The Last Templar
  • Network: NBC
  • Series Premiere Date: Jan 25, 2009
Metascore
29

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 7
  3. Negative: 6 out of 7

Critic Reviews

  1. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Robert Bianco
    50
    Templar is done in by being both too late and too long. At two hours it might have worked.
  2. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Ray Richmond
    30
    After about an hour of jumbled storytelling and bizarre juxtapositions between the 13th century Latin Kingdom and 21st century New York, the prediction is you'll be less intrigued by the legend of the medieval Knights Templar than you will the prospect of catching up on your reading.
  3. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Mary McNamara
    30
    What begins as a more than slightly fantastic revision of the Templar legend takes an ill-advised turn toward theological theorizing and New Agey spiritual advice.
  5. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Mike Hale
    30
    Unfortunately, it also possesses the true Halmi signature: despite the fact that it’s packed like a sausage with banter and jokes both verbal and visual, it doesn’t contain a single genuinely funny moment.
  6. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    30
    At four hours, you are left with far too much time to ponder the feebleness of the endeavor. If you decide to get on this ride, prepare to be dazzled by little more than the glorious scenery.
  7. Time
    Reviewed by: James Poniewozik
    25
    Sorvino is wholly unconvincing as an Indy Jones type--which might actually work if the story went in a parodic, quasi-farce direction. But the whole production is hobbled by an uneven tone; it's not frightening enough to work as a conspiracy-adventure, not funny enough to work as light romantic comedy.
  8. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    10
    The Last Templar is nobody's idea of a seaworthy miniseries.

Awards & Rankings

73
#73 Most Discussed TV Season of 2009

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
2.4

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 17
  3. Negative: 14 out of 17
  1. johnslegers
    Jan 3, 2016
    2
    If you are familiar with the action/detective/adventure genre we know from classics like the "Indiana Jones" franchise or the franchise builtIf you are familiar with the action/detective/adventure genre we know from classics like the "Indiana Jones" franchise or the franchise built around Dan Brown and perhaps the quite bad "National Treasure" franchise or "Lost City Raiders", there is little "The Last Templar" has to offer. Most of the mini-series I felt like I was watching a poorly acted, poorly researched, poorly scripted, poorly directed extended remake of "The Da Vinci Code" with a little bit of "Indiana Jones" thrown in the mix, that somehow managed to add a pro-Catholic message.

    At the very start of the mini-series, I just new I was not going to like it. While there's an exposition of ancient Vatican artifacts being held in the middle of New York City, four men fully dressed in medieval Templar outfits are riding their horses through the metropolis, somehow not being stopped by police officers. Then they ride inside the exposition area after first decapitating a guard, steal a whole bunch of artifacts and ride off into the night.

    The only valid reason I could think of why these guys would wear such an anachronistic outfit to go rob an exposition was if they were actual Templars in their authentic outfits who traveled through time, but this just wasn't that kind of story. The more I hoped for an alternative explanation, the more I got disappointed when it turned out they never even cared to offer one. We were told that one of the artifacts was a Templar artifact and one of the robbers was an expert on Templar history, but that's really all the clues we get on why the robbers came up with the ludicrous idea to use horses and medieval outfits. Did they really expect that anyone with more than two brain cells would find it remotely plausible that four men dressed as Templars and riding on horses rob an exposition of ancient artifacts in the center of New York City?! But let's not stop here. The Indiana Jane of our story (Mira Sorvino, why are do doing this?) runs after the robbers in her cocktail dress and high heels, steals a police horse and ancient pope staff in the process, continues to follow the robbers and then manages to knock one of them out in some park (Central Park?). After being arrested when taking an artifact from the knocked out robber, she's nearly instantly believed by the FBI agent that's put on the case who decides to let her go.

    This pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the mini-series and the plot never becomes any more credible than in the first few scenes I just described. The foreign locations are hilariously unauthentic, the Templar mythology is childish, the events taking place are too contrived to take seriously and the main characters seem to make all the right decisions while at the same time coming off as incredibly naive. Besides our Indiana Jane's (actually it's Tess Chaykin, but I prefer to call her Indiana Jane) little daughter, none of the important characters seemed remotely believable in what they said or did. I suspect this indicates the mental age of the people involved.

    Need I go on?!    … Full Review »
  2. dustins
    May 24, 2009
    3
    I never post comments about shows, but had to for this one NBC...wow, this show is soooo lame and unrealistic in every way possible. The I never post comments about shows, but had to for this one NBC...wow, this show is soooo lame and unrealistic in every way possible. The story is ok, its watchable maybe, but some of this is unbelievably bad......please quit airing it NBC. I had to post...its that bad.… Full Review »
  3. JoeM
    Feb 17, 2009
    0
    Mira Sorvino just sucks at acting, period.
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