© (c) 2006 TNT The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines

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Movie Review: THE LIBRARIAN: RETURN TO KING SOLOMON'S MINES

A solid sequel that is on a much grander in scale than the original

Grade: B+
Stars: Noah Wyle, Gabrielle Anwar,Bob Newhart,Jane Curtin,Olympia Dukakis,Robert Foxworth,Erick Avari
Writer(s): Marco Schnabel
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Rating: NR
Distributor: Sun. Dec. 3 @ 8:00 PM on TNT

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By SEAN ELLIOTT, Senior Editor
Published 12/1/2006

In the original TNT movie THE LIBRARIAN: QUEST FOR THE SPEAR, viewers were introduced to Flynn Carsen played by Noah Wyle. Flynn was a man chosen to be the librarian of a very unique institution where the fate of the world was in the hands of said librarian at any given moment. The Indiana Jones style action adventure was a hit with audiences and critics alike, and now this Sunday at 8:00 pm, TNT will be showing the world premiere movie, THE LIBRARIAN: RETURN TO KING SOLOMON’S MINES.

This time Flynn is no longer quite as much of the reluctant hero as he was in the original, but instead has embraced his role both as librarian and as an adventurer saving precious and often magic artifacts from the wrong hands. In this chapter of the ongoing series, Flynn is sent on a quest to find and protect King Solomon’s Mines after receiving a package containing a map to the mines’ location. Joining him in this quest is the brilliant and gorgeous archeologist Emily Davenport (Gabrielle Anwar), whose intellect and degrees rivals Flynn’s own accomplishments. The journey becomes a personal one as well when Flynn discovers that his family had link to the Mines’ years before.  Throw in angry hippos, chase scenes galore, and some pretty spiffy special effects and you’ve got a great adventure film that’s acceptable for pretty much any age of viewer.

The director on this film is Jonathan Frakes of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION fame (who actually directed the best NextGen TREK flick, FIRST CONTACT). Frakes handles the around the world action with the usual flair and panache that he does all of his projects. This TNT movie looks more professional than a lot of feature films being released. The scope of this second LIBRARIAN film, and the fact that it was shot on locations around the world, only adds to the cinematic scope and depth of the picture.  The first film was good but this one is levels above the original.

Noah Wyle again is fun to watch as the lead in this series. Not nearly as dour as some action heroes, Wyle handles the action, romance, and comedy with slick wit and comic timing that would make Buster Keaton envious. The character of Flynn is a regular guy thrust into extraordinary circumstances and that makes him all that more engrossing to watch. Gabrielle Anwar as his new archeological partner in crime brightens up the screen in virtually every scene that she is in. The woman look brainy and beautiful even when she is covered in mud and running for her life.

The effects budget on this picture was also stepped up a bit from the last one, and there are some great scenes in the library itself that really show how much time and attention goes into making these movies as magical as possible. And for the true the geeks in the audience, there's a dead ringer Ark of the Covenant from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK proudly on display in several scenes.

4126-4146

Reader Comments

Carolyn from Round Rock, TX sez....
I love the series of "The Librarian". The genre of the Indiana Jones, Nicholas Cage National Treasure movies, and the "Librarian" are my favorites. I do hope there will be more. As movies go today, most are not worth the price of the ticket. These TV movies are great! Noah Wyle is just perfect. I hope before too much time passes, they will produce more. One every two years is not enough. I don't know if it would be as interesting as an hour series on TV, but the 2-hour movies are just right. Great special effects.
12/15/2008 4:17:03 PM

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