24: Live Another Day Ending

How do you end a show that already concluded? What scenario do you put your hero in, quite possibly forever? How do you end a series that's future is really unknown?

Well with this ending and what I've heard in the past few days, I'm not totally convinced that 24 is done. But we'll get to 24's future in a little bit, I want to talk about the ending.

The final episode is set up like this. Jack knows where Cheng is with the override device. The US is on the brink of war with China and this can all be prevented if they apprehend Cheng and prove to the Chinese that they were behind the attack on the Chinese aircraft carrier.

The problem is, Cheng has a sniper on Audrey and will not let her go until he is safely away. Jack must choose again between those he loves and the country he would give anything to protect. But of course, let's find a way to do both.

Jack and Kate decide to split up. Kate goes to help Audrey, Jack goes after Cheng.

And at first, it starts to work.

Jack and Belcheck (who I actually really liked, especially his line about his name being like Madonna's) go all stealth into the large cargo freighter where Cheng is leaving. Kate manages to kill the sniper that had Audrey pinned down. It looks like all Jack needs to do is go and kill Cheng. With his team of Chloe and Belcheck, its looking pretty good...

Then Chloe disappears, they no longer have oversight. But that's never stopped Jack before right?

Well then he gets the call...

There was a second shooter and Audrey is now dead. And she is dead. No smoke and mirrors, no clock sound at the end of her scene, she is dead.

And while I really like Kim Raver and I liked Audrey, I think this was probably the best way to go. Personally, I didn't want them to go down the road of having Audrey have to choose between Jack and Mark. I didn't want Mark to go to prison just for it to be convenient for her to end up with Jack. And while I think it probably could have been the best outcome for everyone, I didn't want her to not end up with Jack. So while it might be considered an easy way out of an awkward scene, Audrey's death was a decent choice.

And there of course is the great moment where Jack hits the lowest he's been the entire season.

There's a moment where nothing else matters, he really has nothing to lose. Again, I kind of go back to the whole there's Kim and his now two grandkids, but put that all aside, Jack again faces an incredible loss. There's even a slight indication that Jack might take his own life, and at that point I was afraid that was where they were going.

This scene was reminiscent of the scene from the first season where Jack believes his daughter is dead. He takes a moment, stunned by an incredible loss... then...

It sounds bad, but every time Kiefer Sutherland does that heart wrenching yell while shooting an assault rifle, I get so pumped.

Seriously, this is what we like to see. We like to see Jack do something with his rage. Going on an absolute Rampage of everyone in his way is what got us really excited about 24. Its great action, its great acting, and its heart wrenching.

So in a matter of seconds, Jack shoots his way through Chinese terrorists in a manner that makes Call of Duty look tame and finally faces off with Cheng, the man responsible for so much pain in his life, physical and emotional. It would have been enough to kill this guy off before Audrey's death as he tortured both Jack and Audrey, but now that Audrey is dead, there is no way Cheng is getting out alive.

Before he kills him though, he sends a message to the President and everyone proving Cheng is alive, and that he was the one responsible for sinking the Chinese aircraft carrier. World War 3 is prevented.

But at this point, Jack has already tossed Margot out a window with the ease of Superman throwing his garbage out, how is Jack going to dispose of his ultimate foe?

Well a Katana of course!

Oh yeah, its ridiculous, its absurd, it fucking 24.

Jack Bauer can now add decapitation by Katana as one of his many ways of dispatching terrorists.

So the day is won, and then comes the aftermath.

The main aftermath comes with the news of Audrey's death. While I'm not wild about William Devane, the situation itself lends that part to be very sad.

More importantly though, when Mark realizes it, just by seeing the President collapse. Like I said, I like Mark more than most people in this season and that was almost more tragic, just seeing that facial expression that, without hearing it, he knows Audrey is dead.

I am very sad to see that Audrey died but its a bold move and really lends itself to create a melancholy ending. Sure they prevented World War 3, but at what cost?

Before the jump in time that happens, Jack realizes that Chloe is gone, probably by way of a struggle and then gets a call. I thought this scene was really good as the camera pans into Jacks face and I wish I had a good picture of it because its shot really really well.

The last ten minutes of the episode are probably the most depressing ten minutes I've seen in a long time. Mark is heading back to the United States to stand trial for treason, Kate, burdened with the death of Audrey and the death of her husband, who she discovered was actually innocent, leaves the CIA, and President Heller the coffin of his daughter being boarded onto Airforce One.

I think this could have been a really good scene if William Devane wasn't such a crumby actor. He talks with the Prime Minister (played by Stephen Fry) that in a few months, he won't remember he had a daughter, and he won't remember that she died. This is really tragic dialogue. Despite Devane's horrible delivery of the line and his complete absence of any emotions, I still felt incredible depressed by this ending.

And I only had the premonition that it could only get worse.

With the dying breaths of a Russian official saying we'll never forget what you did Bauer, there was no way the Russian storyline was just done. Furthermore, Chloe just disappearing with signs of a struggle means she's in trouble, and Jack is not done till his friends and loved ones are okay.

So how do you end this?

It ends in a prisoner exchange with the Russians. Jack has the opportunity to live his life, especially with a Presidential pardon, but instead he surrenders himself to the Russians in exchange for Chloe's freedom.

The last few lines are made my a Russian official saying to Jack that he'd say Jack was going to like Moscow, but that wouldn't be true.

The day closes with Jack being taken away by the Russians to what we can only assume is month (probably years) of torture, the exact same way he was treated by the Chinese.

That is the ending... The super depressing ending.

Audrey dies, James Heller is damned to an existence of Alzheimers, and Jack is damned to a Russian Prison...

Now if I had watched this when it aired, I would have been incredibly pissed. What kind of ending is that? If 24: Live Another Day was suppose to be a concluding chapter in the life of one of the greatest action heroes since John McClane, this is how you end his story? Being damned to a life in a Russian Prison? What the hell is wrong with you guys?

