I watched the ‘intro’ for the new 7th series of American TV perennial ‘24′ last night - the 2 hour one-off show titled 24: Redemption - and was struck by how much Jack Bauer has morphed into the cowboy icon from movie classics such as Shane.
A few years ago the show was ground breaking and original and fun to watch. Now I find I’m a little cynical about Jack and his magic bullet-dodging powers and the whole ’saviour of the poor African children’ routine in Redemption did grate a little.
The funniest part had to be the cartoon-like one dimensional portrayl of the UN peacekeeper - not only did the man with the funny accent and wimpy blue helmet hide with the kids in the cellar when the bad guys rode into town, he also tried to barter the children and their protectors for his own safety!
I realise this is shown on Fox in America and the centre ground is never going to be the political place to be but I thought the American Might vs European Flight routine was a little overdone.
Anyway I’m getting into politics when what I really want to say is Jack/Kiefer does indeed make a very good ‘man in white’ cowboy hero, ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of the downtrodden vilagers (whether they be African orphans or the poor people of Los Angeles under siege by Middle Eastern militants).
I know Sutherland once played a cowboy in New York in the early 90’s film The Cowboy Way. What I’d like to see now is a movie studio ready to put CGI to good use and cast Kiefer / Jack in all 7 roles for The 21st Century Return of the Magnificent Seven…
Is it time for a re-make?
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:09 pm
spooks is just as bad but the cast do get killed off in more grisly ways