The A-Team

Who could have foreseen that a film reboot of a campy 70’s action show would have a script strong enough to bring in some of Hollywood’s best to star? O.K, so “Hollywood’s best” definitely needs quotation marks but this cast deserves recognition. The story of four military outcasts on a mission to clear their name of a wrongful charge, The A-Team is a brand that is best remembered for one of the cheesiest of catchphrases, “I pity the fool…” Luckily, those words were never uttered in the new version. But they did make a cameo as a Baracus tattoo.

Now back to the cast that is lead by the unquestionable Liam Neeson, who tends to be strong no matter how lousy a movie is. His portrayal of Colonel ‘Hannibal’ Smith was a quality performance. However, I must say that for once he did not steal the show. Sharlto Copley, previously of District 9, reinvents the over the top character, Murdock to great affect. Who knew he was such a strong comedic actor? The other two leads (B.A. Baracus, played by Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, and Face played by Bradley Cooper) were high quality accomplishments as well. Rampage could still improve a bit on his acting but for a character originally played by Mr. T the bar isn’t that high.

Add those individuals to this strong multi-layered script and we have a movie that I consider to be the strongest of the summer so far. It had more laughs than most comedies and was able to combine a smart conspiracy plot with absolutely ridiculous events. I can’t imagine you can control a free falling military tank by blasting the cannon in certain directions but they made it seem possible in the film, which is enough for me. The action is pretty sick as well. I wouldn’t expect any less from the director of Smoking Aces, Joe Carnahan who helmed The A-Team. But unlike that previous effort this movie has more than just explosions and dying.

Cinematically, the film had a number of very interesting compositions that brought the viewer into the film. I almost broke a sweat watching some of the desert scenes because of the warm tint laid over the shots, and that’s just one example. It was just a great all around effort. I really wish I had an “I pity the fool” joke here, but I’ve got nothing. Damn. (9.0 out of 10)