“24: Redemption” might not be so bad

Entertainment: You got the liberal show runner in charge but at least the movie is a sign of promise given the NYTIMES didn't care much for the way the enemies are treated.

Even in this short-form version there are hints and reminders of what makes “24” simultaneously exhilarating and irritating: exquisitely choreographed violence and suspense come alongside clunky if gratifying caricatures. The United Nations peacekeeper with a foreign accent is an appeaser and a coward; a State Department envoy is officious and sadistic. Joel Surnow, one of the creators of “24,” has left the series, but its jingoistic political slant has not been lifted. This is the world according to a Chuck Norris movie. Heroes like Jack Bauer can save the nation from near extinction over and over, but they will still be persecuted for niggling human rights violations by pantywaist bureaucrats. “Redemption” is at its best when it focuses on action, not the after-action reports, and its best is awfully good. If nothing else, this two-hour version of “24” proves that downsizing is not necessarily a bad thing.