"24: Redemption" was the result of the 2007 writers strike, designed to be a prequel to season 7. As such, it has half its attention on setup (new president, conspiracy, etc) and that's actually its weaker half.It's much better when it's focused on Jack Bauer, laying low in Africa and suddenly tasked with saving a school full of children from conscription into a dictator's army. This, as he's sought to testify before a Senate subcommittee.Without the confines of the clock (it's told from 3-5pm, but that's rather loose) there's actually more room for him to breathe as a character, as a person. Kiefer's scenes with compatriot Robert Carlyle are among the best and the price he pays to accomplish the mission (get those kids to the US Embassy) is profoundly sad. The argument still stands that he can't escape the life, but his sacrifice is real.7/10

"24" loves themselves some prequels. Including Redemption, the creative team made five of them in the latter years of the series existence. Even the aborted feature-film got itself one!However nice they are for the fans, the prequels made especially for the show were usually mixed bags of half-realized ideas in hindsight, shameless product placements or simply redundant little vignettes. Among those charges, "Redemption" is only guilty of one or two of charges, depending on who you talk to. Either way, it's a soulful reminder of the lead character we started watching about 13 years ago, who he is now and where he's going.As much as 24 made great action set pieces, it didn't stop the show from losing sight of the human doing the shooting. What doomed the season that Redemption proceeded is that mostly everything about Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) felt too routine, given the circumstances. He returned from two years of torture by the hands of the Chinese government with barely a scratch on him it seemed after awhile. Early on when African embassy worker Frank Trammell (Gil Bellows) corners Bauer with the subpoena meant to jail him for the numerous instances of torture he's perpetrated in seasons past, his natural reaction is to run. He's sacrificed almost all of his livelihood for saving the millions of hypothetical Americans he's sworn to protect, yet the last thing he rations that he wants to surrender is his freedom. This early moment plants his feet firmly onto the ground. Jack Bauer is a dedicated hero, sure, yet he's not stupid, even if self-preservation rarely occurs to the character. When does the services of a grateful nation become greedy exploitation?Of course, it's not as simple as that. Redemption's writer Howard Gordon, moves his troubles to the background of the more pertinent problem of a growing coup by an genocidal African warlord (Tony Todd).Yet, the rapidly unfolding coup in Sangala somehow works in what it says about Jack Bauer without really commenting on it. The series format of CTU and Jack regularly chasing down shady terrorist collaborators precluded the threats from being the vague, "Stop this or innocent people will die and/or get hurt."And Jack shepherding Benton's (Robert Carlyle) orphans — who are also running to avoid being child soldiers — to the American Embassy for asylum gives a great sense urgency that the series, frankly, hasn't had at least since season four. It also distills the character down to his essential elements: His conscience won't allow him to run away from conflict, as much as Jack wants to. Even it costs him his freedom, which he's forced to surrender by episode's end. As result of having only two hours of screen time, the plots feels more tightly focused than usual. The script by Howard Gordon throws around a lot of talk about America acting as moral authority, especially by President-Elect Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones), to prevent reprehensible acts by monstrous people. That line of logic doesn't work in reality, yet within the shows context, it fits right in its mission statement. Jonas Hodges (Jon Voight), the shady businessman funding the African uprising for-now unknown reasons, is real monster of the film. By the end, the democratic state of Sangala has fallen, leaving thousands left behind to become cannon fodder, as in the case of the child soldiers, or victims of genocide, as with everyone else. Of course, this being "24," it features things that DO NOT work under any circumstances. The writers never properly determined how to provide actor's with definition to play weak- willed people, which befalls actor Kris Lemche who plays an unfortunate former addict and broker (See what I mean?) that uncovers Hodges plot. At it's best, this show finds meaning in the chaos whenever it allows our heroes to lose a few rounds to the terrorists they're combating. With Redemption, the good guys lose a round to Hodges, whose not only kills Lemche, but also plots to eliminate the soon-to-be First Son.Things don't look good for everyone as the film wraps up, yet with people like Jack Bauer and President Allison Taylor in the world, "hope has a fighting chance," to quote the tagline.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) is hiding out in Africa, trying to re-find his spiritual self after becoming disillusioned. However, he becomes involved in the plight of some children who are about to be forced to join guerrilla armies.After watching the first series of 24, it failed to impress me that much and I never really became a fan. But this feature length episode caught my eye when it was advertised on TV, and when I saw it was possible to rent a copy, I gave it a try. In honesty, it was just what I was expecting and nothing more, a distracting, passable piece driven a bit more by human drama than the 'real time' factor. Sutherland is as bland as the material, and Robert Carlyle tries to add something in his supporting role as an impassioned aid worker. 'Candyman' Tony Todd also adds air as the villain, but this remains a standard, unremarkable piece that is best for when you just want to veg out and relax. ***

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.