Written by Vickie
June 11, 2010
Fast, funny and filled with action, this big-screen version of the popular 1980s TV series of the same name is an ideal summertime popcorn movie.
Retaining the cheeky tone of the original, director Joe Carnahan’s high-octane and unapologetically erratic film traces the roots of the titular band of soldiers-of-fortune as they attempt to track down a case full of stolen U.S. Mint plates... which they’ve wrongfully been accused of stealing. Oh, and they’re also the prime suspects in the explosive murder of their commander, General Morrison (Gerald McRaney). Hot on their trail are a slippery CIA operative (Patrick Wilson) and a fiercely determined Army captain (Jessica Biel), who wants to bring the guys down.
Led by tactical mastermind Hannibal (Liam Neeson), the A-Team is comprised of ladies’ man Face (Bradley Cooper), brawny B.A. (Quinton “Rampage” Jackson) and mentally unstable pilot Murdock (Sharlto Copley). The movie follows the wisecracking fellas from one chase after another, as they squeak out of one tough spot after the next and maneuver their way through multiple elaborately planned schemes.
Fairly simple and straightforward in its storytelling (if occasionally convoluted in its hyperkinetic editing), The A-Team does exactly what a summer movie of this ilk should do: entertain. Lots of stuff blows up, cars go super-fast, a tank falls out of an airplane and everybody spews one-liners to punctuate the proceedings. Fun!
The actors have all nice chemistry, and everyone feels comfortable – and, thereby, believable – in their cinematic skins. While Neeson is a little wooden and lacks some of the flair of George Peppard, everyone else actually improves on the small-screen incarnations of their characters. Cooper and Copley are standouts, and Jackson brings a touch of sensitivity and gentility to the iconic bruiser he plays. Wilson is great as an is-he-a-good-guy-or-bad-guy Fed, and former soap star Brian Bloom (who also co-wrote the screenplay) makes for a terrifically cartoonish, thuggy villain. Jessica Biel is relegated to the role of Hot Woman in Pursuit, but it works in this context – she doesn’t have to do a lot of acting, just a lot of shooting and scowling.
As someone who loved the show on which this movie was based, I had my reservations going in. I worried that it might be more of a spoof than an homage, and I feared the filmmakers would somehow get it “wrong.”
But they got it just right.
