Jack Bauer in 24: Redemption - Courtesy Fox

24 is back in all of it’s ridiculous splendor, and I mean that in a good way.  Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) made his return to TV in last night’s 24: Redemption, a 2 hour prequel to the upcoming 7th season.  A fitting title seeing that this show will need to find redemption for season 6′s lackluster finish, Keifer’s fourth DUI, the long hiatus between seasons, and of course Jack Bauer’s un-PC use of torture.

24: Redemption picks up some three or so years after season 6.  Jack has been been traveling the world in order to duck a subpoena from the U.S. government to answer questions about his involvement in “illegal detention and torture.”  We find him working and living at a school for boys in the fictitious nation of Sangala, Africa, loosely based on The Democratic Republic of Congo.  And, just by chance of course, this happens to become the location for a crisis that gets the full attention of the White House.  A vicious warlord is kidnapping Sangalese children and forcing them into his militia as “child soldiers” in a plan to overthrow the government using funds from the new official bad guy, Jonas Hodges.  Who better to play Jonas than my favorite bad guy actor Jon Voight — I’m extremely stoked by this casting. Speaking of new cast members, 24 is getting a new President and it’s a woman, shocker.  President-Elect Allison Taylor is being played by long time Broadway actress Cherry Jones (I wonder if she’ll take credit for the future election of a female U.S. President).  The Sangala crisis becomes her first official business as she takes over the reigns from last season’s President Daniels (Powers Boothe).

Don’t worry all my fellow 24 fanatics, Redemption doesn’t disappoint.  The action and excitement rivals that of classic pre-season-6 episodes, and Jack still retains his unbeatable superman status.  He dodges punches, machetes, bullets, and even a rocket launcher as he almost single-handedly saves the school boys from the clutches of the Sangalese warlord.  I admit that I laugh at its absurdity at times but I just consider this my own personal comic relief, which just adds to the enjoyment of the show.  So, just how ridiculous does this show have to get before I stop watching it?  I draw the line at the first sign of aliens… hmmm… actually, Jack Bauer kicking alien butt would rock, so bring on those little green men.

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Quick Preview of Season Seven:
The new season will kick off on Sunday, January 11th with a 2 day 4 hour premiere.  To make it short, Jack goes on trial, the government needs him again, C.T.U. is gone, the nation is under attack, Chloe is a “stay-at-home-mom,” and Tony Almeda makes a soap-opera-style return — this guy just won’t die, and wait… he’s the bad guy?

24 Official Site | 24: Redemption trailer | 24: Season 7 trailer

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Note: For those of you who missed 24: Redemption the DVD will be released tomorrow.

Are you getting excited about the upcoming season of 24? I mean, yeah, it’s like 7 months away, but still.

Would it damper your anticipation if you knew Tony Almeida was not only back from the dead, but likely a suspect in terrorism attacks?

From the News Observer (via Remote Access), we get this tidbit from executive producer Manny Coto:

But while Jack is in Washington, FBI agent Renee Walker brings him in to deal with a series of possible terrorist attacks instigated by former CTU agent Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), previously presumed dead. “Jack’s thrust into this mystery of how Tony is still alive, and why is he trying to bring down this country?”

So what the heck is with Tony? He was dead, then saved Jack’s life once, and now he’s going to be a bad guy?

I didn’t like last season all that much and now I am slightly worried about this one. What about you guys?

Carlyle revealed a little more about his role in the prequel:

My character’s called Carl Benton who is Jack Bauer’s best buddy and he hasn’t seen him for 10 years or something. Jack’s on his travels and he comes to see Carl and hang out with him and potentially change his life. Maybe…

I think we all know that means he’ll end up turning against Jack somehow. They all do.

I have been wondering how they would do the movie since the series itself is famous for it’s “real-time” format where each one hour episode is one hour in the day. Well, Carlyle confirmed that the two hour prequel will take place in real time and that the movie will lead directly into the series.

This two hours is two hours in real time and there’ll then be 22 episodes. I don’t know how they connect it to the first of those 22 episodes but it’s literally the third hour…

So, wait a second. There’s only 22 episodes?

If you’re a fan of the show at all you know that there are always exactly 24 episodes to coincide with the 24 hours in a day. Fox has been leading us to believe that the prequel will be an additional two hour film that will lead us into the 24 HOUR SEASON. Guess that’s wrong. It looks like the prequel is actually just the first two episodes of the seventh season more or less. Then, when the season comes around we’ll only get 22 episodes instead of the 24 we’d normally get.

That’s really disappointing.

What do you think? Are they ripping us off or is this a good way to tide us over while we wait for the new season to finally arrive in January?

Voight will be going head to head against Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) as the main bad guy who is pulling the strings behind a terrorist threat. The character will be introduced during the two-hour prequel to Season 7 and will be featured heavily in the latter half of the season.

The prequel is currently shooting on location in South Africa and is slated to air on November 23. Season seven of 24 kicks off in January.

Grayden has signed on to play the President’s daughter on the upcoming seventh season of the hit TV show featuring Jack Bauer. The recurring role has Grayden playing daughter to season 7 President Cherry Jones.

The TV movie is designed to bridge the gap between last season and the upcoming seventh season which will premiere in January. The prequel will feature Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) battling an international crisis in Africa while the U.S. ushers in a new president on Inauguration Day.

Eric Lively, brother of “Gossip Girl” star Blake Lively and “L Word” alum, will play the president’s son.

Gil Bellows, perhaps best known for his role on Fox’s “Ally McBeal,” will play a State Department officer ordered to serve Bauer with a subpoena to appear before the Senate.

