The A-Team (2010)

If you are a kid like me who grew up during the 80s, chances are high that you saw 'The A-Team' series on a regular basis. As an impressionable young mind, I thought it was one of the most awesome shows I had ever seen. The concept is so simple: wrongly accused soldiers, who naturally are all experts in their field, are hunted by the government. Yet they go across the country helping people in need. Every episode, they would face off against evildoers or soldiers by finding an abandoned shed that miraculously had tons of equipment and they'd weld stuff onto a car. Oh, and every single episode, a car of the opposition would drive across a ramp and flip. 

I tell you: it was brilliant in its simplicity. 

It was the characters that made it endearing, though. Great casting made it all work, and the likes of George Peppard, Mr T, Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz are forever etched into my mind.

Bizarrely enough, they decided to adapt this into a film in 2010, possibly with the hopes of resurrecting the franchise. That failed, because this one didn't do that well at the box office, but we did get an entertaining film out of it, even though it's wildly over the top. 

The film starts with the four members meeting up and it just goes on a wild ride from there. During the second Iraq-US war, they are a spec ops team with massive success. Yet they want to go on one last mission, securing printing plates for a money printing press. However, they are setup and sentenced to prison. They escape and want to clear their names by finding those plates and the people who betrayed them. In the meantime, a government official (Jessica Biel) is chasing them and there are dubious goings on with a spook from the CIA. 

As you can see, it's pretty straightforward and fairly predictable how it all plays out. But that is actually not the point here. In this respect, it follows the formula of the series very well. That too was incredibly predictable, but no one cared. We were just there for the characters and the spectacle. That goes for this one as well. Sure, they may not feel as cohesive as a team the way the original cast did, but credit where credit is due: the casting is well done. Liam Neeson has the authority to play Hannibal, Bradley Cooper is a great Face. Sharlto Copley does go a little overboard as Murdock here, but that can be forgiven. The only actor who has the short end of the stick is Rampage Jackson, who was chosen to play BA Baracus. It's not his fault, but there's absolutely no one who is as iconic as Mr T in that particular role, which means that whoever played this part would pale in comparison. Jackson is more realistic, though, so there's that.

The action scenes are fun and sometimes hilariously over the top. The scene with the tank does spring to mind and was one of the key criticisms when people saw this film. Maybe they had forgotten that this is escapist fun, that is supposed to be over the top and silly. The only downside is that this film does suffer that 2000's mindset of shaky cam during fights, which often makes it hard to follow. Also, the bad guys aren't that memorable. So there's that to consider as well. 

All in all, this 'The A-Team' is a fun thrill ride that remains aloft thanks to the actors portraying the team. Sure, it's no Shakespeare and in itself it's not a brilliant film, but it's good fun and sometimes, that's all you need.