Review Roundup: 24 Legacy Premiere

Here’s a comprehensive collection of reviews and recaps for the 24: Legacy Premiere. We strive to collect as many reviews as possible here – both positive and negative opinions from a wide range of sources. This post will continue to be updated throughout the week as more reviews come in.

The Hollywood Reporter – “It’s action escapism, not homework, and with Hawkins as a sturdy lead and a string of chases, gunfights and a couple of decent stunts, 24: Legacy mostly does its job.”

IGN – “24: Legacy‘s first episode does enough to keep me cautiously optimistic for where Eric Carter and the series can go. Nothing works perfectly, but nothing fails spectacularly. Having seen three episodes, it DOES feel like 24, but that is true for both the good and the bad aspects of its big brother show.”

USA Today (3/4) – “If you were a big fan of 24 and you’ve been wondering whether to watch Fox’s reboot 24: Legacy, the simple answer is “yes.” Most of what you loved about the old series is still intact, including that famous ticking clock marking the show’s real-time (well, almost) structure.”

The Guardian – “The risk paid off. I’ve seen the first Jack-less episode of 24: Legacy, and I am here to tell you that it is incredible.”

ComicBook.com – “Above all, Legacy delivers on the points that true fans of 24 wanted to see again. The action scenes are a little ridiculous, but they’re so much fun to watch. The pace of the show never lets up, and you find yourself sitting on the edge of your seat for the entire ride. Fans will also cheer at the sounds of the ever-ticking clock before each commercial break, which brings back wonderful memories of the original series.”

JoBlo (6/10) – “From a nostalgia standpoint, fans of 24 will enjoy the return of the format and the ticking clock that serves to intro and outro each segment of the show. I felt very underwhelmed and expected there to be so much more to this show than just a retread of what we have seen already.”

Deadline – “To put it another way, as I do in my video review above, if you thought 2014’s 24: Live Another Day limited series was the last breath of the Joel Surnow- and Robert Cochran-created series — stand down. From longtime 24 producers Manny Coto and Evan Katz, Legacy is on point in great part because the format is so sturdy and because of leading man and Straight Outta Compton alum Corey Hawkins, plus Homeland vet Miranda Otto and Scandal actor Dan Bucatinsky. As ex-Army Ranger Eric Carter, Hawkins carries a lot of Legacy on his muscular shoulders, and you often barely notice the weight in a role seemingly tailored for his considerable talents.”

We Got This Covered – “More of a retread than reboot, 24: Legacy features a strong performance from Corey Hawkins but doesn’t offer up enough to warrant a return to the series for longtime fans or even an investment from new ones.”

Cinema Blend (3.5/5) – “Ultimately, 24: Legacy hasn’t entirely escaped the specter of Kiefer Sutherland and his heroic Jack Bauer, but the action-packed drama strikes a strong balance between the familiar and the new to breathe fresh life into the classic TV franchise. Corey Hawkins’ Eric Carter is a worthy enough successor, and we’re on board to see where this white-knuckle reboot goes from here.”

Newsday – “Great cast, and Hawkins is a worthy Jack Bauer successor. But “Legacy” can be lethargic and loquacious. More action, less talk, will hopefully close out this day.”

Variety – “Without Sutherland as CTU agent Jack Bauer, and without ace supporting characters like Jack’s trusty backup, Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub), “24” is just another predictable and sometimes preposterous action-thriller featuring an array of interchangeable and cartoonishly stereotyped Middle Eastern bad guys. But even before Sutherland left the show, what had once been distinctive about “24” had largely worn away with time and overuse.”

Entertainment Weekly (D) – “There’s still some crackle in the split-screen storytelling, still some pop in the action. The sprawl of melodrama complicates quickly, so it’s possible the series can evolve into something more interesting than a guilty-pleasure hate-watch. But who has time for that anymore? Get better soon, 24: Legacy. My clock is ticking.”

TV Insider – “It gets off to a strong start, as Carter learns many of his brothers in arms, who took out an Osama bin Laden-type terrorist and are now living in witness protection, have been exposed and executed. Time to go on the run, with the help of CTU and its former leader, Rebecca Ingram (Homeland’s Miranda Otto, now on the side of the saints), whose husband (Jimmy Smits) is running for president. As always, that ticking digital clock signals a relentless rush of action. Don’t overthink it and go along on the hectic, suspenseful ride.”

CNN – “Reviving “24” with a new, younger hero was a good idea on paper. But it’s on paper — in terms of the writing — where the idea breaks down, yielding ridiculous and clichéd plot twists even by the show’s frenetic real-time standards.”

