Tweekums Set between seasons six and seven of the TV series this film sees former counter terrorist agent Jack Bauer in a fictional African country where he helps at a local school. He is still wanted by the US authorities but refuses to return home. His peaceful life is turned upside down again when local warlord General Benjamin Juma starts a coup and his underlings kidnap local children to force them to fight in his army. The country's president requests help from America but the timing could hardly be worse; it is only two hours till the new US president is sworn in and the incumbent has ordered the evacuation of the US embassy. One of the boys from the school is killed and another injured as Juma's men try to press-gang them in a nearby village. The injured boy is picked up by Jack's friend Carl Benton who warns Jack that the rebels are on the way to the school. Jack gets the children to safety but is captured and tortured; luckily when Benton gets back they overcome their attackers and head towards the capital hoping to get there before the last helicopter leaves.This TV movie has a solid story that contains plenty of excitement and many elements that fans of the series are sure to enjoy. Of course given that the story is set over a much shorter time period than a whole series it does feel a little rushed at times and many plot threads remain unresolved; presumably as a set up for series seven; this is especially true of what we see happening back in the US. The African setting does make a nice change and even though it is set in a fictional country the idea of rebels forcing children to fight is all too depressingly realistic. The action is well handled and the final evacuation where desperate locals pressed against the gates of the US embassy while US personnel and their dependants board Hueys to fly them to safety was clearly inspired by the evacuation of Saigon during Operation Frequent Wind in 1975. Overall this is a solid '24' story; it isn't essential that one watches the series first but some knowledge would be useful and the number of unresolved issues would make it frustrating to anybody watching this as a stand-alone film.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU Humanitarian Mish mash. A very effective but violent special forces' agent, running away from the USA where he is wanted for many exploits of his, Jack Bauer is helping out a UN refugee camp for orphans in some difficult country in Africa, is there one that isn't? Then these children become the target of a rebel general who wants them in his army. He tries to kidnap them. Jack Bauer defends them. But the plot sickens at once with American politics. The first woman president has just been elected. The African country concerned is an ally of the US. The outgoing US president has financed, under the table of course, the rebellion against an official ally of the USA in order to create a problem for his successor. Is she really better? Who cares any way. She ends up with her inaugural speech that promises the American people, if they do what they have to do, their patriotic duty, that she will conserve and save democracy and freedom. Where? In hell I guess for the Africans that are sacrificed on the American political chessboard. We wonder after a while who can be interested in seven or eight or maybe twenty if they can seasons of this never ending series that is the most anti-American and anti-humane series I know. Anti-American because it is the Americans who are the only equal people in this world of freedom for the Americans only. It sounds like "Deutschland über alles", Germany above them all. That's not what the American dream is all about. And anti-humane because simple people, individuals, even masses of individuals are nothing but cattle and politics is only how you bring fodder to this cattle or how you slaughter that cattle before they starve to death because there is no fodder, since the fodder has been used to feed the over-fed masters of this world, especially in diamonds and other gold or uranium.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID

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 ___________________________

jzappa 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.