For Your Entertainment:
A-Team wildly fun
I will admit that I was cautiously optimistic when I heard they were making a remake of “The A-Team” for the big screen. A lot of film adaptations of TV shows fall flat, and frankly some of them just aren’t a good idea to begin with, but I remember loving the show when I was a kid (my first Halloween costume that I can remember was Mr. T, my mom crocheted black yarn into a knit cap to give me a Mohawk) and so I hoped that this version would live up. The thing that I knew it needed to do was not take itself seriously, and I wasn’t disappointed.
From the very beginning this movie was non-stop funny. It’s a bold move for an action movie, and I think it was well done with “The A-Team.” From Bradley Cooper playing “face” (who would have ever thought after wedding crashers that this guy would ever be likeable, but his transformation into everyone’s favorite pretty/funny boy became complete with “The Hangover” and now audiences just can’t get enough), to Quinton Jackson’s reprisal of Mr. T’s role as B.A. Baracus, nearly everything about this movie was just plain fun.
The icing on the cake was the portrayal of the out-of-his-mind Murdock by relative newcomer Sharlto Copley. Prior to this movie Copley had really only been seen in “District 9.” His leading role in that film came as a result of his friendship with the movies director. It was therefore a surprise to me that he would be cast in a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster, but he played Murdock in so over-the-top zany a fashion that he had the audience laughing nearly non-stop. In addition to all of this Liam Neeson was the prefect straight man as Hannibal.
There were several potential pitfalls that this movie could easily have fallen into. First of all, while “The A Team” was a popular show, it last aired over 23 years ago. Secondly, Mr. T was so iconic in his role that it is very difficult to replace him.
The first issue was addressed very quickly in the movie, and interestingly the result was an obvious division of generations in the audience. The infamous A-Team Van gets crushed into oblivion barely five minutes into the movie. There were two results to this. One was you knew moving forward that this was going to be a new A-Team. Two was you could tell everyone in the audience who was over 30 because these people all gasped when the van got crushed, and the younger members looked around as if wondering what the big deal was.
As for Rampage Jackson’s version of Baracus, he owned it. Also, his fear of flying was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
All in all I’d have to say that, with the exception of about 15 minutes where the film attempts to develop a plot, this movie was non-stop fun. It’s not going to win any Oscars, but you’ll hurt from laughing when you leave. Go see it.
Grade: B+
