The A-Team

Summary: Four Army Rangers make up an elite team called the A-Team who specialize in covert missions. They simply are the best of the best. Headed by Col. Hannibal Smith the team must retrieve a set of stolen US currency plates used to print money. Upon retrieving the plates the A-Team is set-up by a rival mercenary group and sent to military prison. Instead of spending their time in behind bars the A-Team breaks out in order to recover the plates in hopes of clearing their name.

Plot (B): What I really liked about the movie was seeing how these four guys first met each other. The first fifteen minutes is dedicated to that and it’s filled with fast pumping action. Immediately, we see the chemistry between each of the characters. In between the action scenes the story is laid out for you and it’s pretty easy to follow. All the traditional elements of the show are in the movie such as: the theme song, the montage of planning and building things for their mission, and of course the van. Overall, the film definitely lived up to the 1980’s TV show and it was a fun action movie which I found very entertaining. I could be a bit more descriptive but this is an action movie and I see no need to bore you with critiques. If you’re an action fan and fan of the series go see this movie your inner child will thank you.

Action (A-): This is what it’s all about when you’re talking about The A-Team…action. If you watched the TV show you know what I’m saying. This A-Team, just like the 80’s A-Team, never disappointed me. They were always three steps ahead of everyone else and the shit they were doing was very crazy. Yes, some of it falls into the zone of being ridiculous but it was still cool to see. I mean I’ve never seen characters in any other film free fall in a tank and use the missiles to suppress their landing in a lake. Indeed that was outrageous but it still was cool shit. The combination of live action stunts and CGI was properly balanced. I’ve read reviews that said the CGI was over the top in the last act. I see where these people are coming from, but hey, it’s an A-Team movie so who cares. One of best parts of all the action scenes was not the action itself. Instead it was watching these characters have fun during their missions/adventures. Rather than being super serious during their missions there was an undertone of comedy which allows people to enjoy the film more. It may be hard to understand how these characters can laugh in the face of death time and time again but these guys are not right in the head so it kind of makes sense.


Acting & Dialogue (B+): For me, this is where the movie really shinned. Each actor accurately portrayed their character and it was such a pleasure to see. As I mentioned above, the chemistry between each of these actors really showed and it added to films overall fun level. By far, the star of the film was Sharlto Copley (District 9). He played the whacky/crazy Murdock. Copley’s dialogue with everyone, but especially with B.A., was very funny and extremely refreshing. I look forward to anything he does in the future. Liam Neeson played Hannibal with same confidant swagger as George Peppard did in the TV show. Neeson was a proper choice for this role because he plays the role of elderly Colonel with style and authority. Bradley Cooper played Face and I felt that he added a little more arrogance to the character more so than Dirk Benedict did in the 80’s but it worked very well. As usual, Face is the pretty boy in the group who can’t help himself from fucking any good looking woman with a pulse. Let us not forget Quinton “Rampage” Jackson who played B.A. Baracus. Although he played a good B.A. who exhibited all of the traditional traits Mr. T brought (except the excess of gold chains and a feather earring) I did feel that Jackson toned down the character a bit. I always remembered B.A. as a person who was in everyone’s face and that wasn’t there so much in the movie. Don’t get me wrong Jackson did a good job but I felt he didn’t let it all hang out. Maybe this is because Jackson said that “acting makes you gay” and didn’t want to put himself entirely into the role (that’s not a joke he actually said that). Lastly, there was Jessica Biel who truly provided nothing to this film other than her pretty face. She served as a former love interest to Face who was tracking down the A-Team. Watching her try to be all tough and macho really fell flat and was not believable at all.


Sex Appeal: N/A


Director (B+): Joe Carnahan has not directed that many films in his day. In fact, he’s only directed six (The A-Team included). However, this should not suggest he doesn’t know what he’s doing. I’ve only seen two of his other films, Narc (2002) and Smokin’ Aces (2006), both of which are good especially Narc. Carnahan seems to like to take on projects where there are twists to the story and I have to say I really like that about him. He knows how to handle such twists in the story. As a result, it keeps viewers on their toes forcing them to think about what has happened even after the credits roll. While The A-Team does fall into that category Narc and Smokin’ Aces accurately represent his style.


Overall: B/B+