I'm not saying you had to keep Audrey alive and have Jack win the lottery, but what would have been wrong with a sad Jack going back to the United States with his daughter meeting him at the airport?What would have been wrong with him showing up for the exchange but Belcheck snipes all the Russians once Chloe is free and Jack goes on the run again? Give the man some closure for gods sake!

Now I have no doubt that Fox is sitting there thinking of some way to bring 24 back. The rumors right now say that the show will not focus on Jack...

WHAT DO YOU MEAN ITS NOT GOING TO FOCUS ON JACK!

24 is not a show you can just reboot, the show is no longer known for just being a show that takes place in real time, this show is Jack Bauer's.

But watching the end, I have no doubt that they'll continue 24. Because c'mon, that's how you want to end 24? Really? Again, nobody is saying World Peace needs to be achieved, but that?!?!?!

My only reaction to any talks of 24 continuing without Jack Bauer is this...

Here's the good thing, this show made me interested in seeing more 24. I want to see how Jack escapes from the Russians. Especially if they're looking for new ways to reinvent the show, show Jack escaping the Russian prison! Bring back Tony!

On the blue ray there's a video showing Carlos Bernard return as Tony Almeida and hinting at him escaping from prison.

I have no doubt that they have plans for future 24. God I hope they include Tony in that. But I will

not support anything that doesn't have Jack Bauer in it.

ESPECIALLY with how you ended things in Live Another Day.

That is not the way to end the legend that is Jack Bauer. That's dumb. Don't do it!

I think in normal circumstances, I'd take the approach that I don't think they need to continue 24. It had a good run and if it had ended better, 24: Live Another Day would have been an acceptable ending chapter to finish off the story 24 was trying to tell.

But with an ending like that, I have no choice but to say, do your job right, end Jack Bauer's story correctly! I'm opposed to any kind of 24 that doesn't focus on Jack Bauer but if I have a guarantee that Jack will return and he's not damned to spend the rest of his life in a Russian prison, then I'll entertain the idea of it being handed off to someone else... maybe.

I think Fox is playing with fire with this one. They had a chance to end 24 right, Live Another Day could have been that ending. Now they're doubling down and I'm worried its going to go worse than the 8th season.

All I can say is...

This is what 24 has brought me to. A meme I usually use for Zack Snyder is being used here. Do you see the problem here?

But what do you think? Where do you think 24 should head? Should they continue 24 without Jack Bauer? Should they let him rot in a Russian Gulag? What do you think? Comment and Discuss below! Also follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24 to get updates and watch me try and be funny.

I'll leave you with this. What is Jack Bauer was a Pizza Delivery man? Makes about as much sense as the end of the 8th season. Enjoy!

24: Live Another Day

So incase you didn't read my review of Season 8 of 24, here is my review, part 1 and 2. That's important because I might make reference to that. But if you don't know from that review of both the season I watched and the pilot, 24 is my most favorite show of all time. Yes, its redundant sometimes and after season 5 the terrorist plot to tear down America gets kind of old and you start seeing tropes that repeat themselves from previous seasons, and eventually, I'm convinced they kind of gave up and wrote nonsense, as you will see in the second part of my Season 8 review. But despite all that, the show continues to have a special place in my heart, and all the Doctors, Starks, Walter Whites, or Frank Underwoods can ever take away from the fact that I just have the most fun known to man when I watch 24.

While I had my problems with the 8th season, I really liked how the show closed out and to be honest, I wasn't wild about the new season, even if it was a mini series. Of course I was excited to see Kiefer Sutherland again, but in the back of my mind, I had my reservations about the return of Bauer.

Before I continue, I should let you know that this is riddled with spoilers. If you want to watch Season 9, stop reading this.

Live Another Day, marks the return of Jack Bauer after four years on the run from the US and Russian government. He's branded a terrorist for his attempts on the life of the Russian President and the murder of the Russian delegate, and rightfully so, you can see my rants on how a lot of what Jack did was uncalled for in the last season.

HOWEVER, I love this new Jack Bauer. Because he isn't working with any government entity in this one, because he apparently has nothing to lose and no friends, Jack Bauer will do anything and everything. Now that's hard to believe that anything has changed since Jack Bauer has always been a little bit of a wild card. But dear lord, this new Jack Bauer is ruthless, from the get go. This is Jack Bauer to a whole new level.

Kiefer Sutherland is followed by a large cast of characters that I am still kind of out on. Some characters are some of the best characters since season 5, while others really don't shine that much. I'll talk about the characters later but another good choice about this season was that there was no CTU. Perfect, I love it. Keep CTU out, it should be gone. Never bring them back again. Have CTU be something Jack and his friends reminisce about, not an actual thing. Instead, the government agency going after him this time is the CIA. Which was a great choice. Furthermore, they're going after him in London. This brings an element we've never seen before, an organization working on foreign soil. Everything is very stealthy, and very smash and grab. Its a lot of fun.

Jack returns when he is hunted by the CIA in London on the same day now President James Heller (reprised by William Devane) is in London to renew the lease of a military base, in the middle of a political debate on drones. Again, perfect, bring in a hot topic in the political world, the same way season 7 questioned torture and the "old" way of doing things, this season can question drones and eventually freedom of information and stuff like Wikileaks. Perfect 24, you're off to a good start.

Its soon revealed that Jack wanted to get caught and escapes custody to free Chloe O'Brian (reprised by Mary Lynn Rajskub) from CIA custody. Chloe since the last season has lost her husband and son and started working for an organization similar to Wikileaks, headed by a man named Adrian Cross (played by Michael Wincott). Again, good choice, pitting Jack Bauer against the equivalent of Julian Assange, I actually really like that.

Furthermore, the CIA is headed up by Benjamin Bratt from Law and Order, not a bad choice and has a couple well known actors in its ranks like Gbenga Akinnagbe as Eric Ritter, and Yvonne Strahovski as disgraced CIA agent, Kate Morgan.

