The Bottom Line: "Great"
After a very disappointing season 6, the writers decided to re-think what they wanted to do with the next season. They promised us that they would try to do something different with the story.
Due to the long break between seasons, the writers also decided to give us something extra between seasons, which would help to set up the story that they would tell in season 7, basically like a longer version of the DVD extra that they've had in the past, where it showed specific key moments that would lead up to the following season. And that's really how this movie should be approached.
It did have its own main story, where Jack ended up in Africa, helping a guy named Mr. Benton with a school that he set up there. Coincidentally, at the same time Jack is about to leave the school, there's trouble in Africa, where a group of men have started raising an army of children in order to start a coup in Africa.
The movie moves very slowly at the start, and the first half hour was a bit shaky. I did like the idea of the coup, and it had a very nice opening scene where they showed one of the kids in the army being pursuaded to kill somebody, which I thought was a very creepy scene. After that, it shifts to Jack, and develops his relationship with the kids, as well as his reluctance to go back to the US. I thought that this was fitting for Jack's character, after what happened with Audrey in season 6, and had a few nice moments for Jack, seeing him in this new light, but I think that they could have done a better job at pacing to keep it interesting. Also, some of the scenes where the people were recruiting for the coup could have been written better, because I feel like the writers were going for a much more dramatic feeling, but some of the writing seemed off, and it ended up cheapening those scenes.
However, once the coup story started to connect with Jack's story with the kids at the school, it started to take off from there. The movie did have a lot less action than some of the episodes on the show, but I think that that was actually a good thing. It helped to show Jack as a kind of guardian for the kids, making him seem more human, as opposed to the super human hero he sometimes seems like in the show. There was, however, enough action to keep viewers interested, and move the story along. And the action that was there, was very good.
This main story, with the Africans, and the group of people that were starting the coup, I feel was a nice change of pace from what we got from previous seasons. It was not an attack on LA, or the US for that matter. It was strictly an issue dealing with Africa that Jack happened to get involved with. It wasn't perfect though. It had its rough parts, and some parts were very predictable, but overall, it was just a nice change of pace. And if it was just this part of the story, I'd be very excited about season 7 despite the problems that it had.
However, with the work that was put into coming up with an interesting, new kind of problem that wasn't like anything in the past, they had to ruin it with a side-story that we've probably seen in every season so far. Basically, there's a conspiracy involving this one company, which also connects to the white house. The company is helping to support the coup in Africa, and they also have the help of one of the limo drivers (of all people they could have chosen to be involve, why pick a limo driver?). I really did not care for that story in the movie. One of the main problems that I had with it was the person who almost discovered the conspiracy, Chris. Chris' character was just annoying and pointless. He realizes what's going on, but his friend (the new president's son) doesn't believe him because he's a drug addict, and needs proof in order to take action. I can understand needing proof about the conspiracy, but the drug addiction was completely pointless, and didn't add anything to the story. I guess that I'll have to see where they are going to take this part of the story in season 7 before making up my mind about it though, because they didn't really do much with it in the movie.
On the other hand, there was a small story with the new president. It showed President Daniels leaving the White House, after making one last decision that will probably end up affecting the story in season 7. Basically, he cuts off all support to Africa, leaving them to deal with their own problems. And of course, they have the new president come in and weigh in her opinion on the subject, showing the differences between the two characters. This part of the story wasn't really fleshed out within the movie, just giving you a taste for who the new president is, and showing the difference between her and Daniels. But despite this, I thought it was a pretty good way to introduce her, and was much more interesting than the conspiracy story. It wasn't great, but not bad either.
Overall, this might not be the best of 24. Its stories weren't really fleshed out, even with Jack's story. It only gave you a taste of what's to come. But that was the point of the movie. It was ment to be like the DVD specials that do just that, and in that case, it did do a great job, despite having a few moments that weren't that great. It's too early to say that 24 is back or not, but based on this movie, it does have a promising future.
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