Movie Review: The Librarian: Quest for the Spear

The Librarian: Quest for the Spear
Starring: Noah Wyle, Bob Newhart, Jane Curtin, Olympia Dukakis, Kyle MacLachlan, Sonya Walger, Kelly Hu
Director: Peter Winther
Turner Network Television (TNT), Electric Entertainment, ApolloProScreen Filmproduktion, USA, Germany, 2004.

Flynn Carsen (Noah Wyle) is an eternal student with 22 academic degrees. He gets kicked out of college to get real life experience. His mother (Olympia Dukakis) is worried and tries to fix a date between Flynn and a girl named Debra (Lisa Brenner). The date doesn't quite work out. 

Stop posing, Flynn.

Flynn likes books

An awkward date with Debra

He gets invited to job interview at the Metropolitan Public Library. He gets interviewed by a library worker Charlene (Jane Curtin) and library head Judson (Bob Newhart). He gets the job with a trial period. The Library stores also other things than books: the Ark of Covenant, Pandora's box and other mythic treasures. The Librarian's work is to guard the relics.

The basement of the library has some cool relics

Pandora's box, better to keep it closed

At night the evil Serpent Brotherhood steals one third of the Spear of Destiny. The boss of the Brotherhood Edward Wilde (Kyle MacLachlan) sends his henchmen (Kelly Hu and David Dayan Fisher) to find all pieces of the Spear so that he can rule the world (Hitler had only one part of the Spear). On his second working day Flynn is sent to find the other pieces before the Brotherhood gets them.

The boss of the Serpent Brotherhood wants the spear

The world is counting on you.

First Flynn must learn the language of the birds to read a hint book. At the airplane he meets sarcastic Nicole Noone (Sonya Walger). The plane gets hijacked by Serpent Brotherhood. Flynn escapes with the help from Nicole and they start to search for the Spear from the Amazon rain forest.

Nicole Noone and her glowing hair

Serpent Brotherhood goons

Legendary Mayan treasure

In the forest Flynn's knowledge of geography and biology comes in handy. Meanwhile the Brotherhood is tracking them. By the way their tracker (Antonio Monroi) looks like Danny Trejo. From the Mayan temple the quest continues to legendary Shagri-La.

Jungle tracker would do well in Danny Trejo look-a-like contest

Serpent Brotherhood henchwoman is a fan of the Librarian

"Get your own geek", says Nicole

This made-for-TV movie is a fun light-hearted adventure with some silly physics. The budget is quite low and use of green screen is very obvious. Some of the traps in the temples are video game style, with clouds of arrows and swinging axes having a pattern that must be figured out. Noah Wyle is fun as a geeky version of Indiana Jones and Sonya Walger as his Lara Croftian bodyguard. Also Bob Newhart is great in his deadpan role as the library boss with secret skills. There are also two sequels and a TV-series is scheduled to be released late 2014.

Those rotten bridges.

All ends well and Flynn gets the job

Check also the reviews of The Librarian II: Return to King Solomons Mines and The Librarian III: The Curse of the Judas Chalice.

Rating: Good