Saturday, June 12, 2010

Movie Review - The A-Team

In a weekend dedicated to the '80s, the A-Team stands out as a big explosion of cheesy fun that takes you back to the days of mohawks and GMC vans. But, is it just another TV adaptation, or is it actually worth watching (I'm looking at you, Charlie's Angels).

If you remember your classic A-Team, it was a band of Rangers who were outcast and fight to clear their name while helping those who had nowhere else to turn in the most unusual fashion. This movie is the same, and starts off showing how the gruesome foursome came together, with a comical view, and plenty of gunfights. After the team is setup and framed, they must break out of jail and clear their name. The result is some great quality fun.

The best part of this movie for me was the casting, in particular Murdoch, played by District 9's own Sharlto Copley. I was really interested to see if he can match the great performance of District 9, and he did and then some. Copley provided most of the laughs, and played a great crazy person. The scene introducing him is hilarious, and they still manage to balance him being more than competent with his wackiness. Liam Neeson (Taken) played Hannibal, the man with the plan and did it expertly well. When he says the now famous line "I love it when a plan comes together," you know he is Hannibal, and he chews up the scenery with his cigar and ability to plan to perfection. Bradley Cooper, (The Hangover) Hollywoods latest golden child exudes charisma as Murdoch and has some serious chemistry with Jessica Biels character. Cooper is smooth, and has no problem looking like a suave badass. It brings me to the last member, Quinten "Rampage" Jackson, who was quite good, surprisingly and looked the part of a total badass. While he clearly needed work, he wasn't terrible, which is good enough.

The supporting cast was silly, and lame, but good enough to be believable. Mark Wilson plays a CIA agent who flip-flops sides more than Sean Connory in Entrapment, but is very likable (not necessarily a good thing for a possible bad guy).

Overall, the movie was silly and over the top. The action scenes were filmed very hastily, which works sporadically, but not for the length it was used. The movie seemed to embrace the crazy cheesiness of the show, and as a result was a great movie experience that is completely worthy of your time.

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