24: Redemption

Of course 24 fans around the world were devastated with the writers strike and in turn the postponed "day 7" of 24, but instead of us fans having to endure another month of suspense and agony waiting on the arrival of the seventh season of 24, we were given a 24 (made for T.V.) movie known as 24 Redemption and yes Jack is back, but with some minute differences.

Some critics might say the fight scenes were "poorly" choreographed, the special effects might not have been special enough, or there just wasn't enough action. We need to remember the season finally of day 6 and how Jack literally now has nothing. The writers are clearly emphasizing on Jacks personal rehabilitation and personal change in other words even though we thought impossible they are in fact adding more drama to start us off which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The writers decided to aim at a different target and in a different location, but by God the hit the bull's eye.

Violence and surprises are defiantly a factor in the near "24" future and us fans can't wait...Also (I won't spoil it just in case you don't know, but you should already know) some of Jacks old friends are back, one important one in particular.

I hope this has been useful for you.

A full length episode of 24, but does it work? Well, I can't help it, but this seems to be kind of rushed. The script and story aren't as good as it should be. I felt kind of bored watching this.

Jack seems to be a bit "overpowered" and he seems to have a gift to dodge bullets. Okay I know this happens in a lot, but they kind of over do it here.

I like the way that it is real time. Unlike in the series, it seems like it is possible to do all the things they do in the given time period. It doesn't feel the 24ish though, one of the most vital part of 24 CTU is not involved in the movie at all.

With that said, it is not that bad. It seems like quite a nice start of the 7th season, and it is nice to get into more details about what has happened between the two seasons. They didn't max out the potential of the movie, the script and story was in my opinion a bit dull.

But if you like the series and plan to follow the 7th season, be sure to check this one out.

It is going to be difficult to maintain the exceptional standards "24" has set over the years, however this feature length episode doesn't quite deliver as hoped. Re-worked formulas shows lack of creative imagination, something previous Seasons have (mostly) avoided. The script isn't as sharp as normal, possibly targeted at a less astute audience, and the characters lack subtlety. Too many bullets miraculously missing Jack and a sense of deja-vu. Whilst Robert Carlyle puts in a very credible performance, less believable is the UN Aid worker who is so crassly portrayed. Hopefully Season 7 will see improvement.

It has been some time since we last saw Jack Bauer. The writer's strike saw him run out of tough things to say and a generally negative response to a weak season 6 has seen him leave America and travel the world. We join him in a non-existent African country where he is spending time with former brother in arms Carl, protecting children at the orphanage he has set up. It is not all helping and healing though as his past pursues him in the form of a subpoena from the US Government to face questioning on charges of prisoner abuse (damn these liberals). However, just as Jack packs up to leave the country and move on again, a coup begins and rebels come to snatch up the children to be soldiers. Meanwhile in the existing country of USA , the first female President is being sworn in while, in the background, figures are covertly supporting the coup for their own reasons.

Everyone has been saying how long a wait it has been since day 6 finished, using words like "impatiently" etc but for me (as a viewer since hour 1) I felt that the break was a good thing. Day 6 was such a lacklustre season and played like an exaggerated pastiche of itself that the break does feel like an opportunity to send the makers away to sit in the corner and think about what they have done - and don't come back till you're sorry! With this bridging special I did worry that we would continue the trend of Jack being the hub of everything in the world, perhaps with the coup either being about him or with him preventing the entire thing - after all, the Bauer family are seemingly to blame for all evil deeds in the world. Fortunately the special harks back to the approach of season 1 and 2 which has dark deeds at a higher level and Jack thrown into them for reasons out of his hands, rather than being the creator and driver of all things.

This takes the form of a simpler plot where Jack is looking after the fleeing children in their short run to safety. It starts slow though, with a good thirty minutes of establishing material and scene setting before any urgency kicks in. After this we have the usual 24 material of action sequences, heroic/sacrificial deaths, neo-conservative subtexts (although that suggests they are subtle, which they are not), political going-ons and shadowy men doing hits on behalf of powerful men. All these are in place and, with the stripped down plot and Bauer influence, it does feel a lot more like the 24 I like. This is not to say it is perfect of course, because 24 never was - even when really good there was always plenty to make fun of it for. Here we have less that produced laughter but we still get handed a terribly clumsy attack on the UN in the form of a weirdly "European" character who is cowardly - clinging to "talking" like a weak-wristed liberal. Not only was this poor writing but it is a bit rich when you consider the real life conflicts in Africa and the level of US intervention in them, however even ignoring that it was a typically conservative piece of politics from 24 that must be a bit like a wet dream to Fox viewers!

Talking of real-life for a moment, I did find the setting and scenario of this special to be a little off-putting. The pace and "24-isms" of the film helped me keep my head in the world of fiction but there is no doubt that the world of child soldiers and African coups is a little too real to be purely entertainment and not have an edge of sorrow to it. The film mostly ignores the latter but it does manage to produce the former despite this, again by focusing on what the series does and just doing it. The cast are reasonable enough, all fitting into the classic clichés of the show. Sutherland is gruff and tough as ever and has a bit of chemistry with Carlyle, who doesn't have a lot to work with here other than hanging out with Sutherland for a bit. Bellows, Jones, Gunton, Feore and Voight all represent new faces in the usual characters. They do offer some hope though if Day 7 can keep the political mystery that this film had.

24: Redemption isn't a significant change to the series and those that do not like the series will not like this. However for those who found Day 6 to be a massive disappointment then it does represent a sort of redemption as it appears to be taking a slight step back towards what hooked us originally. This means the usual weaknesses as much as the strengths but it is still a quite entertaining film for 24 fans.

If Rodney Dangerfield were alive, hardened and seasoned as a government agent, he would be Jack Bauer. Jack don't get no respect. Without spoiling the sixth season for those who have yet to watch it, our world-class hero Jack, always the odd one out, is now in a fictional African country, helping his old friend, played by the wonderful Robert Carlyle, with missionary work, trying to heal his staggering emotional wounds with peace. He has been served a subpoena to appear before the U.S. Senate concerning torture charges, but declines to go. A U.S. State Department official hints that the Embassy will cut funding for the school if Carlyle goes on protecting Jack, so Jack decides to leave. If that's not enough, he winds up stuck in the middle of a bloody military coup.

Redemption is entertaining and well-acted, and it certainly primes us for the seventh season. Nonetheless I can see why it has been a very long process preparing the theatrical 24 film. Redemption maintains the real-time structural element, which the theatrical film reportedly will not have, but either way, 24 is a series that has transcended the conceivable scope of the feature motion picture. The character archs, gigantic sequence of unravelings and long-term investment in the characters is inherently designed for hours and hours of television. Redemption, on the other hand, is only an hour and forty minutes, which even still is twenty minutes longer than the version that was broadcast on TV not including commercials.

Also, I am unsure of whether or not the creators wanted to have the opportunity to do a lone Jack Bauer piece, but using this TV film as objectivity, one can easily tell that one of the vital elements in the show's scaffolding is its colorful, deeply observed and brilliantly histrionic characters.

However, I am looking forward to Cherry Jones being president and hopefully being rid of Powers Boothe's weak and uncompromising president. And I hope Jon Voight doesn't play essentially the same character as he did in Enemy of the State.