I don’t think I can say I was disappointed by The A-Team. Seriously, with a film version of the action/adventure series from the mid to late 80’s one can’t really set the bar very high to begin with. I fully expected a popcorn fluffy summer action film with little story and lots and lots of ‘splosions. In that respect, the film more than delivered. Director Joe Carnahan and the writing team of Brian Bloom and Skip Woods even managed to honor and enhance the spirit of the original series and the main characters, so we’re all good there. I think my biggest annoyance was that Carnahan refused to keep the damn camera still so that we could actually enjoy the spectacle of the central attraction of the film, namely the aforementioned explosions and the monumentally over the top action sequences.
For those not in the know, The A-Team was originally a hugely popular TV series that ran from 1983 to 1987 and starred George Peppard as Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith, Dirk Benedict as Lieutenant Templeton “Faceman” Peck, Dwight Schultz as Captain H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock and Mr. T as Sergeant Bosco Albert B.A. “Bad Attitude” Baracus. The group of Vietnam war vets was discharged as was criminals for a crime they didn’t commit and while on the run from the military worked as soldiers of fortune. Moved ahead nearly twenty years, the same characters are now played by Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley and Quinton Jackson, respectively, and are now Gulf War heroes that are wrongly framed and rousted from the military. On the run, the film has the quartet attempting to clear their name instead of assisting the innocent who find themselves in trouble. It’s an origin movie.
The unbelievable action varies far and wide, from surviving a free fall in a tank to surviving a sinking cargo ship dumping huge metal cargo containers onto our hapless heroes, but isn’t that part of why we go see over-hyped summer action films? There’s also a delicious turn from co-writer Brian Bloom as the central villain that is as remarkable as the way he is dispatched in the end (c’mon, you know the bad guy has to get toasted at the end, that isn’t a spoiler folks). Jessica Biel and Patrick Wilson also turn in nice, if somewhat cartoony, work, although my favorite supporting performance is from the great Gerald McRaney. I will be very upset if he doesn’t garner a supporting actor nomination from this.
Bottom line, if you want a fun film that doesn’t involve too much thinking, but has ample action-based eye candy, then The A-Team is for you and you will get your money’s worth. Popcorn, drink and two hours of fun are what awaits you at the local megaplex and there’s nothing wrong with that.
