The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice (2008) is the third in the Librarian series of stories concerning a secret library, or museum collection, of insanely dangerous artifacts, and the guy in charge of it. Shouldn’t he be known as the Curator? The Director? The Too-Smart Guy?
This time around we’re visiting charming New Orleans, in search of the purpose of life. This appears to be, in the Librarian’s case, being the Librarian and not getting the girl.
And searching for the chalice of Judas Iscariot, because drinking from it restores the humanity of, ah, vampires. Wait, why does the museum need it? Anyways, the Librarian’s girl is a vampire who is desperate to be good, and after 400 years of life, she’s a bit tired, although it’s not explained why she doesn’t just take an afternoon walk and dissolve in a whirlwind of glowing particles.
So there’s plenty of adventure, but the theme, which seems to be Fulfill your destiny! is dubious. If the purpose of life is to fulfill your destiny, then why bother? It all becomes a deterministic and muddled mess, devaluing free will and making watching the movie a depressing exercise in some philosopher’s sordid assertions concerning existence. Unlike, say, the moral conundrums of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
This story is sort of fun, if you’re not thinking about it too much, but you won’t remember it the next day. It asks a question about life, but it’s not an intriguing, challenging answer.
And if the purpose of life is to devote ourselves to Bo-bo-bo-ob Newhart….
