The much hyped reboot of FOX’s “24” aired last night after the Super Bowl -- to the chagrin of many “24” fans. "24: legacy" stars “Straight Outta Compton" star Corey Hawkins as the indestructible hero instead of Kiefer Sutherland’s iconic TV character Jack Bauer. Also starring in the reboot is Jimmy Smits, Miranda Otto, and Anna Diop as Hawkins' wife.
The legacy
The plot will sound very familiar to fans of the original “24” (and to anyone who has watched an action film about terrorists from the last fifteen years). The real-time element of the show is still in place, and like the original every person speaking into a cell phone makes sure the audience is aware of the magnitude of each conversation through steely-eyed stares and heavy breathing.
The reboot also gets the frenetic pacing of the original show correct, and has enough blood and headshots to make even Jack Bauer proud. Hawkins' performance as ex-Army Ranger Eric Carter is good enough to get the job done, but one has to wonder why FOX and Sutherland refused to resurrect a character, Bauer, with such a rich history and devoted fan base. Sutherland’s weariness of playing Bauer has been well documented, but to die-hard fans of “24,” the show just won’t be the same without Sutherland’s gravely voice giving life or death ultimatums to the bad guys.
Another helping of stereotypes, please
The one thing about “24: Legacy” people watching and commenting on social media have pointed out is that the show is quite heavy- handed with the stereotypes.
Hawkins' character has an estranged brother who ends up helping him and his wife out, and of course, since the character is black, the brother’s occupation is that of a street pharmacist. The main villains, or at least at this moment, are of Arabic descent and go around killing women and children mercilessly in the name of revenge for the assassination of their leader Ibrahim Bin-Khalid.
Surely, the showrunners of the reboot could not predict the toxic environment surrounding religious and ethnic minorities these days, but you would think a show which was so innovative when it originally aired could do better with the narratives of the protagonist and villains. One can only hope as the show goes on that the twists and turns “24” fans are use to reveal more to the plot than the cliched beginnings of last night’s premiere.
FOX and the producers behind the reboot really missed a chance by not bringing back Sutherland’s character to wrap up the loose ends from “24: Live Another Day," especially considering all the real-life drama surrounding the 2016 election with Russian hacking. Hopefully, fans of “24” will get some sort of closure in that regard by the time the show ends. The second part of two part premiere airs tonight on FOX.
