Reasons:
1. I had high expectations of a '24' movie... and high expectations tend to precede extreme disappointment.
2. The Bauer-saves-Rwanda-from-happening-again plot was more tired than a trypanosomiasis patient overdosing on sleeping pills during a Spanish siesta.
3. I have an aversion to Hollywood inventing fictional African countries or conflicts (reference: Tears of the Sun).
Nevertheless I was impressed with the first two episodes of 24’s seventh season. Disbanding CTU altogether and forcing Bauer to work with new FBI characters who barely trust him were smart scriptwriting moves, as was the idea of putting him on trial for use of torture.
What I really love though is that the bad guy in charge of the bad guy behind who seems to be the bad guy (*pause to catch my breath*)... is African. Yes: I appreciate the fact that the character (played by Hakeem Kae-Kazim who played a similar role in Lost) is still a stereotypical, one-sided and (thus far/typically) underdeveloped, bloodthirsty warmonger. However I still find some pleasure in the fact that 24's scriptwriters thought the African villain had so come of age that he could be behind a plot as Machiavellian as those contractually required by Team 24. We (and by ‘we’ I mean Africans, as opposed to ‘we African criminals’… ahem….) are usually much further down the crime food chain.
Being a bit of a pessimist though, I am still expecting a twist in which there is some white dude is who is the boss of the African bad guy in charge of the bad guy behind who seems to be the bad guy.
There is also the chance that the novelty of the African criminal’s newfound standing will soon wear off, along with my patience for his pseudo-Nigerian accent and lack of character development.
It’s not that I lack faith in the African villain.
It’s that I lack faith in Hollywood.
I re-heaally wish they would quit it with that generic 'African' accent. Can't they just choose one country or even region and stick to it? Don't we deserve at least that much?
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly we've come far from the days of "Ashanti" (circa 1979) where Beverly Johnson was speaking bad Swahili and her conversation partner was speaking some other, clearly different language and we were not supposed to notice, but still....
Don't get me started on 'Ashanti'. Took me years to forgive Michael Caine and I'm still waiting for my money back...
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