Sunday 22 January 2012

24: Redemption

Home
Smell the Movies
Smell the TV

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Year:2008
Country of origin:USA
Director:Jon Cassar
Genre:TV tie-in actioner
Starring:Kiefer Sutherland, Robert Carlyle, Siyabulela Ramba, Cherry Jones
Rating:3/5
IMDB link:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0813980/
Tagline:Save the day
Favourite line:"Then give them my response. They want me back in Washington, they can come and get me."

Billed as 24 The Movie in terms of hype, this is really just a feature length episode of the show, which serves as a bit of a teaser for the upcoming seventh season.

Plot:
Jack is evading the US authorities, who wish to subpoena him for disobeying orders at the end of season 6. He has taken refuge in Sangala, a fictional African country, in which a coup is about to be declared. As a result of rising tensions, enemy forces of white-controlled Sangala, led by Colonel Juma, played with relish by Tony 'Candyman' Todd, are kidnapping Sangalan children and forcing them to fight in a Liberation Army, against both their will and their own people. Inevitably, Jack is drawn into the fight, and must protect the children of a school run by none other than Robert Carlyle.

It's decent enough as a TV movie, but it never quite convinces.
By relocating the action out of America, we lose the interaction between Jack and CTU, cause of much of the shows tension, and essential to the style of the programme. Additionally, the real-time feel doesn't convince here as much as in the TV version. Due to the short running time - an hour and a half as opposed to eighteen hours, once adverts are taken into account - this lacks the complexity that it's episodic kin can muster.
Still, it was entertaining enough, and allowed the writers an opportunity to get Jack back Stateside for the next run of the show.

No comments:

Post a Comment