The Librarian III: The Curse of the Judas Chalice

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 .

The magnetic Stana Katic, less camp, and a touching love story.

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.

The original movie was not terrible and had its moments, but I did find it lacking. The second is an improvement but is pretty much the same. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, the third in the series. It may not be perfect, the effects range from decent to excessively mediocre, some of the explanation of the plot points was rather obvious and unneeded and some of the supporting cast are still underused so that they can't do much with their roles. However, the photography and scenery are splendid, and the score is suitably rousing. The dialogue has its witty and clever moments rather than the tired humour of the first two, and the story while somewhat derivative is actually exciting with some thrilling set pieces. Jane Curtin and Bob Newhart continue to steal the film with their subtly deadpan delivery, while Noah Wyle is at his most natural and likable, Stana Katic is the first female lead to not feel out of place or bland, she is sexy and with some steel, and Bruce Davison is also enjoyable. Overall, very enjoyable and the best of the series. 7/10 Bethany Cox

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!