynn is having problems , he just doesn't time for his life and relationship . Watching his young protégé is starting to burn out , Judson (Bob Newhart) gives Carsen some well deserved holidays . He goes to Bayou New Orleans , the Big easy , he enters a night club where sees a wonderful singer named Simone Renoir (Stana Katic). She identifies as Librarian and asks him for his help . An old scroll once belonging to Vlad Dracul -the famous and four hundred years old vampire- has been robbed from a museum by a Russian band commanded by an ex KGB agent and is rumored that the Judas chalice has the power to bring Prince of Romania back to life . The incredible adventures led them to a vessel where find the remains of the notorious pirate Jean Lafitte .

The mild-mannered as well as bungler Flynn Carsen strikes again with new adventures set on exotic places . The intrepid adventurer/librarian/explorer , though quite botcher gets his aims after several risks , dangers and uncountable adventures . Flyn is assigned various missions around the world and recover priceless objects guarded into the Metropolitan Library of New York where are the ark of Noe , the fountain of youth , Excalibur or Arturo's blade... Along with Noah Wyle appear the usual secondaries , as a deadpan Bob Newhart , Jane Curtin and Bruce Davison as professor Lazlo , though this time isn't the sympathetic Olympia Dukakis habitually playing as the Flyn's mother . The film was well produced for TV by Dean Devlin (¨Stargate¨ , ¨Godzilla¨ , ¨Independence day¨) in partnership with TNT and compellingly directed by Jonathan Frakes . He's the famous commandant Riker , and an expert director on Sci-Fi genre , as ¨Clockstoppers¨ , ¨ThunderBirds¨ and television episodes : ¨Star Trek¨ , ¨Masters of Sci-Fi¨ , ¨Roswell¨ ,¨ Twlight zone¨. Rating : Acceptable and passable, this exciting adventure has all the imagination , magic and silliness this kind of amusing demands .

I enjoyed the 2nd installment of this series better than the original movie (and I enjoyed the original a lot!), but I believe that they've improved yet again with the 3rd installment in the series.

"Curse of the Judas Chalice" had the same light hearted and comic view of Indianna Jones style adventure, but I found the plot to be deeper and more surprising. This series has a surprising character turn as part of its 'formula' in each installment. This time the surprise was two-fold. Although I saw one of them coming well in advance, the other one got me.

These movies are ideal family fare ... amusing and entertaining for adults without including content inappropriate for even young children. Such movies are hard to find these days, but the Librarian series pulls it off solidly.