I think if there were going to be any weak links in this cast, it might be the CIA. That's not to say I don't like any of these actors, espeially Bratt and Strahovski, but I think Gbenga Akinnagbe was incredibly downplayed and was not as great as he could have been. I think this show could have gone on without him and I don't think it would have been much different, he really just kind of follows Kate around and doesn't have an incredible defining moment besides yelling at Jack and Kate at one point. Not saying he's horrible, he was just kind of dull and underused.

On the side of the White House and government, of course you have President Heller again, which I'll get to him, but I think the main reason they brought him in as the President was to bring back Audrey Raines (played by Kim Raver).

Audrey is in a little bit of a different place then we last saw her at the end of season 6. She has recovered from her comatose put on by her experience in China and she's married now. Her husband Mark Boudreau (played by Tate Donovan) is the Chief of Staff for President Heller and at first keeps the news of Jack Bauer's return a secret and plans to hand him over to the Russians first chance he gets. This of course will backfire, and I'll talk more about that when I talk about Boudreau's character.

I thought this was an interesting choice to not only bring Audrey back but an Audrey that has kind of moved on from Jack... sorta. I was worried of how exactly it was going to end, none of the outcomes I really liked that much. I was kind of wondering if Audrey was going to end up with Jack in the end, leaving her husband. I was wondering if there was a possibility that she was not going to end up with Jack, that she loves her husband regardless, an outcome that would have been sad but I think one that I would have liked a little bit more. All of this I'll talk about in the ending but while I thought it was interesting, it was a choice I was interested to see where they were going and depending on which way they would go, I would decide on whether or not it was a good choice.

But lets get to the bad guys.

The first few episodes play the bad guy off as a computer hacker that worked for Adrian Cross's organization. Of course they always played him off as a pawn to the larger villain. This hacker creates an override device that is able to commandeer US drones. This. Was. Brilliant! Too many times its been bombs, or nerve gas, or biological weapons, but a drone itself. That's a turn that I don't think anybody saw coming.

Thus you introduce Margot Al-Harazi.

Initially Margot was suppose to be played by Judy Davis. Which honestly, I haven't seen her in anything. I wasn't opposed to it, I just didn't know anything about her. But then I heard that Davis dropped out. And who do they replace her with?

Catelyn Stark!!!! WHAAAAA!!!!

This was absolutely perfect. 24 banking off the popularity of Game of Thrones. Using a great actress like Michelle Fairley. This was just a brilliant move.

And furthermore, Margot is a great villain. Sure she has her daughter Simone (played by Emily Berrington) but Margot is the main villain and she's brilliant. I only wish Margot had had more than a half season because this is a 24 villain. And she's a good one as well. She's ruthless yes, she's cunning and will kill without hesitation. But there is humanity in her as well. This season really did a good job in developing characters and making them have human rationale for everything they did.

There's a point where Margot gives the President the choice, either surrender his self to her, or she'll run the drones a muck in London. At the same time, Heller is dealing with early onset Alzheimers. Again, something I'll talk about later. He decides that since he's going to be resigning soon, and there's no real leads on Margot, if he turns himself in she agrees to destroy the rest of the drones once he's dead.

This actually brings up a great moral dilemma for Margot. She never expects Heller to turn himself in, so should she honor that deal or continue the use of drones. It really puts a human side to Margot's actions. Its not condoning terrorism, but it really puts a rationale and goals for people who do this. While you want her brought down, you can't help but understand her situation, what would you do if you were brought to those lengths and suddenly your goals are met?

Its farfetched but hey, if it allows for the character development I saw in those episodes, I love it.

Later on in the season there's a shift in the villains and there's a whole new situation that arises from this overdrive device. One of them being the return of a certain villain that I'm kind of ehh on.

Cheng Zhi

Now I'll give the show credit, this guy's entrance into the show was one of the best entrances of a villain I've ever seen. It was like Darth Vader walking through that doorway in A New Hope. Just menacing and really a surprise. 

Now Cheng is in no way comparable to Darth Vader as a villain. I wasn't wild about him in Season 6 and I'm kind of lukewarm on him now. I think it was necessary to finally bring that storyline to a close, but he wasn't anywhere nearly developed as Margot. Furthermore, in many ways, it was like a soap opera where a character was thought dead and suddenly he returns and everyone flips a shit. Now for the sake of the impending threat of World War 3, Cheng had to be considered dead by everyone, killed in a Chinese prison escape attempt. But suddenly he's alive and the reactions to him coming back were a little cheesy. 

It was kind of funny that all of Jack Bauer's foes come together in one last showdown, the Russians and the Chinese. While interesting, it was a little bit forced and ridiculous if you really think about it. But, if World War 3 was going to happen, this is an interesting way of how it was going to happen, so I have to give the show credit. 

Character-wise, I'm still kind of out. 

My gut reaction is that this is actually one of the better casts in a long time. I think the reality is that some characters are done really well, while others are not quite as good. 

Jack Bauer of course is amazing. 

Once again, Kiefer Sutherland brings it and really makes me feel for this character who cannot catch

a break and have a good day for once. Jack Bauer continues to be the epitome of badass and one of the best action heroes of today.

As I said before, this is a Jack Bauer with literally nothing to lose. While I'm not wild about how he came to be this way (Season 8) I really like how things ended up in this season and how, while clunky, the end of Season 8 opened up for a ruthless, give no fucks Jack Bauer.

But this isn't just a totally new character, you can still see the character of Jack Bauer  in this season, he's just been through a lot, he's been through some events that changed him forever.

Furthermore how he's a fugitive, he must go to all lengths to get what he wants to do done. From shooting protestors in the leg to cause a riot to get in the American Embassy, to throwing subdued terrorists out of windows because... you know, America!

As Jack Bauer himself has said, there really is no going back for him... Until there is.

