O Guardião 3: A Maldição do Cálice de Judas

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 directing/writing team of Jonathan Frakes and Marco Schnabel are back for another movie in the series.

They open with a James Bond tribute. Our little nerd (Noah Wylie) has certainly come a long way. He is no longer a nerd, and has developed an amazing capability with a sword as displayed in a fight with an ex-KGB agent (Dikran Tulaine), who wants to restore Russia to its former glory.

His plan is to restore none other than Dracula, who will lead an army of vampires. With the success of "True Blood" and Twilight, a vampire story is expected, and it really made things exciting. Our villain has the body of Vlad the Impaler, and now all he needs in the chalice made out of the 30 pieces of silver given to Judas (The first I have heard of that!) But, Flynn Carsen (Wylie) is burned out. It is up to Jane Curtin, in a much meatier role, to get him started. But it is a dream sequence with Croation Stana Katic (Quantum of Solace) that gets him moving. What? No English heroine? Not appropriate in a movie involving vampires, you see.

With vampires, the movie is a bit more exciting and the special effects are ramped up. It is set in new Orleans and that is always a plus for the atmosphere and the music.

Oscar nominee Bruce Davison (Longtime Companion, Short Cuts) gives an impressive performance.

We get the expected ending, and are left wondering if this franchise has burned itself out, or if we will see our hero again two years from now.

Flynn is burned out and takes some time off in New Orleans. He's not there an hour before he's caught up in a bizarre plot by an ex-KGB agent to revive Dracula (yes, Dracula) and raise an army of the undead. To do so, the agent needs to find a chalice made from the 30 pieces of silver given to Judas, hence the Judas Chalice. Along the way, Flynn meets a sexy singer who ably aids him in his battle with the Russian. Noah Wylie's Flynn is much more assured than in his first two outings, but he's still somewhat naive. Jane Curtin and Bob Newhart are back as Flynn's bosses at the magical library, and Curtin's role has been beefed up a bit. In fact, it is she who suggests the vacation. Bruce Davison has a meaty role as a befuddled scientist pressed into service by the Russian. A recent Bond girl, the very lovely Stana Katic, plays Flynn's exotic, ass-kicking love interest. In fact, the movie starts off with a James Bond gag and there are nods to (some might even say swipes from) other movies, including HARRY POTTER, Dracula 2000, BLADE and BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. This special effects. photography and music are all first rate, and the jokes come just often enough. And wait until you see the revived Dracula. You may be surprised. Because of the nature of the plot -- the undead and bloodsucking -- I'd say keep the little ones away.

I enjoyed the 2nd installment of this series better than the original movie (and I enjoyed the original a lot!), but I believe that they've improved yet again with the 3rd installment in the series.

"Curse of the Judas Chalice" had the same light hearted and comic view of Indianna Jones style adventure, but I found the plot to be deeper and more surprising. This series has a surprising character turn as part of its 'formula' in each installment. This time the surprise was two-fold. Although I saw one of them coming well in advance, the other one got me.

These movies are ideal family fare ... amusing and entertaining for adults without including content inappropriate for even young children. Such movies are hard to find these days, but the Librarian series pulls it off solidly.

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!