New York Times – “The signature “24” format — each episode represents an hour in real time — is as pulse-pounding as ever. One ingredient that has more or less disappeared, at least in the first four episodes, is the use of torture as a reliable way to get information, a frequent target of “24” critics. But while Jack Bauer’s violent tactics were repellent, the inner darkness they suggested gave the character a certain complexity. He could show fatherly concern about his daughter one minute and draw blood from a bad guy the next. Eric Carter isn’t as complicated or, as a result, as memorable, at least in the early going, though, by the fourth hour, the character has begun to gain traction.”

Indiewire – “”24″ sans Kiefer Sutherland fails to distinguish its new hero, but the Fox drama’s damning sin is painting Muslims and immigrants as the enemy.”

Collider – “The show craftily plays the shell game of who are the informants but in the process, the characters are drawn only in terms related to the plot. A great cast, that also includes Miranda Otto, Jimmy Smits, and Sheila Vand, is reduced to delivering a tourist’s guide to plot points.”

Associated Press – “Surprise! “24: Legacy” is a blast! Judging from the first three episodes, it’s at least as good as the series that inspired it.”

BuddyTV – “It has all happened before and it will all happen again. 24: Legacy even features an analyst who happens to be the cousin of Edgar Stiles, which is a nice nod to the original series, but also a painful reminder of how great and fresh this show once was. None of these new characters have half of the personality of an Edgar or a Chloe, or the edge of Jack. The people on 24: Legacy all play their roles, but it’s more about the story than the characters.”

Den of Geek (3.5/5) – “The opening hour does manage to avoid the pratfalls of the dismal first six episodes of 24: LAD, which took puzzling liberties even for 24. Even though they needed to introduce an entirely new cast, this incarnation of 24 is far more confident from the jump, sparing us the character exposition mistakes often found in new pilots.”

Cleveland.com – “Still, there’s nothing wrong with the cast. The writing and the direction are what ultimately make “24: Legacy” a pale shadow of its powerhouse predecessor. What stuns us about “24: Legacy” isn’t that it’s mind-numbingly awful. That’s because it’s far from awful. What stuns us is how average and mediocre it is. And that’s not the legacy of “24.””

Los Angeles Daily News – “The original “24” premiered a few months after 9/11, and most Americans wanted a man like Jack Bauer who would do anything to protect the country. The series actually was cited in debates about using enhanced interrogation methods on terrorism suspects. This “24” comes after a contentious presidential election and little more than a week after President Donald Trump banned entry from seven Muslim-majority countries. So considering the protests and the tensions in the country, the series’ timing perhaps could be better.”

Salon – “If you’re going to watch this series, give Hawkins a chance. It’s not his fault that “24: Legacy” Coto and Katz have pretty much handed him Jack Bauer’s broken-down, sweaty and funky shoes and asked him to run a marathon in them. The actor does that compellingly considering the long shadow Sutherland still casts over the brand and in spite of its worn-out structure. He has the action hero’s brooding, this-means-business expression down cold, and can forcefully roar when pressured, just like Sutherland did.”

New Zealand Herald – “It’s unfortunate that four episodes in, Hawkins never gets to demonstrate much in the way of character development; as a new hero, he’s mostly saddled with replicating Jack Bauer’s forward momentum, with no time for us to get inside his head. In fact, that lack of imagination and depth is what mars 24: Legacy. It’s why all but one of its black characters are busy playing out a drug-dealing scenario and its Middle Eastern characters are credited as “Jihadi #1″ and such, while most of the white people frantically hammer at their computer keyboards back at CTU and still have time for humanizing subplots.”

The Seattle Times – “Jack Bauer may no longer be around in Fox’s “24: Legacy” (premiering right after “Super Bowl LI” on Sunday, Feb. 5, then 8 p.m. Mondays starting Feb. 6), but the show feels largely the same as in the old days, just with new faces on board.”

Paste Magazine – “Legacy reads, in short, as Steve Bannon masturbation material: It opens on a trio of swarthy figures methodically assassinating the members of the Army Ranger unit that dispatched their former leader, terrorist mastermind Ibrahim Bin-Khalid, and devolves from there into full-throated xenophobic hysteria.”

The Detroit News (C+) – “More problematic, though, may be the building of believably tense situations when the world itself is going through a somewhat unbelievably tense situation right now. Maybe this isn’t the time for stereotypes and gunfire. The original “24” came along at precisely the right time, in late 2001. Maybe this “24” should try again later.”

Orlando Sentinel – “The new “24” benefits greatly from three veteran actors: Miranda Otto (“Homeland”) as a risk-taking intelligence officer, Jimmy Smits as her politician husband and Gerald McRaney as the politician’s affluent father. They bring gravitas to this violent story about a race to stop terrorists.”

