The Librarian: Quest for the Spear

I love a good adventure movie.  Indiana Jones, National Treasure, The Neverending Story...even Journey to the Center of the Earth with Brendan Fraser (yeah, seriously).  So you can understand my excitement when I got to the end of the adventure rack at Blockbuster (I know, Blockbuster is terrible) and came across this DVD cover. 

"The Librarian: Quest for the Spear".  Awesome!  You have jungle in the background.  Noah Wyle from ER is holding a cool spear that has a mystical glow.  Kyle MacLachlan from Twin Peaks is curiously peering at us behind Noah Wyle's shoulder.  I'm thinking, what are you up to, Kyle MacLachlan?  Don't dare try and double cross the librarian!"  Then you have the brunette on one side showing her back tattoo, and that one woman from Lost trying to be sexy on the other side.  Okay Librarian, I think I'm excited that this is the Extended Version! 

Then I saw the movie, and… I'm not so excited anymore.  It's not a terrible movie.  It's just not good.  I think one of the problems was that it was too over the top.  For example, the library where The Librarian works holds a secret room that protects the earth's greatest treasures.  And when we first get a look at this secret room, they show us the most incredible items, one after another, and some of them are from fiction literature!  I can understand the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail, but Excalibur and Pandora's Box?  It took the film out of reality and into a fantasy land.  But for this adventure, I didn't want fantasy land.  It was kind of like Indiana Jones 4 being about aliens.  It just didn't fit with the adventure of this particular film. 

Also, the story was quite inefficient with building character.  The movie took a while to really start, because we kept hearing about Flynn Carsen's (Noah Wyle) fear of joining the real world.  He's in his 30's and still in college, blah blah blah.  It shouldn't take more than five minutes to build that part of his character.  Then when he's in the jungle with Nicole (Sonya Walger), they are walking and talking for like 15 minutes!  I think the writer knew that this would be boring, because in the middle of all the talking the two characters have to cross a rotting bridge (obviously they had to cross one of those during this movie) and they almost fall to their death.  But right after the bridge falls hundreds of feet, Flynn continues to ask about Nicole's feelings and motivations. 
 
Despite the movie's problems, I was entertained.  There was an adventure, some intrigue, and a few exciting moments.  I might even consider watching the rest of the trilogy.


The Librarian: Quest for the Spear - 5 out of 10