Later in the season, Jack is given a Presidential Pardon for any crimes he committed in the past. Something that is really glanced over. Perhaps this really ties with the ending, which writing this I'm realizing might turn into a post on its own. But suddenly Jack has a chance to go home. He has a chance to see his daughter again. Suddenly there is a going back for Jack... I'll leave it there for now.

In many ways, Kate kind of replaced Renee. Not in a potential relationship for Jack, though I was half expecting them to do that, she is the strong female counterpart to Jack, sometimes working as his partner, sometimes working against him.

Yvonne Strahovski is a good actress. She's gorgeous, she's really gotten better at her American Accent (watch the first season of Chuck, its hilarious), and Kate Morgan is a good character.

Honestly, I wasn't wild with Strahovski in the pilot. Her reasoning for staying on with the CIA for the search for Bauer was not exactly a strong case and I wasn't exactly sure how this whole "her husband was a traitor"thing was going to work out.

In the end though, I think Kate Morgan was a good enough partner for Jack Bauer in this season. She didn't blow me away but she was in no way bad. I think that's pretty much all I can say about her. She was good...

Really that's it.

The rest of the CIA though is kind of hit or miss. In the first few episodes, I would say they were really boring. Their way of operating, especially on foreign soil, like I said, was a great move. But the characters were just kind of bland. Steve Navarro (Benjamin Bratt) was pretty dull, Eric Ritter was kind of boring, that guy that had a crush on Kate was pretty boring. No one in the CIA really stood out. Until the later parts of the season.

When Navarro is finally revealed as a traitor, that is when things get interesting with him. He was kind of bland leading up to it, but that interrogation scene where he's very confident that he'll get immunity for what he knows about the override device, that was really good. His story was wrapped up really quickly though.

Everyone else still remained kind of boring. That's what I've decided. The CIA was kind of boring in this season but I think the fact of how they operated was so different, I think I'll give them a pass.

Then there's Chloe.

Did you really think they weren't going to bring Chloe back? C'mon.

But Chloe has a very interesting story in this season. She's suffered tragedy. She's lost, trying to find a way to move on from the death of Morris and her son. She's no longer working for the government and instead is using her skills as a hacker for an organization like Open Cell. Its so different and yet it feels so right. Chloe was really kind of the wild card in the entire season. You never knew if she was still with us or if she would run and disappear. I love that atmosphere about a character.

And Open Cell was really interesting. Again, the equivalent to Wikileaks, Open Cell was a bunch of teenagers. No one had the capability to be the bad guy in Open Cell. While I'm a little disappointed in that, it made a lot of sense.

And I guess that brings me to Adrian Cross.

Honestly, a part of me is a little disappointed in Adrian Cross. On one hand, he's a really good equivalent to Julian Assange, but I think they could have done more with him. There's a point where we're meant to believe that he's the main target, that he's the main villain. I kind of liked that idea, especially since Chloe was so torn between he allegiances to Jack and her allegiances to Cross.

While I liked the split allegiances and dilemma of Chloe I thought that that whole relationship kind of neutered Adrian Cross and by the time Cheng showed up, he was just an ascot wearing weakling. Personally, I think that's a little bit of a waste.

I think I would have liked Cross to be a little bit more charismatic, make a statement to the United States government, or put out a video making him even more like Julian Assange. In many ways,

Cross was just a creepy old guy on a computer.

I like Michael Wincott and while he was never really built up as a main villain, I think there was something that could have been done besides all of his people getting killed by the Chinese and him just getting axed off when he suddenly didn't serve a purpose.

I get that Wikileaks and Cross are probably in a different league and don't even compare to the likes of Jack Bauer and the high stakes action that goes along with 24, but I think there's a chance to have some intelligent game of cat and mouse with the internet there and really make more of a statement on organizations like this. I'm not saying that Julian Assange wouldn't have been any more of a pansy than Adrian Cross was in the end, but I think I would have liked Michael Wincott to be utilized a little bit more. Its not a huge deal because I didn't hate how they handled him and Open Cell, I would have just been okay if they had done more with him.

And then there's the White House.

I think I like the people in the White House more this time around because everything is personal. We didn't have to show Heller doing a lot of boring stuff to get us to like him because we've already seen him before. We didn't need to get introduced to Audrey and begin to like her, because we've already seen her before. And Mark Boudreau, though we needed to get to know him a little bit was in this from the beginning by being married to Audrey. Things were already personal here.

Now when it comes to James Heller, I'm not a huge fan. I don't think William Devane is that great of an actor. I also think that throwing Heller in as the President was more a convenience thing to bring Audrey back in the picture. It didn't seem like he was the kind of person that would run for President. I remember the first time watching the pilot and Heller as President felt very odd to me.

But like I said, it was more of an opportunity to bring someone back who was familiar, especially with only 12 episodes and an expedited story, let's not waste time. Furthermore, it was an opportunity for Audrey to return and for there to finally be closure between her and Jack. So while I'm not wild about William Devane, I think he served a purpose in this season and he had enough good moments that I can give him a pass. The bit about him being diagnosed with Alzheimers was sad enough to be effective, especially with Audrey and his relationship with other people in the government sphere, and it wasn't overplayed, it wasn't like he was forgetting people during the show, its mentioned, its in place, but it doesn't hinder the plot. Well done 24.

What I did have a problem with was his willingness to surrender himself to Margot later in the season. At first, I was kind of on the fence about it. He brought up good points that he's going to be resigning soon anyway, this is more of a personal thing, and he wants to save a lot of people. That's an interesting choice and sacrifice to make. And even I was on board for it for a while. But then he walks out onto Wembley Stadium, a sacrificial lamb ready to be slaughtered, and then I was kind of pulled out of it.

This is the President of the United States. It doesn't matter if he resigned, it doesn't matter if he's going to have Alzheimer's and he's going to die anyway, it doesn't matter if this is a personal sacrifice he's willing to make. Having the President of the United States murdered by terrorists would shake our country to the core. It would be embarrassing, it would be tragic to a nth degree. I don't know what the repercussions would be, that's how absurd it is. Especially if there was no guarantee that Margot would follow through on her side of the bargain. Its a selfish, stupid act that, while played up nicely, in reality would never happen in the history of ever.