Slate – “Kiefer Sutherland, with his gravelly voice and creepy calm, could really imbue a cheesy line with gravitas. Hawkins does not quite have the knack yet. The plotting recalls late-season 24 rather than early-season 24: In just four episodes, Carter and Ingram have undertaken two operations alone because they can’t trust anyone at CTU.”

Boston Herald – “I was ready to give up on “24: Legacy” during the premiere when it pulled an action stunt right out of the old Road Runner cartoons.”

Slant Magazine – “It remains to be seen whether Eric Carter will deepen as the series goes along; for now, though, Hawkins, like 24: Legacy itself, brings just enough intensity to get the heart-pounding job done.”

Las Vegas Weekly – “Seeing Jack go through the old motions in 2014 revival season Live Another Day had a certain nostalgic appeal, but without him Legacy is mostly just a pointless retread.”

Uproxx – “But this material has seen better days, and 24: Legacy makes clearer than ever how much Kiefer Sutherland was needed to sell it.”

The Salt Lake Tribune – “And if you’re a “24” fan, this will feel completely familiar. It seemed new and different 16 years ago. Today … it sort of feels like more of the same. Even without Jack Bauer.”

Under the Radar (4/10) – “Straight Outta Compton‘s Dr. Dre, Corey Hawkins, does a perfectly serviceable job in the thankless role of playing the new Jack, as do the other leads Jimmy Smits and Miranda Otto. But you’ll have more fun rewatching your season one DVD.”

RogerEbert.com – ““24: Legacy” is filled with decisions that make no sense and the writers seem entirely uninterested in commenting on real-life issues (for more of that, check out Showtime’s “Homeland,” and likely a dozen or so shows next fall).”
San Antonio Express – “What is new is a central cast that’s more diverse than ever, aptly reflecting the different faces that make up the real U.S. population. An African American hero, a strong female intelligence boss and her gay right-hand man, not to mention a Latino presidential candidate, are just part of the multicultural ensemble.”

News Observer – “The casting of Corey Hawkins (of “Straight Outta Compton” fame) as Carter is one of the things the new “24” gets right. Truth be told, producers had exhausted every story possible with Bauer – and then some. So, it’s good to start fresh, and there are several plot threads with the Carter character that leave you intrigued: his possible PTSD from his time in the Rangers; his odd back story with a fellow vet (played by Charlie Hofheimer), who is likely mentally ill; and Carter’s strained relationship with his wife, Nicole (Anna Diop).”

Herald-Dispatch.com – “I’m sure the executives at Fox thought bringing back a successful drama in a new incarnation with different characters that could possibly give birth to a fresh series run was a good idea. It isn’t. Jack Bauer and Sutherland were “24,” and without them, “24: Legacy” is nothing but an unnecessary cheap knockoff.”

The Buffalo News – “In the first three hours previewed, the new version has the same kind of tension, implausible moments and ridiculously complicated personal situations as the original series in which Kiefer Sutherland played counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer of CTU. In other words, it should appeal to fans of the original who are willing to suspend disbelief as easily as Patriots fans who believe Brady didn’t ask footballs to be deflated a few seasons ago.”

NPR – “Devoted “24” fans may enjoy seeing the familiarity of the old series with a fresh talent like Hawkins in the lead. But for the rest of us, the first three episodes of “24: Legacy” will feel more like a missed opportunity, a chance for reinvention, which instead delivered a lot that we’ve seen before.”

Los Angeles Times – “The original “24” debuted just after 9/11. (It was in production well before.) Its heir also arrives at a brutal, delicate international moment, with Donald Trump’s own first counter-terrorism operation — also in Yemen, coincidentally — still lingering uncomfortably in the air, and the country divided over a travel ban that isn’t about Muslims but also isn’t about anyone who isn’t. I suppose some viewers will take “24: Legacy” virtually as a documentary, a catalog of real dangers, a pill to boost their paranoia. Others will see it as pulp with a topical gloss (“There may be an attack, baby – I need to do this … because right now I’m the only one I can trust”). And they will be right.”

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (2.5/4) – “Even without Jack Bauer, chances are America won’t be destroyed on Eric Carter’s watch. These days, it’s hard to be too certain about anything, but “24” is reassuringly still the series it always has been.”

Yahoo TV – “The opening real-time hour is pretty engaging — knottily plotted yet streamlined enough to hold the attention of football fans left burping on sofas across this great land on Sunday.”

Seat 42F – “My overall impression of 24: LEGACY is that the franchise is resilient and will fare just fine without its lead. As much as I hope Jack does return for future installments, the rest of the 24 ensemble has always been rotating, and the format works as long as the cast stays strong, which it does here. 24 isn’t the best show on TV, not by a long-shot, but it’s action-packed entertainment that gets your blood pumping, and as a fan or the original, I’m not disappointed at all by the latest incarnation.”

Video Reviews

Deadline: