In the year and a half since "24" last crossed our TV screen, Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer has had plenty of time to reload.
If bullets were nutritious meals, he could end starvation in Africa just from the number he fires in Sunday night's two-hour runup to the new season that launches in January.
Nor is it only Jack Bauer who shows up with fresh ammo. The writers sharpened their aim, too, giving us a show that deftly accomplishes two worthy goals.
It advances Jack's story, bridging the complicated past to an equally complicated future, and at the same time it could pass as a two-hour action-adventure movie standing all by itself.
Once the writers have tied up the plot threads, the two-hour length gives them plenty of time to let Jack have some old-style heroic fun in the tradition of Steven Seagal and Arnold.
In one remarkable scene, Jack single-handedly takes on dozens of murderous armed psychopaths and manages to keep picking them off on the fly while every one of the several thousand rounds they fire at him only kick up dust at his feet.
That won't come as a spoiler, by the way, to anyone familiar with Jack's past. It's more like a day at the office.
As we pick up the two-pronged story, Jack is living in Africa's fictional Sangala, helping his old friend Carl Benton (Robert Carlyle) run a school that helps rescued child soldiers get an education and a chance.
The problem is that the ruthless General Juma (Tony Todd) has arranged for another coup, whose aftermath he envisions as the elimination of anyone associated with or tainted by the Americans.
It gets personal when a relative of Juma's sadistic Col. Ike Dubaku (Hakeem Kae-Kazim) has an interaction with Jack and Carl that turns unsatisfactory on both sides.
Meanwhile, back in D.C., Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) is preparing to take the oath of office as the new President. As a sort of welcoming gift, her predecessor Noah Daniels (Powers Booth) tells her Juma has launched his coup and he sees no reason for the U.S. to intervene.
Taylor isn't so sure. But then, Taylor doesn't know all the backstory, partly because she hasn't yet made the acquaintance of Jonas Hodges (Jon Voight), whose involvement in all sorts of shadowy international matters keeps the job of President from ever becoming dull.
Sutherland remains the right Jack, a cowboy with a touch of genuine moral outrage and the classic action hero's ability to wade through the worst firestorms while stirring music swells around him.
As long as he's having a good time - well, all things being relative - we're having a good time.
Welcome back, Jack.
If bullets were nutritious meals, he could end starvation in Africa just from the number he fires in Sunday night's two-hour runup to the new season that launches in January.
Nor is it only Jack Bauer who shows up with fresh ammo. The writers sharpened their aim, too, giving us a show that deftly accomplishes two worthy goals.
It advances Jack's story, bridging the complicated past to an equally complicated future, and at the same time it could pass as a two-hour action-adventure movie standing all by itself.
Once the writers have tied up the plot threads, the two-hour length gives them plenty of time to let Jack have some old-style heroic fun in the tradition of Steven Seagal and Arnold.
In one remarkable scene, Jack single-handedly takes on dozens of murderous armed psychopaths and manages to keep picking them off on the fly while every one of the several thousand rounds they fire at him only kick up dust at his feet.
That won't come as a spoiler, by the way, to anyone familiar with Jack's past. It's more like a day at the office.
As we pick up the two-pronged story, Jack is living in Africa's fictional Sangala, helping his old friend Carl Benton (Robert Carlyle) run a school that helps rescued child soldiers get an education and a chance.
The problem is that the ruthless General Juma (Tony Todd) has arranged for another coup, whose aftermath he envisions as the elimination of anyone associated with or tainted by the Americans.
It gets personal when a relative of Juma's sadistic Col. Ike Dubaku (Hakeem Kae-Kazim) has an interaction with Jack and Carl that turns unsatisfactory on both sides.
Meanwhile, back in D.C., Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) is preparing to take the oath of office as the new President. As a sort of welcoming gift, her predecessor Noah Daniels (Powers Booth) tells her Juma has launched his coup and he sees no reason for the U.S. to intervene.
Taylor isn't so sure. But then, Taylor doesn't know all the backstory, partly because she hasn't yet made the acquaintance of Jonas Hodges (Jon Voight), whose involvement in all sorts of shadowy international matters keeps the job of President from ever becoming dull.
Sutherland remains the right Jack, a cowboy with a touch of genuine moral outrage and the classic action hero's ability to wade through the worst firestorms while stirring music swells around him.
As long as he's having a good time - well, all things being relative - we're having a good time.
Welcome back, Jack.