But what's more is I'm not exactly sure I was happy when they didn't actually go through with it.

While I soon realized the folly in this plan, I was going along with it, and truly believed Heller was

dead by the way it was shot. It was shot very, very well, especially with the use of drones and a missile being shot into Wembley Stadium. That was a very well shot and edited scene.

And because of that, I had a moment where I truly thought, the President was dead. He gave into terrorist demands and now he's dead. What are the repercussions? What does the United States do when this happens? While absurd, I was actually really interested to see where they went with this... and then he was alive... I think there was an opportunity that was missed here.

The whole scene I go back and forth with. On one hand it really gives a great moment of shock when Margot realizes she got what she asked for, it was a really well done shot, it made me believe the President was dead. It was sad, it made me feel.

But on the other hand it was all a trick. Suddenly Heller doesn't seem as honorable, suddenly that unthinkable scenario was all a ruse. I think it had to happen the way it did, and they did a good job at the ruse, I just think there's something there that they missed out on.

And then there's the return of Audrey.

And who didn't see this coming. Audrey needed to come back. There was no question about it. There needed to be more resolution to her and Jack's story.

And Audrey is really good in this season. There's no much else to say about it, her reactions to things was very expected of someone in her position. She does some really smart things, she's not just the woman that needs to be saved.

She has some legitimate dilemmas with her husband and Jack. There is no doubt that she is still in love with Jack. Which at first I thought was going to go all soap opera-y and get really convoluted, but it really didn't. It was subtle, it was not exactly dealt with in haste because that's a big issue that needs to be dealt with in more than 12 hours.

I'll talk a little bit more about Audrey in the rant I have about the ending, but in short, I really liked Audrey in this season. I think I've always liked Audrey but in this season, she does a really good job.

And she brings light to a character I actually think was one of my favorite characters, and that came at a surprise.

I didn't think this was going to happen but now that I think about it more, I really liked Mark Boudreau.

Mark finds himself in a really difficult situation. He came to be the husband of Audrey mainly through her recovery. In all senses of things, Mark is a good guy. So when Jack Bauer shows up, he only sees the problems that Jack can bring and believes it is best for everyone involved, The President, the country, and Audrey, that Jack is captured and handed over to the Russians.

I'm not saying it was a dumb move for Mark to forge the President's signature, in fact, it was a really dumb idea. He marks it up to be that he didn't want the President's hands to get dirty, but handing Jack over to the Russians isn't exactly an action that would have gotten the President's hands dirty.

So I think the main reason he signs it is because he's jealous of Bauer. Mark is the unpopular not athletic kid at school who just can't compete with the more likable, football star, Jack Bauer. While he never truly admits it, there's a tragic story in Mark Boudreau. So when Jack and the President figure out that he's been working with the Russians to get Jack apprehended, I was actually really sad when the President charges him with treason. Yeah he deserved it, but at the same time there's a good amount of sympathy I had for the guy, I didn't want him to go to prison. It seemed like he was legitimately sorry for what he had done and he just got caught up in what he thought was the right thing. It was in fact the wrong thing but he did it for the right reasons. That's a really tragic character.

Furthermore, he had a legitimate claim in his fights with Audrey. He wasn't just the asshole husband, he legitimately cared for Audrey and she acted like kind of an asshole towards him for no good reason. So maybe I take back a little bit about what I said about Audrey, I see a lot more good in Mark than I think a lot of people did and I actually really liked him. I thought Tate Donavon did a good job. I really think Mark was one of my favorite characters of this season, and definitely one of the more interesting and developed ones at that.

Overall, there are a lot of good things about 24: Live Another Day. Its by no means the best season of 24, but it definitely has a lot of good things to it. There are a lot of bad things in it too, but for the most part, the good things outshine the bad things and there weren't any incredible glaring issues with the season, not like the 8th season at least.

Overall, the 9th season of 24 is a good, kind of fresh take on the franchise. I say kind of because there are a lot of things taken from previous seasons. While the show was condensed a little bit, for the best, it still had 24isms. But I'll chalk those up to be the tropes that make the show good. Some people may find it redundant, I find a charming part of the show. Regardless, the show really has some great characters and the story is pretty good as well. I didn't even talk about the action but I don't think I really need to, its 24, of course its going to be good. But with the use of drones on the streets of London, its far fetched, its absurd, its 24, and its awesome.

I've decided I'm going to make this a two parter... ish. I mainly want to talk about the last episode and the future of the franchise. So stay tuned for that.

But what do you think of 24: Live Another Day? Did you think it was good? Did you think it was fresh or was it just 24 recycled. Comment and Discuss below! Also Follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24, where you can get updates for the blog and watch me try to be funny.

Stay tuned for Part 2

Shooter

Shooter is the movie that made me love Mark Wahlberg. Whereas American Sniper was a high action character study with a real life disjointed story, Shooter is high action fast paced conspiracy story with an alright character.

Shooter follows the story of Bobby Lee Swagger (played by Mark Wahlberg) a Marine Scout Sniper known for his incredible accuracy and deadliness.

At the beginning of the movie, Swagger and his partner (Lane Garrison) are behind enemy lines in Ethiopia. When they are abandoned by the government, his partner is killed. After this Swagger leaves the Marines and lives the life of a hermit, until he's recruited by a shady organization, headed by Danny Glover, to help them prevent an assassination attempt on the life of the President.

Swagger initially says no but his sense of honor comes to him and he takes the job, scouting out possible locations, and mapping out the angles and distance for the shot. This is the really interesting parts about the film, when they start talking about the conditions of Scout Snipers and the requirements to make shots from incredible distances.

