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The A-Team
Reviewed By: Chris J. Lawton
Do I even need to talk about the story of
The A-Team? Is there anyone who actually hasn't seen
The A-Team? Well, for the sake of 'being sure', I'll go ahead and spend a couple of paragraphs talking about it. Basically, the original show was about four U.S. soldiers, who were ordered to rob the Bank of Hanoi to help end the Vietnam war. They completed the mission, but returned to find their commanding officer, who had given the order, dead and his headquarters burned to the ground. With no record of their orders, they are convicted for the bank robbery and dishonorably discharged. They escape from prison and spend the whole show on the run from law enforcement, helping people out along the way.
This year's
A-Team movie isn't that far off from the original TV show. Instead of Vietnam, the A-Team are in the second gulf war. And instead of robbing a bank, they're attempting to steal back some stolen U.S. Mint printing plates. While that may seem like a good thing to do, they defy orders from the U.S. Government to 'stay out of Baghdad'—though, they are acting under the orders of their direct superior, General Morrison. As with the original show, when they return, General Morrison is killed and there's no record of his orders. Beyond this, the plates are restolen by Pike, a rogue CIA-operative.
Primarily, the movie is about the four members of the A-Team attempting to track down Pike, recover the plates and prove their innocence. They do this by each bringing their own unique skills to the fight. The leader, Colonel John 'Hannibal' Smith, played by
Liam Neeson, is the coordinator, coming up with the insane and, often, absurd plans, which work perfectly every time. Lieutenant Templeton 'Faceman' Peck, played by
Bradley Cooper, is second-in-command and a specialist in feats that require disguises and high agility. Sergeant B.A. Baracus, played by
Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, is the tank, specializing in hand-to-hand brawling and heavy weapons. Rounding out the team is Captain H.M. 'Howling Mad' Murdock, played by
Sharlto Copley, the pilot, who is also legally insane.
As one character in the movie puts it, these four specialize in 'the ridiculous' and that ain't nothing but the truth. The action in this movie is so over-the-top, you will spend the full two hours on the edge of your seat. And that's exactly how it should be. The original show was all about big explosions, insane action and completely unrealistic situations.
Make no mistake, going into this movie. You are not going to see some great dramatic war epic. This movie is the epitome of summer popcorn action flick. Now, using this standard, I have no problem labeling this movie as 'awesome'. Because, while it is incredibly over the top, it is so much fun, you can't help but love every second of it.
Really, what sells the movie are the performances of the four main cast members.
Neeson is amazing as Hannibal, channeling just enough
George Peppard, the original actor, without seeming like a straight up copy-cat performance.
Cooper nails the role of Face, which isn't really surprising. As I've said, to multiple people,
Cooper has basically played Face in every movie he's been in.
Jackson surprised me the most. Like Hannibal, he pulls bits and pieces out of the original performance, made famous by
Mr. T, but ultimately plays the character as something completely different.
Again, this isn't really surprising. I mean, the original B.A. basically became
Mr. T's persona in almost everything he acted in afterward. Trying to emulate that would have come off as way too much, and it just wouldn't have worked. Frankly, there's only one
Mr. T and no one is going to be able to recreate that. And
Jackson does a great job in making the role his own. His line delivery leaves a tiny bit to be desired, but that's a minor gripe, at best. I have no real complaints about his performance at all.
Finally, we come to
Copley and his performance as Murdock. He's probably the one who's the most similar to his original counterpart. And rightly so, he's the comedic relief. His wacky and zany antics are more than enough to counteract some of the more serious parts of the movie, and keep the film in that strictly 'fun' category.
The way these four work together is really what makes the movie so much fun. The characters themselves are over-the-top and crazy, so it makes their on-screen antics slightly more believable and definitely more fun.
The rest of the cast does a decent job.
Patrick Wilson plays Lynche, the CIA-operative that asks them to recover the plates, though his true motives are questionable.
Brian Bloom does a pretty good job as Pike, the primary antagonist. There are no ulterior motives here. The dude's just evil, and
Bloom plays that with ease. By far, the weakest link of the cast, in my opinion, is
Jessica Biel as Captain Charisa Sosa, who is ordered to hunt the A-Team down. She's also a former lover of Face, which comes up numerous times throughout the movie. It's not that
Biel's performance is bad, persay. She just doesn't really strike me as a military captain, who will do anything to get the job done. She's almost too reserved in her performance. Still, she's good enough as supporting cast, and the movie doesn't really suffer for it.
Unfortunately things in the movie aren't always as bright as the cast. The story suffers quite a bit from numerous plot holes and unexplained twists. Some plot developments just kind of happen with no real rhyme or reason.
There's also some pretty lame, forced character development. For example, Face is played a young, brash kid, who never thinks ahead. One of the plot threads involve Hannibal trying to teach him how important a well thought out plan can be. It's not necessarily bad, but it tends to drag the movie down at times.
Still, as I said, if you don't expect anything more than a summer action movie, this stuff isn't going to bother you. The movie is still a lot of fun, and you won't be worrying about plot holes or poor character development, when the next truck explodes in a giant fireball.
Since this is one of those movies that plays on nostalgia, you can expect plenty of throwbacks for fans of the original series. B.A. is still scared of flying, though you actually learn, in this movie, why he's so scared. Hannibal still chomps on cigars, and says his trademark phrase, “I love it when a plan comes together”. What makes this part work, though, is that there's not too much, that people, who have never seen the original show, feel out of place in a sea of inside jokes.
And that's really what makes this movie such a good remake. There're enough throwbacks for fans of the original to really enjoy, but the filmmakers do a great job of making something wholly original, that ANYONE can enjoy. Again, as long as you go into the movie expecting nothing more than a good, over-the-top action movie.
