The A-Team Bum

I went to see “The A-Team” with a couple of friends, and we loved it. Sure, it’s not an academy award winning script, but it was exactly what I expected it to be. It was a ridiculous over the top action movie, and perfect mindless summer popcorn fun.

Director Joe Carnahan (Narc, Smokin’ Aces) did a great job realizing that no one was really going to take this movie seriously so why not create something completely off the spectrum of reality. Some of the moves this A-team accomplish makes no sense at all, including directing a falling tank into a lake by shooting its cannons, or Murdock’s ability to defy the laws of physics with a helicopter. The thing is that if you just let all that nonsensicality go, and just have fun with it, this movie can be a real good time.

Liam Neeson wasn’t my first choice to play Hannibal Smith, but he sold me. Never looking like he was trying to embody the character made famous by the classic George Peppard. The movie needed a solid actor to anchor the team, and he made it his own.

Capatalizing on his success from last summers “The Hangover”, Bradley Cooper does a great job as Templeton Peck aka Face. He’s got that American James Bond (Roger Moore style) charm that Dirk Benedict created so well on the series.

Howling “Mad” Murdock is played by Sharlto Copley from “District 9”, he was a lot of fun, and completely unpredictable. There were times in the movie when you can tell that he didn’t even know what he was going to do next, but he did it anyway and was always happily surprised by the outcome. Not to bad for a guy in, only, his second big movie. Copley gave us a few big laughs via his insanity, just like Murdock should.

Finally, B.A. Baracus was played by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson a UFC fighter in his first role. He is not the best actor in the world, but then again he is playing a role made famous by a horrible actor, so the shoes weren’t that hard to fill. Mr. T had three great roles in his career, Clubber Lang in Rocky III, Samson in D.C. Cab, and of coarse B.A. Baracus on The A-Team. Mr. T played Mr. T in all of them. Hey, I’m not even counting his Saturday morning cartoon in which he played Mr. T.

I understand that they needed a strong female lead, but Jessica Biel, no matter how hot she is, was completely miscast as the army officer delegated with the responsibility of bringing in the A-team. Patrick Wilson, and Brian Bloom round out the cast. Bloom has been a character actor in Hollywood for a long time, and he co-wrote the script. It’s nice to see him get a big role like this after plugging away with small roles for so many years. There is even a nice part for old Simon & Simon / Major Dad himself, Gerald McRainey.

When it comes down to it the whole movie’s foundation relies on the chemistry of the team, and you can tell that they have complete faith in each other. You can also totally see that they are having a lot of fun. So it made me feel like they could do anything no matter how extraordinary and I could suspend my disbelief for a couple of hours and just enjoy the craziness. I can totally see “The A-Team” getting panned by some critics, but that’s because most of them are looking for films. This isn’t a film it’s a movie, and it’s exactly what a senseless summer movie should be….a whole lot of stupid fun.
So when you're all out of choices, and you think there is nothing left to see, and if you can find them, then may be you can hire "The A-Team".

The A-Team - trailer