Where it gets interesting is when Swagger is framed for the assassination that actually goes through and kills, not the President, but the Archbishop of Ethiopia. Suddenly, a conspiracy is set a foot with Swagger as the patsy and a manhunt going after him. The fun part is, that the film plays out like the JFK assassination, talks of conspiracies and how they are dealt with, how they are followed through on, it gets really interesting. So you've got two really good topics, sniping and conspiracies all wrapped up in this action filled movie. Its a great set up.

Wounded and without any assets, Swagger must find a way to unravel the conspiracy and clear his name. He recruits the help of his dead partner's widow(played by Kate Mara), and a disgraced FBI agent (played by Michael Pena) to track down the people who framed him and discover the conspiracy.

This movie is a lot of fun.

Its a lot of crazy high paced action and there's no really anybody better to head up this film than Mark Wahlberg.

Its probably not a movie that is anywhere close to winning any awards but if you're looking for a fun action flick, this is a perfect movie just for that. Its pretty ridiculous at times but its a damn good time.

Wahlberg brings his cool guy attitude like he does to everything. Michael Pena is a good side character. Kate Mara in her earlier days is good enough although prior to House of Cards I wouldn't have thought much of her, especially with this film. Danny Glover is a lot of fun in this film as the main bad guy.

For me, this movie doesn't have to be incredibly good, its just a fun flick. That's really all I can say about this film. Its not a film interested in starting a franchise or trilogy (at least it doesn't seem like it is). Its just a standalone film. There's a lot of dialogue in the film, a lot of ideas that the film could be discussing but gives up for a lot of good action. There's a line near the end of the film where they say, "This isn't the Wild West where you can clean up the streets with a gun, even though sometimes thats exactly what's needed".

Its not exactly the most intelligent moral or the most intelligent movie ever. But I really don't think it needs to be. Would it be kind of fun to see Mark Wahlberg in this role again, sure, but its not needed.

The ending is a little abrupt and again, not the most intelligent ending ever brought about. But as I've said multiple times, this movie is just fun. Call it a guilty pleasure, call it a shitty movie, but I love Shooter.

But those are my thoughts on Shooter. What do you think? Did you enjoy Shooter? Comment and Discuss below! Also Follow Me on Twitter @cmhaugen24 and shoot me a tweet on what you'd like to see me review.

I'll leave you with this. Like this movie, Marky Mark is just down right fun. Every time I review a movie with Mark Wahlberg I really want to put Mark Wahlberg talking to animals... but I can't get that video to show on here. Instead, here's a lot of funny Mark Wahlberg moments.

American Sniper

This movie was difficult.

I mean its quite the change of pace, especially since I've been doing nothing but watching cartoons and light hearted family films recently, this was just a disturbing change of pace.

Furthermore, being a member of the armed services, there was a lot of elements of this movie that really hit close to home and just made the movie all around difficult. While I would never brag about my limited experience in the military, I know people and a lot parts of this movie kind hit me hard.

American Sniper focuses on the true story of Navy SEAL and Sniper, Chris Kyle (played by Bradley Cooper). The short summary of the film is that it is a biopic on the man and his experience as the US military's "most lethal sniper" with an estimated 160 confirmed kills with a lot still unconfirmed.

As this film is based off an autobiography, the movie is a character study on a man who made killing and defending his country his life.

From the beginning, the set up is great, introducing Kyle as an arrogant and deeply patriotic man who eventually joins the Marines and eventually the Marines. Eventually 9/11 happens and Kyle is sent to Iraq to "fight the savages" and defend America.

In the introduction, Kyle meets his wife (played by Sienna Miller) and she finds herself struggling with the fact that her husband seems put the love for his family secondary to the love he has for his country and the marines.

But further more, as Kyle gains the reputation of the "most lethal sniper in US history" he finds himself in situations where he must question how far he's willing to go to defend his country, including shooting children who are being used to hurt his fellow soldiers.

As I said before, this movie is mainly a characters study. The main draw of this movie is the character and the performance given by Bradley Cooper. The guy is absolutely phenomenal in this film. If you think that kind of patriotism, confidence, and just down right love for America is exaggerated, then you definitely haven't met anybody in the Marines. I've seen these kind of guys before and they are the ones who love the military and their country above everything else. So much that when marines are killed, even if he had no way of preventing it, he feels incredible guilt and remorse.

Of course when you're taking on a subject matter like this, the movie is going to be intense. Its a war movie, what did you expect? Now I like to think I've seen a lot of intense war movies. Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, etc. But dear god, I don't know if I've seen a movie this intense in a long, long time.

This movie is really just amazing. The sound and the visuals are incredible in this film. I have to give Clint Eastwood a hand with this one. The entire direction of the film, for the most part, is really good as far as the senses go. And with the combination of that and the performances of Cooper and Miller and the other actors in the show, its hard not to get invested with these characters and on edge as there's gunfire everywhere.

Furthermore, the story is really fascinating.

I unfortunately did not know that much about Chris Kyle prior to this film and that is really a shame because the story is really compelling. I sometimes have a hard time with biopics because the film doesn't go in the way a story actually should be structured. Its real life, it doesn't quite happen like that.

But Kyle's story is really freaking good and Bradley Cooper just gives it the most justice it could ever be given really.

Now... that's not to say that the movie isn't totally void of problems. The film is just littered with an ideology of patriotism and a sure fire reliance of American exceptionalism, especially in the troops. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. In many ways the movie feels like a honoring of an American hero. I just think there's some points of view that people may not agree with. And since this is more of a character study and not a political drama, they don't really explore it too much.

 And that's another part, there's a few things they introduce, but never really fully develop. Again, its based off a true story so not everything is going to resolve itself, there were just parts of the film that I felt didn't exactly go that far. Nothing overly distracting, just a couple things left unresolved.

The other part of the film that threw me off was the Hollywoodization of the story. I don't know what was accurate and what was exaggerated, but many times the movie felt like if a Call of Duty game had incredible character development and surround sound, American Sniper would be that movie. Its so intense yet so real that the nerves I had during this movie was just beyond belief.

