24: Redemption
24: Redemption
| 23 November 2008 (USA)
24: Redemption Trailers

Former federal agent Jack Bauer confronts African dictator Benjamin Juma, whose forces have been ordered to capture the children Bauer oversees for malicious military training.

Reviews
Arlis Fuson

I watched 3 seasons of this show and just quit because although I liked it, after a while it got old. I only have 5 seasons on DVD so I just postponed watching it until the show is canceled and I can watch them all without having to wait for them to come on DVD.I watched this movie not sure if it was directly connected to the show, and although I think the main story here is only shown in the film, the side story is to do with the show and I was lost. I had no idea how Jack got where he was or who any of these characters were...so you do need to watch the show before you watch this movie.Jack is in Africa staying with an old friend who has a camp for kids. There are armies trying to recruit these kids and make them soldiers to fight against "the man". With no help from the U.S. Jack must try, along with his friend (Robert Carlyle)to get the kids to America safely.The TV show always happens so fast and in the blink of an eye it's over, but this movie was so slow in getting to the point and it was shot in a 2 hour period and on two different continents and I'm not sure why no one happened to notice that with it being two different time zones that it would not be daylight in both.The movie was basically an extended episode and had a director from the show filming it and many of the actors were from the show. Keifer Sutherland is always good and Jack has become the character he will forever be remembered as. Some other actors from the show that I didn't know until this movie were Jon Voight, Poweres Boothe and Colm Feore and was glad to see them on board. The movie also had Tony Todd and I always love seeing him in anything. Robert Carlyle did a great job here and it's nice to see him in the various roles and seeing how well he can pull off each job he takes on.I must say the movie might be a nice bridge for the seasons, but standing alone it's reminiscent of 80's b-movie action. I could not recommend it to anyone except a fan of this show. 2 out of 10 stars.

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disdressed12

compared to the TV series,this thing is crap.i couldn't get through it,i was so bored.it's just not exciting.there's no real suspense or excitement,at least up to the point i watched.that's really surprising,given the quality of the series.it takes place after season six,and before season seven,so i guess it's a season seven prequel.if you can get through it,i would recommend it,as it does fill in some gaps between the sixth and seventh season.i only know this,because in some scenes they allude to events that must have happened in the movie.for me,though it was just too difficult to get through.my vote for 24:Redemption is a 4/10

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Elizabeth

The opening sequence caught my attention and it was a completely different production style for "24", which makes this different from all the other seasons.Jack Bauer has had many hectic days in his lifetime. Still Kiefer Sutherland manages to make you walk each scene with him.!**(SPOILERS)**! I loved the reveal in the beginning, when the boy stole his knife. In this short time I managed to care about Jack's friend and the children, which was why I loved this installment. Though I believed at first that his friend acted carelessly when he stepped on that land mine and it became obvious that they only placed him there to get rid of the army of men after Jack, but still, I felt Jack's loss. His expression when he realized that the blast he heard meant the end of his friend's life was beautifully played.I actually love these kinds of story lines. I loved the color differentiation from Africa to the US. When in Africa there was the orange color and in the US-blue, which separated each location.I loved this installment. The only thing I had a problem with was the short time used to warm up to some characters that died in the end and the boy that Jack refused to kill who kept repeating that one-liner from the opening scene; it was just too corny for me. Other than that I actually picture an interesting day. At some points I actually forget that all of these action sequences occur in one day. I am definitely looking forward for the next episode. This was actually a big risk for "24", taking on a different production style, set in South Africa, because at the end of the day it all comes down to whether or not the viewers would be able to adapt to this kind of plot line and I would say the writers pulled it off, I certainly enjoyed it.___________________________ Four out of Five stars ___________________________

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bob the moo

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.

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