The A-Team is another one of those dumb, loud, testosterone-driven action pictures that thinks it can get by on special effects and charm. It also throws nostalgia into the mix, but for viewers who’ve never seen the television series on which it’s based, this is a moot point. Don’t get me wrong - there is a place for movies like this in the entertainment landscape, but in a time when Hollywood offers us more ambitious action movies like Avatar and Iron Man 2, The A-Team feels standard and indistinct by comparison. It’s jolly and upbeat to be sure, but at the end of the day, it’s nothing to write home about.
I was never an avid viewer of The A-Team TV show (I’ve hardly seen it), which ran for four seasons back in the ‘80s and garnered high ratings. The movie draws its attitude from the show, along with some famous one-liners (“I’m gonna kill you fool!”) and in-jokes. But when you take away the series, is there anything special about the movie? It’s an average effects extravaganza - big, noisy and pumped head to toe with sensational action sequences. In fact, all the action from the TV series probably couldn’t hold a candle to what happens in the movie. The filmmakers are under the age-old impression that bigger is better. Sometimes it is, but only when there’s something fresh to go along with the big.
The effects in the movie are practically non-stop and the cuts are so rapid and disorienting that we lose track of the details happening in each shot. We’re forced to sit back and experience the movie in clumps and just accept the gist of what happens instead of the specifics. The sound mixing is also muddy and I had a hard time deciphering some of the dialogue. It may have been the theater I saw it in, but I’d be curious to know if others experience the same problems. All of this makes The A-Team sound like a mess, and on many levels it is, but at least it’s a high-spirited mess, and that’s what saves it from being a disaster.
In the movie, the A-Team, short for Alpha Team, consists of four highly specialized army rangers. They’re daring, fearless and a tad bit crazy (some more than others). Heading the unit is John "Hannibal" Smith (Liam Neeson), who’s always optimistic and confident about his mission plans. He’s also never short a cigar. Hannibal oversees the charming womanizer, Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck (Bradley Cooper); the gruff, angry B.A. Baracus (Quinton Jackson); and the wild and loony Murdock (Sharlto Copley). I’m sure these names will mean more to fans of the TV show and the movie probably takes their original characteristics to an extreme, but that’s to be expected.
