Sunday, December 03, 2006

The Librarian on TNT - 12.3.2006.1

Did anyone see the Librarian telemovie on TNT tonight? I saw the first movie because I think that actor Mr. Noah Wyle is quite good. If you saw his work on the live broadcast of Fail Safe (reprising the role played originally by Mr. Larry Hagman) I think you would agree with my assessment. The first Librarian movie was also a confirmation of his abilities to convey a different character than that of Dr. Carter, yet no less enjoyable.

In the first movie we got to see the character, Flynn, as he realized what his life’s goal truly was. Being THE librarian. Protector and collector of various legendary, religious, and mythological items. A nice job if you can handle it. In this the second movie we see that he continues to do his work well. Though not without a few incidents of turmoil, which is good because James Bond the character isn’t. Still he’s better than your average geek, thanks to Judson and Excalibur.

The second story focuses on King Solomon but this is no Mel Gibson Christianity storyline. It’s more in the line of Indiana Jones, not taking a theological look but using it as fodder for the plot. If you look carefully you may see a secondary character from the first Mummy movie. It’s a nice flow to the movie. The confidence of the Flynn character has grown dramatically.

The movie is fun. And much like the Indiana Jones movies, Flynn has a new love interest. I don’t like her. Ms. Emily Davenport is Gabrielle, an equally nerdish uber-geek. As much as Flynn may know Gabrielle is insistent that she knows more. Score one for the feminist movement. Gabrielle does help out in several situations, though none that are so critical that Flynn couldn’t have figured it out (except once at the end, but that feels a bit contrived and justifying why she was there anyway). Ms. Davenport does a decent job, but I for one just can’t accept the love interest and thus her work is reduced for me. It’s because she looks anorexic and I can’t see how anyone would find that attractive.

Yes, anorexic. In several scenes where her femininity is supposed to shine through we get to see her exposed back; the outline of her shoulder blades and spine are glaringly apparent. I’ve known many petite and slender women, this was far more extreme. There are no curves that would make such a bony woman attractive. But that is my preference.

And why they replaced the original love interest I don’t know. There was a strong appeal to Ms. Sonya Walger’s Nicole. Nicole was shapely, physically strong, intelligent, and had a valuable purpose to the storyline. Gabrielle really doesn’t have any of those traits. [Gabrielle may be intelligent, but as I said it never really appears as a factor and so means nothing really] The connection between Nicole and Flynn was believable and fun. Losing her was not worth having another chance to watch Mrs. Olympia Dukakis try to set up Flynn with a girlfriend again. [Especially since it’s with his 3rd cousin whom he seem to know marginally – creepy] And there was not a single mention of what happened to Nicole or why she was not still dating Flynn. I spent the first ½ hour or so waiting for her to appear or hear an explanation. If you expect to find out anything or see her, sorry you will lose on that.

Beyond that, the traps and tricks are a bit toned down. The pace a bit slower. And many aspects are borrowed from other films (Casablanca, the Jones films, Tomb Raider and others) some of which will be lost on younger viewers. One nice thing is the expression of honor shown by Mr. Hakeem Kae-Kazim. It’s nice to see characters fulfilling their oaths. Mr. Bob Newhart’s Judson reminds me more and more of Mr. Ricardo Montalban’s Roarke.

Overall it’s a good movie; as good as anything you probably would have paid 8-10 dollars to see in the movie theatre in the last several months.

This is what I think, what do you think?

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