I hope me calling this movie a really well done Call of Duty game doesn't make it sound like I'm disrespecting the life of Chris Kyle, because I'm sure a lot of it is accurate, all I'm saying is that if they were ever going to make a Call of Duty movie, this is the kind of movie I would want it to be like.

I don't think I'm explaining this slight complaint I have with the movie that well. In short, I felt like a lot of it was sensationalized to give a Hollywood action military movie out of a biopic. Its kind of what happened with The Hurt Locker. Probably pretty realistic but a lot of it was sensationalized for the movie going audience to enjoy the flick.

Overall, the film is really good. Since the movie is mainly focused on Bradley Cooper's performance, all I can say is, I'm not surprised that he got nominated for an Oscar. Other than that the movie was difficult to watch (not a bad thing necessarily) and intense as hell. If you like War movies you'll be right at home and this will, I think, be a new experience. If anything, go to this movie just to see a great performance by Bradley Cooper. I'm not sure the movie will win Best Picture, but Bradley Cooper is definitely in the running for Best Actor.

But those are my thoughts on American Sniper. Hopefully I'll be reviewing more Oscar Flicks but we'll see what I can get my hands on. Do you have any requests? Anything I need to see? What are your thoughts on the Oscar race? Where does American Sniper fall in this race? Comment and Discuss Below! And Follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

...What the hell Disney?

I think I watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame once when I was really young. I remember I was sick and I was at a friend's house being taken care of while my parents were at work. Of course, I felt it was my duty as a kid to see all the Disney animated films of that day, regardless of what they were, Disney would never let me down.

...what the hell Disney?

The Hunchback of Notre Dame the Disney adaptation of Victor Hugo's incredibly depressing story of a Hunchback confined to the bell tower of Notre Dame. And by god, the original story is depressing as hell.

This isn't the first time Disney has taken a story from a mature novel and made a film for kids with it.

In the Little Mermaid, Ariel commits suicide. Pinocchio has a little darker story than the Disney film gives it, and hell, in Cinderella, the Stepmother cuts off the step sisters toes and heels for them to fit in the glass slipper.

But, a Victor Hugo story? Think about if Disney tried to create an animated film of Les Miserables? Its the kind of shit would never ever think would happen... but it did.

The movie follows the story of Quasimodo, the Hunchback bell ringer of Notre Dame. (voiced by Tom Hulce). Born to gypsies, he was adopted by Judge Claude Frollo (voiced by Tony Jay) and confined to the bell tower.

Judge Claude Frollo is one of the most fucked up bad guys ever to be given the title of a Disney bad guy. He's got this crazy religious nazism about him where he's super racist against gypsies and wants them all killed... you know... for kids!

Of course, being lonely, Quasimodo wants to go to the Festival of Fools. Walk amongst the people. With some encouragement from his gargoyle friends... Which I'm kind of confused on whether or not they're real or if they're figments of his imagination... he goes to the festival.

Of course, he's considered the ugliest and at first he's celebrated and accepted... sort of. But then he's tied up and made fun of in a scene that is still really dark to me now, imagine what it was like when I was younger.

Seriously... WTF

Until he is rescued by a gypsy woman named Esmeralda (voiced by Demi Moore). Frollo doesn't like this so he calls for her arrest. But Esmeralda calls sanctuary in the halls of Notre Dame. The rest of the movie is developing a relationship between Quasimodo and Esmeralda that doesn't actually happen, and Frollo's plot to find and kill Esmeralda and all gypsies.

What makes it even more fucked up is Judge Claude Frollo.

Frollo is a pretty good villain regardless, but its just strange to see a villain this twisted and evil in a Disney film. 

The movie gets one part of the original story correct when they create a dilemma for Frollo as he is overcome with lust for Esmeralda. Like he seriously wants her and there is actual conflict there especially since he's all about the church and thinks of himself as more pure than others. So on one hand he wants to kill Esmeralda, the other hand he wants to bang her. Its really dark and really mature for a movie that came out in between pretty tame, very much more Disney-like films in Pocahontas and Hercules. While those movies play out like you would expect a Disney film to play out, this one plays out like a really dark musical adaptation of Victor Hugo's book.

Take this song for example. 

Seriously... WTF...

The funny/ really sad part about this film is the end result. In the short Netflix description of the film it says, "A deformed bell ringer falls for a beautiful gypsy girl and lives happily ever-after? Hey, It could happen." 

But that's the thing, it doesn't. 

They spend a lot of time building up this relationship between Quasimodo and Esmeralda and at the drop of a hat, she falls for tall, dark and blonde over here. 

There have been less developed characters than Phoebus (voiced by Kevin Kline, it was kind of fun watching this and hearing his voice after I just watched The Road to El Dorado) and at a second look, I actually really do like him. But damn did they mess up his character in this film. Phoebus is really suppose to be an asshole in the original story. He tries to rape Esmeralda, and he's just not good. Now he's nice in this film, but he basically sweeps Esmeralda away from Quasimodo right after he sings a song about how he's finally going to get a happy ending with Esmeralda. I've seen reviews that actually commended this turn because it kind of brings an edge that Disney had never done before and it was a risk.

I don't know, I don't think I ever thought Quasimodo was going to get the girl, even as a kid, but it just seems odd.

And that's the entirety of this movie. Just odd.

The truth is, there are worse Disney movies and worse Intellectual properties you could pull from, but that's not to say this wasn't a weird one to pull from.

There are some good things about this movie. The music, with the exception of the gargoyle song, is really good. I mean take a look at this opening! (excuse the shitty editing)

Like I said before, with this music, The Hunchback of Notre Dame could be a dark but still Disney-esc musical. But unlike movies like Atlantis: The Lost Empire, this movie was directed at kids. That's just strange to me. A movie with such a serious and grandiose score and really mature subject matter could make a really good live action film perhaps, but as is, the film is just okay.

