The Librarian: Curse Of The Judas Chalice

The third installment in the Librarian franchise more than keeps up with the (Indiana) Joneses. It's unpretentious, good-natured, family-friendly fun without any Crystal Skull-esque letdown. And it's got vampires! Not soulful, swooning high-school vampires, either, but the Big Kahuna of bloodsuckers--Dracula! Noah Wyle returns as Flynn Carsen, the globe-trotting librarian who battles supernatural forces while securing the world's mythical artifacts for the mammoth (and secret) Metropolitan Library. But a disillusioned Flynn needs a vacation after the demands of his job cost him yet another relationship with a woman who cannot deal with "the wild and unpredictable lifestyle of dating a librarian." No sooner does he arrive in New Orleans then he becomes embroiled in a former KGB agent's outrageous plot to restore Russia's former glory by using the eponymous relic to revive Dracula to lead an army of "unkillable soldiers." Throw in a beautiful French chanteuse (Stana Katic) with a secret (suffice to say that when she sings about how she wishes she could feel the sun again, she's not kidding) and a disabled professor and vampire expert (Bruce Davison) and the stage is set for good old fashioned B movie (okay, B+) pleasures, including corny jokes and special effects that work hard for the money. The appealing Wyle, as one character observes of Flynn, "is very convincing as a hapless loser," and he gets invaluable comic support from Jane Curtin, as cost-scrutinizinglibrary administrator Charlene, and Bob Newhart as Flynn's mentor, Judson, who encourages the reluctant hero to "embrace his destiny." Hopefully, that means another Librarian adventure. If not, Judas Chalice brings the trilogy to a satisfying conclusion.