Director: Jonathan Frakes
Writer: Marco Schnabel, David N Titcher (Screenplay)
Starring: Noah Wyle, Gabrielle Anwar, Bob Newhart, Jane Curtain, Olympia Dukakis, Erick Avari
Plot: Librarian-turned-adventurer Flynn Carsen endeavors to find King Solomon’s mines.
Tagline – New Continent. New Adventure. Still No Clue.
Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Acceptable Sequel
Story: The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines starts one year after the events of the first film, Flynn (Wyle) has started getting used to his adventures around the world, when the latest quest sees him receive a mysterious scroll that could hold the location of King Solomon’s Mine, he must travel to Casablanca for answers.
Flynn meets archaeologist Emily Davenport (Anwar) who is working on her latest dig in the same location as the answers Flynn is looking for, which starts his latest quest, one that will be deadlier than his last.
Thoughts on The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines
Characters – Flynn is now feeling more experienced as the Librarian, he is enjoying going around the world now, he has his own apartment, with his latest quest seeing him head to Africa, he teams with an archaeologist who helps him on his latest quest which will become more personal than he had imagined. Emily Davenport is an archaeologist working in Casablanca, she reluctantly ends up joining Flynn as he unlocks secrets she has been searching for, for years. Judson and Charlene are both still teaching Flynn about responsibility which he will still need to learn in his role. The film does lack a villain for the most part, we do get one in the end, but they never seem like a threat.
Performances – Noah Wyle is still strong in the role, he has grown into playing with he sense of adventure that his character has. Gabrielle Anwar is fun in the supporting role, which sees her replacing Sonya Walger where she does make her character different enough from hers. The rest of the cast don’t do much wrong, but they don’t get to do much either.
Story – The story takes Flynn on his next quest this time to Africa where he must locate King Solomon’s mine and stop the latest threat that comes the worlds way. This being a sequel does mean that Flynn has become more experienced and aware of his adventures, he does need to learn more about himself along the way, when it comes to the quest, it is largely forgettable because we focus too heavily on Flynn and Emily, not giving the villainous side of the story enough time to make them feel like a threat. This is still fun enough to watch without being in the same league as the previous film.
Action/Adventure/Comedy – The action is once again basic, it is also weaker than before and feeling very basic this time, the adventure does take Flynn around Africa on his quest, which is a quest full of basic adventure. The comedy does seem to start drying up in this film which does aim at being more serious.
Settings – The film is mostly set across Africa which does give us a new location, which does play into the legends of King Solomon.
Scene of the Movie – The mine.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We don’t get enough focus on the villains.
Final Thoughts – This is a simple sequel that is just safe without being a new threat to the whole Librarian figure, it has simple adventure and solid enough acting.
Overall: Simple and easy to watch.
Rating