Tony Todd will play a cruel African dictator named Gen. Juma. Todd will appear during Season 7.

Fox recently announced their fall schedule along with all the other networks. “24” won’t be returning until January when Season 7 will air with uninterrupted episodes. However, as we already know, a two hour prequel movie will be airing this fall that will bridge the gap between Season 6 and Season 7. Fox announced that the prequel will air on November 23, 2008.

In related news, sources confirm that Scottish actor Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty) has been cast in the prequel movie as Benton, Jack’s mentor in South Africa where a lot of the film takes place. Carlyle’s role is not expected to spill over into the show’s seventh season, but with “24″ you never really know.

Fox also gave us some press on the prequel as well as Season 7:

Shot on location in South Africa, Jack Bauer battles an international crisis, while here at home the nation prepares for a new president on inauguration day. Taking place just a few months before the new day dawns, the prequel will set the stage and raise the stakes for Season Seven.

“We’re excited about the prequel because it explores Jack’s complex emotional state of mind and still has all the signature excitement and suspense that fans have come to expect from 24,â€? commented executive producer Howard Gordon. “Shooting in South Africa affirms everyone’s commitment to making this season especially memorable for our fans.â€?

Celebrating its 150th episode this season, the series has resumed production on “Day 7� and will unfold without interruption in its regular time period Mondays (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) beginning in January 2009.

Set in Washington, DC, “Day 7� finds CTU dismantled and Jack Bauer on trial. Bauer’s day takes an unexpected turn when former colleague TONY ALMEIDA (Carlos Bernard) returns. Meanwhile, President ALLISON TAYLOR (Cherry Jones) leads the country alongside White House Chief of Staff ETHAN KANIN (Bob Gunton) and First Gentleman HENRY TAYLOR (Colm Feore).

A national security crisis prompts an investigation by a team of FBI agents including Agent JANIS GOLD (Janeane Garofalo), Agent RENEE WALKER (Annie Wersching), Agent LARRY MOSS (Jeffrey Nordling), Agent SEAN HILLINGER (Rhys Coiro) and security specialist MICHAEL LATHAM (John Billingsley). Although CTU is no longer, CHLOE O’BRIAN (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and BILL BUCHANAN (James Morrison) are back for another momentous day of shocking events.

Maybe.

Either way, he’s coming out with a horror movie called Mirrors which is set for an August 15th release date. Some have thought it was another Japanese remake, but Paulington from Movieweb did an interview with director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes, Frontiers) who corrected those rumors.

“We received a script from Regency called Into the Mirrors, and we didn’t know anything about the movie. When we read it, we didn’t connect with the story at all. We didn’t connect with the characters or the scares. But there was something about the simple idea of using the mirrors. When we started talking about the script, we realized that both men and women are constantly looking at themselves in the mirror. Who knows how many times in a day. Not just house mirrors, but people are constantly looking at themselves in rearview mirrors, water, glass. Anything that has a reflection. It’s just nuts. You may look at yourself ten times, thirty times, a hundred times in a day.

He goes on to say that other than the opening scene, it really has no resemblance of Into the Mirrors. The plot sounds intriguing, but the idea of mirrors freaks me out.

I always have enjoyed Sutherland, especially in his minor part in A Few Good Men, so I’m curious what kind of movie Mirrors will turn out to be.

Sutherland will play a security guard who gets wrapped up in a mystery surrounding a specific department store’s mirrors which seems to bring out the worst in people.

The movie also stars Amy Smart (Just Friends) and Paula Patton (Hitch)

We have some photos from the movie below for your enjoyment.

However, there will be a two hour prequel film this fall that bridges season 6 with season 7. I’m guessing the film will probably be helpful because it sounds like a lot has changed. Apparently we’re going to find CTU disbanded after the events of season 6 and Jack Bauer on trial for his actions (the guy can’t catch a break). However, a major national security incident occurs when the firewall responsible for protecting America’s government computer infrastructure is breached. I’m guessing they’re going to need Jack to get “involved” again.

The photo above features from left to right: FBI Agents Sean Hillinger (Rhys Coiro), Janis Gold (Janeane Garofalo), Larry Moss (Jeffrey Nordling), and Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) who is also in an “adversarial relationship with Jack Bauer�, Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), who everyone thought was killed in a previous season, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), Bill Buchanan (James Morrison), Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub), First Gentleman Henry Taylor (Colm Feore), the show’s first female president Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones), and Chief of Staff Ethan Kanin (Bob Gunton).

A lot of people weren’t that happy with last season so it remains to be seen if the long hiatus will be good for the ratings or bad. I’m a huge fan of the show, but I too felt last season was lacking in a lot of ways (the music stunk for sure). I’m hoping the extra time was used wisely be the show’s producers to get back to all the things we loved about it from the very beginning while still allowing the characters and situations to grow intelligently. (I’m not sure how many more times Jack is going to have to prove himself to be a patriot before I’m going to scream.) Let’s hope they get it right.

But my male-crush aside, Yahoo told a little story today about Kate Beckinsale wanting to join the cast of 24 next season.

She tells AOL movies, “I’m compulsively addicted to 24. I love that show. Just hearing the music of it makes me feel so confident … (Maybe) I can be the head of CTU.”

I doubt I’m the only who who wishes this comes true. I don’t see how anyone can go wrong putting Kate Beckinsale on my television every Monday night for 24 episodes.

I started to like Kate in Serendipity, but it wasn’t until Underworld, with the combination of vampire and black leather, did I dream of becoming a nocturnal bloodsucker.

Alright, I’m joking about becoming a vampire, but honestly, Beckinsale on 24 would be pretty sweet. Make it happen Fox!