Another good thing about this film is the animation. I mean its Disney, the basically wrote the book on animated films so it should come as no surprise. However, again, this could have been Disney's attempt to reach a more mature audience, but again it would come across as confusing just like Atlantis did. Don't get me wrong, its confusing now, but it would have been even more confusing.

Overall, the movie is alright. Its still a WTF film in my opinion but there are some good things about it that must be addressed... and some things that make you question Disney's sanity when they decided to animate a Victor Hugo novel. However, I would pay money to see an animated Les Mis.

But that's what I thought of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. What did you think? Where does it place in the halls of the Disney classics? Comment and Discuss Below! Also follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24

I'll leave you with this. This is the 1939 movie of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I haven't seen it, I don't really have an interest to. My guess is its closer to the source material. Enjoy!

Big Hero 6

Big Hero 6 hit me with a giant slab of wood across the side of the head out of freaking no where. I wanted to see this movie, but like the Lego Movie, it wasn't high on my priorities. I sometimes have a hard time justifying spending money on a film not really directed at me.

However, unlike The Lego Movie, Big Hero 6 may be one of my favorite movies of 2014.

The movie takes place in a futuristic city called San Fransokyo (get it, a mix between San Fransisco and Tokyo?). The story follows a young boy genius named Hiro. He graduated from high school at 13 and now sees his only challenge in Robot fighting.

This is until his brother brings him to his college of technology.

Here he meets a cast of characters who are genuinely excited about science and technology... and a hippie who actually has no skills with technology whatsoever.

This was the one part of the movie I could possibly complain about because honestly, Fred doesn't do anything... He's just kind of the comic relief.

Like... why is he at this technology college?

But everyone, including Fred, are really good characters that only compliment our hero (or Hiro... ha... ha...)

Well Hiro gets the motivation to join the college and in order to get in, he comes up with an incredibly creative technology.

Before I go on, the beginning of this movie sets up a really good subliminal message to kids about how it can be cool to get into science and technology. I went to this film with my cousin's young son and prior to the movie I asked him what he wanted to be. He said he wanted to be a scientist. Now he had already seen this movie before we went and suddenly it made sense, this movie has a pretty subtle message about looking into science and seeing it as a great thing to study and do if you put a lot of work into it. Way to go Disney. Support kids!

Again, before I go on, I need to talk about Hiro and his brother. 

From the get go, Hiro and Tadashi are a great example of just a phenomenal brothers relationship. I never had a brother, but this is the kind of brother I want. Its just a brilliant relationship and doesn't feel forced at all. 

Which makes it even more tragic that when a fire breaks out at the convention Hiro was at to prove himself to join the college, Tadashi is killed in the fire. And I have to hand it to Disney, they are willing to go a little bit darker these days. And when they do that, they're honest about it. Its not like Bambi where the mom is shot and its not really talked about ever again, the death is the center of the movie.

While this movie is actually a superhero film with a master villain and a bunch of heroes banding together to stop him, this movie is really about Hiro dealing with the loss of someone incredibly close to him. 

And the way he does that is with probably one of the best animated characters I've seen in a long time. 

The new thing with animated films is to have that iconic lovable character that makes you just say AWWWW and makes the kids want his or her toy. How to Train your Dragon had Toothless, Despicable Me has Minions, and Big Hero 6 has Baymax.

But Baymax is unique because he's just a simpleton. He's a healthcare robot with very little intelligence and a lot of possibility. 

When I first saw Baymax in the trailer I thought I would get a few yucks out of him but I never expected him to be the brilliant character that he ended up being. All the humanity and brotherly love that Tadashi brings to the film he transfers over to Baymax and all Baymax wants to do is make sure this kid who is struggling is doing alright. He's his faithful companion, he's hilarious. He's one of the best Disney characters I've seen in a long time. 

Well Baymax and Hiro eventually figure out that his creative technology was stolen and whoever stole it caused the fire and killed his brother. So he uses Baymax and his friends to hunt this guy down, take back his technology and serve justice to this new super villain who is using his technology for an evil plot. 

Like I said, all the characters are a lot of fun and are really good compliments to the main character and his personal development. 

I love almost everything about this movie. The characters, the story, the animation, the villain. Everything. While the villain was a little bit predictable, I still think its directed towards kids and they are more likely to be surprised.

But again, its the personal development of Hiro that is the cornerstone of this movie and the main part of the film that made me cry like a little girl. Seriously, I was with my cousins son and I had to hide my tears because I was crying so hard. Usually if something is emotional I give the sexy single tear.

But no, this film made me full on ball. And you may be laughing because I'm a grown ass man crying at a movie directed for kids, but I have no shame. This movie was phenomenal and I recommend it to anybody who has kids, they will love it. I recommend it to anybody who loves Superhero films, this is definitely a superhero film to raise the already high standards of 2014's superhero film lineup. Superhero fans will love it. But most of all I just recommend this film to anybody who just likes films. Its just a great film and has all the feels you'll need for a long time. Forget Frozen, Big Hero 6 is the new progressive kids film that is just down right good all around.

The fact of the matter is that you're just going to walk out of Big Hero 6 with a warm fuzzy feeling in your heart. Its the kind of films Disney should be doing. It reminisces back to the traditional Disney films, the ones that I grew up with, the difference however is that its working with a more diverse lineup of heroes, more creative approaches, and more progressive messages to give to kids. I think that Disney has been in the right direction for many years now and Big Hero 6 is a testament to that quality only getting better and better as time goes by.

I've decided I'm going to do some kind of Top 10 list soon on all the movies I saw in 2014. Looking at the Oscar nominations that just came out, I'm realizing I didn't see that many films this year. However, what I have seen has knocked my socks off and Big Hero 6 is no surprise.

But have you seen Big Hero 6? What did you think? Comment and Discuss below! And follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24

I'll leave you with this. Its the trailer and while I think it gives a little too much away I think its worth taking a look at, I think its better than the teaser trailer I saw before... just Enjoy!