just watch it!

I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

"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.

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

24 IS BACK. IT'S BACK AND IT'S REDEEMED! Good movie and it's a definite change up from "evil terrorist plot starting" stuff, though I still found the boring political B-Plot tiresome; it was truly a horrendous subplot. I thought they were going to get away from this stuff? Anyways, it was a nice touch to hear Jack say "events take place in real time" at the beginning again; they haven't done that since the first season and props to Sean Callery, who adapted the 24-style music nicely to the setting. It was also refreshing watching an episode of 24 and not having to hear that damn CTU phone ring every 5 minutes.They also seemed to heavily borrow concepts from Blood Diamond and Last King of Scotland. Maybe a more appropriate title would have been 'The Last King of Scotland's Blood Diamond: The Series'. Also, what was the time difference between Africa and the States? Why was there day light in both places? And I guess Hillary won in the 24 universe, which must mean Powers Boothe = John McCain. Also loved the gratuitous tit shots when they were discussing important plot points over the phone.I was also pretty shocked when they killed the kids; a first in 24 and I loved how Jack took out their whole army, especially with that stealth knife kill and that jump from the tree was awesome too. Also loved the "Why don't you go hide in the shelter with the other children" line.They seem to be overdoing the whole Jack torture scene as it's reaching Mel Gibson self parody level now. Hmmm, The Passion of the Bauer? Though saying that, Jack's been in a Chinese prison for a year, you really think the Africans are going to mess with him? And I loved that KILL BY KNEE scene.I was sad when Carl died (damn kids always screwing things up) though it was an awesome way to go out and it was odd how they didn't give him the silent clock. And even more oddly, they did the silent clock at the end of the movie; so either Benton had just died or Jack's soul did. And the "He's not coming. He's DEAD!" line was cooold.The gun fight an the end reminded me of Black Hawk Down and I wish Jack would of shot that kid. I was also disappointed that the subpoena guy didn't die, although that was a sweet thing he did to get Jack back.Oh, and they must have paid a lot to get less commercials in the first half, though we sure did pay for it in the second half.

It has been almost 1.5 years since Jack Bauer was on TV, a very long time for a series that can make you addicted. The producers decided to make the wait a little more worthwhile and shot a prequel for the strongly anticipated 7th Season. Now, the film doesn't play in L.A. or involves the CTU, but plays in the fictional African country of Sangala, where children are trained to become soldiers, to overthrow the government.Since Season 6, 18 months have gone by and it is Inauguration Day in the United States, a historical moment as the first female President is about to be sworn in. But President Elect Taylor has to find out that a military coup is about to take place in Sangala and President Noah Daniels has decided to evacuate the US embassy there. Another plot line follows Taylor's son Roger, who is informed by his friend, about the dirty business his company is involved in. In fact, the company and its client Jonas Hodges (Jon Voight) provide the African general Benjamin Juma with weapons to become dictator of Sangala.Jack, who is wanted for torturing a suspect in the US, aids his old friend Carl Benton at his school in Sangala. Then he becomes involved in the coup, as Juma's soldiers arrive to pick up the kids and to train them as soldiers. Jack has to face another major crisis as he and Benton have to take the kids to the US embassy to be evacuated to the United States.It was great to see a change of scenery in 24, from L.A. to Africa. I was very happy to see Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer again, and even though I had hoped for a little more action, the plot is logical (something that has been lacking during Season 6) and very intense, really focusing on some of the characters. Robert Carlyle does an excellent job as Carl Benton and Jon Voight steals every scene he's in, even though he doesn't appear that often in Redemption.All in all, I'm really looking forward to Season 7 after the excellent prequel and am more more excited than ever to hear the clock again. Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick!