Director: Jonathan Frakes
Cast: Noah Wyle, Gabrielle Anwar, Robert Foxworth, Bob Newhart
Have I Seen it Before: Nah, just as with The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (2004), the adventures of Flynn Carsen (Wyle) have flown outside of my radar all of these years. As Lora watches the eventual series, I tend to be in the room while these films are happening around me.
Did I Like It: It’s clear almost immediately that this movie is far superior to the original. Wyle sheds at least some of that “aww, shucks” quality that made him a TV star in the first place, which goes some of the way to giving the pacing of the adventure a less halting quality.
What’s more, this feels far more like an actual movie than an above average weekend weather report, what with all of the preposterous green screen material that fueled the proceedings in the last go around. Maybe it’s a product of the first film’s marginal success, but there appears to be more of a budget here. At any rate, the production value is infinitely higher. All credit should be given to Jonathan Frakes’ influence, a clearly gifted director who should definitely be allowed to keep making features, even if two of his efforts twenty years ago failed to make a dime. It wasn’t his fault! The man made Star Trek: First Contact (1996). Show some respect!
Now, before we go thinking that my praise for this second Librarian film knows no bounds, let’s keep in mind that it’s not like the film has any surprises in it, even if all of the elements presented work a little bit better here. The twist in the plot is so obvious, I knew from where every new character was coming the moment they appeared on screen. And while the special effects are certainly better, this is still at its core a film designed for the sole purpose of filling time between cable broadcasts of NBA games.