Predictable characters + predictable plot + predictable character backgrounds + predictable action sequences = unpredictably good movie. I thoroughly enjoyed The A Team because, like Hannibal, I love it when a plan comes together…
Seeing as I am getting to be a little bit older than I would like to admit I can remember the original A- team TV series but due to the draconian enforcement of my childhood bed time and its Friday night timeslot I never actually remember seeing an episode until much later in life.
Unfortunately, my experience is that when there is something that was ‘the best thing ever’ when you were at primary school and then don’t see it until you are an adult then somewhere along the line the magic disappears and you can’t understand what all the hype was about. It was that way for me with Star Wars and ET and that was how it was for me and the A-team.
I remember watching reruns and wondering what all the fuss was for. It all just seemed a little bit farcical.
However, somewhere between my school days and now I developed into your fairly standard male, which predictably means my interest is raised for anything involving girls, cars and guns which means I was more than willing to give the latest Hollywood remake a better than even chance.
You will be able to recognize all of the key elements from the TV series in the movie – the characters, the plot and most importantly the van. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how well the cast came together. Liam Neeson plays Hannibal, Bradley Cooper is Face, Sharlto Copley (from District 9) is Murdoch and B.A Baracus is played by UFC Fighter Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. Going into it I thought that Jackson had the hardest role. Not only is B.A. Baracus the most iconic character from the original series but it is near impossible to know where the character of B.A. stopped and the ‘character’ of actor Mr. T began. In reality though, by the end of the movie I thought that he had actually done a superb job of acting the character rather than trying to be Mr T.
Bradley Cooper played Face admirably. A likeable character for a dependable star.
The character I was most disappointed with was Hannibal played by Liam Neeson – the man with the most acting chops out of the whole cast. His performance was too reminiscent of Ra’s Al Ghul in Batman begins by being too instructional, too condescending and too know it all while still trying to fit in all the icon lines from the original series. Bradley Cooper was his normal dependable self but with the added bonus of being a likeable character after being in The Hangover.
Liam Neeson was disappointing as Hannibal but Quinton Jackson managed to make B.A. Baracus his own character.
To fulfil the ‘girls’ side of the guy movie equation the A-Team spend the movie being pursued (predictably, for a crime they did not commit) by Jessica Biel playing Lietenant Charisa Sosa. For me she was a slightly annoying choice because I always find her acting a little too ‘take me seriously. I’m not just beautiful’…if you know what I mean. This probably isn’t the movie for serious acting but it did kind of work for her as this female character in a male dominated world.
So overall, here are the things that you should take away. Predictable characters + predictable plot + predictable character backgrounds + predictable action sequences = unpredictably good movie. It is not that they are doing something new…they are doing something tried and tested but doing it very well.
The 5 main characters in the A-Team – Face, B.A., Murdoch, Hannibal and the A-Team van.
Be honest with yourself. It’s the A-Team and no one ever goes to a movie like this because of the Oscar Best Screenplay type story line. They go in hope that it will be a rollicking good time with plenty of action, humour and implausible stunts. It is what it is and it does it very well.
I thoroughly enjoyed it because, like Hannibal, I love it when a plan comes together.
By Jeremy White, 9 June 2010.
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