Review: The A-Team

"DUNH DA DUNH DUNH .....DUN DUN DUNH"

No it’s not Morse code but my poor attempt at putting into words what my ears hear when I hum the theme tune to The A-Team and after seeing a film that took nearly 30 years to make it to the big screen I can say with a wry smile on my face that I loved it when the plan came together.

6 months ago a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The A-Team.

I didn’t write the description above, it’s the actual voice over from The A-Team TV show but it works perfectly for the new movie as director Joe Carnahan (NARC and Smokin Aces) takes one the most beloved children’s 80s TV shows and turns it into a cool big boy’s movie.

The reason the description works so well is that Carnahan took the best part of the show, namely the cool characters and basic premise, and threw them into a modern day setting (Iraq). Once there, we are finally treated to something the TV show could never deliver and that is proper carnage (the flying tank and container ship chaos is superb), not that ‘PG no one gets hurt’ stuff (the lads getting out of a helicopter that crashed into a mountain still pisses me off) they fed to us when we were kids.

Not to say that there is blood everywhere – since this a franchise starter they have to please to entire audience – which leads to a bad case of the Bournes (shaky cam for fight scenes) which while distracting at times doesn’t ruin the experience.

Top quality cast

But again, all the action in the world won’t save you if your lead characters aren’t worth a damn and much to my amazement Carnahan nailed it with Liam Neeson as Hannibal, Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) as Faceman, Sharlto Copley (District 9) as Murdoch and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (UFC fighter) as B.A.

When you consider the original characters are all part of pop culture, the incoming actors didn’t have much wiggle room but actually did excellent work with the material they were given, my fave being Bradley Cooper’s Faceman.

Much like the TV show, the baddies play second fiddle to the A-Team and aren’t fleshed out enough, but again, you are watching a film about a bunch of guys who can escape from prison with a spoon and some toilet paper.

Director Joe Carnahan gets a lot of stick but I like the guy as he is an ambitious director who’s not afraid to play hard and fast with the camera. While every man and his dog loved NARC, Smokin Aces did not fare as well since it was deemed too much when a ‘less is more’ approach was required.

With The A-Team, Carnahan has shown he is capable of doing the studio thing without selling out and that can only be good for the future of Hollywood.

It’s very rare that a review writes itself but every now and again a film comes along that’s so easy to like that you just want to say “this one is for the boys so just get your ass to the cinema already”.

Andrew Kennedy
The A-Team is released nationwide on 28 July.