After a few false starts (read: shows being sold out) and much speculation on whether it would be worth checking out I finally saw The A-Team. Before we get into it though, bear in mind my analysis of this pic comes from having never seen the TV show before, so I apologize in advance to all die hard fans out there who might find that I'm lacking the true scope of all this, but just consider it my two cents from the outside looking in.
The A-Team was much of what I expected; lots of action and maybe not a whole lot of plot...but damn it, it was fun! The action was truly action, and the plot, though thin, was enough to keep you guessing and intrigued as you watched it unfold. The premise is basically the same as the TV show: an elite special forces unit is convicted of a crime they didn't commit, and now must try to clear their names (this time the setting has been updated to the Iraq war instead of the Vietnam war), and of course the people who set them up soon realize they screwed over the wrong guys. But I can't overemphasize those action scenes! Motorcycles and tanks and helicopters and guns and explosions. Perfect for a summer movie.
But not only that, the four members of the A-Team are just so likeable, and the actors who play them have great chemistry together. For this outing we have the always classy Liam Neeson as team leader Col. 'Hannibal' Smith, his hair dyed silver as an homage to the original actor to fill that role, the late George Peppard. Hannibal's "boys" include the nicely buffed and very gorgeous Bradley Cooper as Lt. 'Faceman' Peck; Ultimate Fighting Champion Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson as Sgt. B.A. Baracus; and District 9 star Sharlto Copley as Cpt. 'Howling Mad' Murdock (roles originally inhabited by Dirk Benedict, Mr. T. and Dwight Schultz respectively). Wow, that was a lot of nicknames to type. But this quartet was a real team on screen, and each inhabited the uniqueness of their characters, from B.A.'s toughness to Face's superficiality. Copley in particular impressed me; what passed for crazy in the original series doesn't do so now, and he brought a manic and hilarious new take on Murdock, with glimpses of something deeper.
Patrick Wilson and Brian Broom make suitably slimy villains, and Jessica Biel adds a feminine touch with a tough, smart female character who (of course) has a romantic past with Face. Overall, lots of energy and lots of laughs abound. And from what I hear, despite any flaws, this film does capture the noisiness and bombast of the TV show on which it's based. So for a movie adaptation, what more could you ask for?
My Verdict: Not cerebral, but who cares? It's just awesome.
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