When the whole 24 movie thing never came to pass I assumed that the series was done when Jack really did never come back; no shame in that with 8 years under the belt and a couple of season in there that would be good enough reason to pack it up. Anyway, this series extends the story and sees Jack resurface at a time in London when President Heller also happens to be there. With Jack identified and captured by whatever we're calling CTU London, it appears that a big step is taken to shutting down the threat – however Jack and other players may have other things in mind.
When I heard of this series I admit I was planning to watch it but was hardly excited about it; perhaps some have forgotten that part of the fun of 24 was laughing at the "living in the moment" plotting which often produced ridiculous situations that are great in the moment but really make no actual sense – probably more have forgotten that in at least some of the seasons, such nonsense was so prevalent that it stopped being so much fun. This London-based story starts off a little clunky, with Jack being on silent unstoppable form – or at least I think it was the show's doing, it may have been me getting back into the flow of the show after so much time away. Once I was with it though, it was fine – totally fine; never more than this really, but everything you have come to expect from 24 was in this 12-hour long series.
At first it offers some topical interest – we have drones, we have what appears to be Julian Assange and some other things that turn out to only really be tick boxes as we get down to the business that we know. And it very much does this once it shakes off the cobwebs and gets into gear. Soon the potential topical relevance, commentary or satire is all gone and what remains is still a solid meal – although perhaps nothing as different as the idea of an England-based reboot may have made you think. There are moles, there are cold-war enemies, there are races against time, there is Jack endlessly saying "dammit", there are sacrifices and there is tragedy. All of it works for what it is, but you will not shake the feeling that you have seen it many times and it is not clear what about all of this made them think that it was worth doing another one (apart from of course money, franchise and brand-loyalty).
The main thing that this 24 ensures stays in place from the previous outings is that no plot device too illogical will be ignored as long as it can produce a big moment or plot twist. So we get the nuclear submarine captain who has never seen Crimson Tide and fires his missiles with all the brisk decisiveness of a man who just wants a medium regular coffee in Starbucks; nobody asking about (or even mentioning) that fact that both of the people behind the drone attack seemed to have been thrown out of the same window (one in restraints) – got the characters out of the way quickly I guess; we also get the snap conclusion that if CTU and Mark Boudreau had Jack's tracking info then it 100% must have been Boudreau who gave it to the Russians – which of course it was, but logic would have pointed at the mole they just discovered was managing the CTU office and had just been caught minutes prior to this. As ever, all of these are acceptable in the minutes because they generally replace the "wait, what?" question with something happening or something dramatic.
The cast do what is expected, although nobody excels. Sutherland could do this in his sleep and although he is capable of more it does seem this is what the viewer wants; so as ever he goes from Terminator to "I'm emotionally broken and go do this no longer", back to Terminator mode several times as he always have; generally though he is a good presence and if you want someone to talk low and talk fast then he is your man. Strahovski is unlikely but does okay, with the Wire's Akinnagbe in support. Rajskub seems out of place with her character, while Donovan, Devane, Wincott and Bratt all just work through what the material gives them.
24 Live Another Day is like an old band playing out the classics. The show doesn't have the joy, freshness, energy or stamina it once did (hell, it can only put in a 12 hour shift now) but it is still enjoyable for fans to get to hear all those classics played one more time even if we have heard them all before many times and perhaps better. It will nto win over any new or undecided viewers, but for fans of the series it is a chance to hear them play "I'm dead, no I'm not, you're a mole and someone I love just got killed" one more time.
When I heard of this series I admit I was planning to watch it but was hardly excited about it; perhaps some have forgotten that part of the fun of 24 was laughing at the "living in the moment" plotting which often produced ridiculous situations that are great in the moment but really make no actual sense – probably more have forgotten that in at least some of the seasons, such nonsense was so prevalent that it stopped being so much fun. This London-based story starts off a little clunky, with Jack being on silent unstoppable form – or at least I think it was the show's doing, it may have been me getting back into the flow of the show after so much time away. Once I was with it though, it was fine – totally fine; never more than this really, but everything you have come to expect from 24 was in this 12-hour long series.
At first it offers some topical interest – we have drones, we have what appears to be Julian Assange and some other things that turn out to only really be tick boxes as we get down to the business that we know. And it very much does this once it shakes off the cobwebs and gets into gear. Soon the potential topical relevance, commentary or satire is all gone and what remains is still a solid meal – although perhaps nothing as different as the idea of an England-based reboot may have made you think. There are moles, there are cold-war enemies, there are races against time, there is Jack endlessly saying "dammit", there are sacrifices and there is tragedy. All of it works for what it is, but you will not shake the feeling that you have seen it many times and it is not clear what about all of this made them think that it was worth doing another one (apart from of course money, franchise and brand-loyalty).
The main thing that this 24 ensures stays in place from the previous outings is that no plot device too illogical will be ignored as long as it can produce a big moment or plot twist. So we get the nuclear submarine captain who has never seen Crimson Tide and fires his missiles with all the brisk decisiveness of a man who just wants a medium regular coffee in Starbucks; nobody asking about (or even mentioning) that fact that both of the people behind the drone attack seemed to have been thrown out of the same window (one in restraints) – got the characters out of the way quickly I guess; we also get the snap conclusion that if CTU and Mark Boudreau had Jack's tracking info then it 100% must have been Boudreau who gave it to the Russians – which of course it was, but logic would have pointed at the mole they just discovered was managing the CTU office and had just been caught minutes prior to this. As ever, all of these are acceptable in the minutes because they generally replace the "wait, what?" question with something happening or something dramatic.
The cast do what is expected, although nobody excels. Sutherland could do this in his sleep and although he is capable of more it does seem this is what the viewer wants; so as ever he goes from Terminator to "I'm emotionally broken and go do this no longer", back to Terminator mode several times as he always have; generally though he is a good presence and if you want someone to talk low and talk fast then he is your man. Strahovski is unlikely but does okay, with the Wire's Akinnagbe in support. Rajskub seems out of place with her character, while Donovan, Devane, Wincott and Bratt all just work through what the material gives them.
24 Live Another Day is like an old band playing out the classics. The show doesn't have the joy, freshness, energy or stamina it once did (hell, it can only put in a 12 hour shift now) but it is still enjoyable for fans to get to hear all those classics played one more time even if we have heard them all before many times and perhaps better. It will nto win over any new or undecided viewers, but for fans of the series it is a chance to hear them play "I'm dead, no I'm not, you're a mole and someone I love just got killed" one more time.