Ever since I saw the trailer for the A-Team I spent ages banging on about how shit the whole thing looked. The effects looked poor, Neeson seemed wrong for the part and the whole thing was a pointless throwback to a great TV show and would be a big pile of steaming…well you get the point. And you know what, I was wrong. So, so, so wrong!
It’s got the same story line as the TV show, a group of war vets (Iraq War Vets as opposed to Vietnam Vets this time round) look to clear their name after they become suspects in a crime for which they were framed.
And that’s the story basically, if you could call it that, because there really is no story. And you know what, who cares.
Liam Neeson plays Hannibal, Bradley Cooper takes on the role of Face, BA is played by Quinton Rampage Jackson (UFC fighter in case you’ve just come out of a coma) and Sharlto “fookin prawns” Copley is Murdock. Neeson kinda looks like Hannibal, but he doesn’t have the same wit and persona that George Peppard had, but manages to pull the thing off….just about. Cooper does a great take on Dirk Benedict’s Face and oozes bullshit, but in a good way. The bloke from District 9, as you would expect is absolutely brilliant as Murdock, but seems completely under utilised and much to my surprise, Jackson has a feel of a young Mr.T about him, in particular his dialogue delivery and mannerisms.
One of the things that made the TV show so great was the last 15 minutes. You know where the gang would build a tank out of a garden shed and a JCB and take on the bad guys. Well that happens here too, but it’s been modernised. So instead of a boring segment of the lads hammering nails out of a shed, you get a very stylish montage of the plan coming together! And there’s plenty of plans afoot in this movie as set pieces come at you thick and fast, and even though the effects leave the set pieces down on occasion, it is adrenalin fuelling entertainment. I dare anyone not to enjoy the set pieces. There so over the bloody top, its ridiculous, but still so, so enjoyable.
And that’s exactly what the A-Team is, it’s enjoyable. If you go back to the 80’s from a movie perspective, this was really the time which defined the likes of Arnie, Sly and Bruce Willis. All starred in movies that never took themselves too seriously and were incredibly over the top, but they were always entertaining and enjoyable. And the A-Team movie returns to that time, very nicely.
So, to sum up, The A-Team won’t melt your mind, and your mind is better off left at home for this one, but it will blow your socks off for sheer entertainment. One of the movies I’ve most enjoyed watching this year! And I never thought I’d say that!
