Movie Review: The A-Team

"They are the best and they specialize in the ridiculous"

Right from the trailer we know that this film will be nothing shy of over the top. Being that it was a remake of one of the most over the top television series that the 80s could spawn - the 80s being one of the most over the top decade ever. OTT summarizes the whole thing pretty damn well.

Whilst I wasn't around in the 80s to see the first run of the A-Team, I loved catching reruns on RTE during the 90s. As a kid it was great to see the MacGuyver routines of making bombs out of old fairy up liquid bottles and hundreds of blank rounds being fired without a single bad guy killed. Whilst a lot more bullets in their target in this modern update, we're still treated to seeing plans unfold with the use of scrap metal and stolen engines. In some respect this film appears to borrow a few elements from the Italian Job remake of 2003, with a side order of the Kansas City Shuffle idea implemented in Lucky Number Sleven but these are largely entertaining. Despite the fact many of the twists and turns of this film are predictable, we don't sigh whenever they appear - as an audience we end up smiling in agreement with the script writers in a "Aha, I see what you did thar" as the protagonists escape from sticky situations in ways we expect. From what I gather parts of the storyline are taken directly from the original 1980's episodes.

This is the film SWAT wished it was and the film Miami Vice should have tried to be. It doesn't bore the audience with boring dialogues about the drug trade, the wise cracking is done in the heat of battle. Anything we need to know about the characters, we are shown and not told. A lot of Superhero films could learn from this too. The origin story takes off at lightning pace, there are punches thrown within the first minute. We see why BA, an Airbourne Ranger has a phobia of flying and we see how he Pitys Fools. We bare witness to Face man's ability to seduce and the trouble it gets him into and Murdoch's craziness. There's even a slight philisophical slant with Hannibal's obssession with a good plan from the early stage. There's even some character development of BA in the middle of the film which almost parodies the no-killing ideology of the original series.

The cast is largely terrific. As a big fan of Rampage Jackson, I was glad to see he didn't act too badly. He's no where near Oscar winning level but lets face it, Mr T. was never heralded for his thespian slant either. Sharlto Copley's Murdoch shows a touch of the Jim Carey whackiness but we are able to appreciate Copley as a human more as there's a slightly vulnerability that allows us to have a bit more warmth towards him than the semi-obnoxious Carey along with arguably more comedic flare. Fans of The Hangover will appreciate Bradley Cooper in the role of the cool and seductive faceman. As for Neeson, he's been doing a good bit of kicking ass recently and we're intrigued by his wisdom and his intelligence throughout.

However, the film does have some considerable flaws. Most of the action scenes are relatively spot on but there are times it uses shakey camera work in the middle of fights which left me confused at their hecticness. Sequel makers take note that if you are going to have characters brag about their Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai skills it'd be nice to actually see how they apply them rather than give us a blur of limbs in a dark room. This is also one of those films where you just wish the bad guys would stop farting about and shoot the heroes when they have the chance rather than giving the "I win because I'm the evil villain" speech and ending up distracted by flying vehicles. It's also from a critic's point of view a film that is largely style over substance but that's to be expected from an action film. The Expendables out this Summer is likely to be largely the same. Lastly it's very much a big boy's film. Whilst there is an attempt to have Jessica Biel as a strong but beautiful female protagonist, she's frequently outclassed by her male counterpart in Face. I also don't think long faced Biel is that good looking and just about every other woman Cooper's character seduces in the film is far more attractive.

Despite these flaws, the A-Team delivers plenty of bang for the buck. In terms of films I've seen this year, I'd place it better than Iron Man 2 but a good bit behind the phenomenal Kick Ass.

***