The All New A-Team Kicking Some Serious Ass!

I had the pleasure of watching the A-Team movie this morning, a Sunday Matinee. I was planning on seeing this film last night, however it was sold out at my local theatre, which I thought was a good sign. I had been looking forward to seeing this film after I saw who was going to be in the cast. Liam Neeson as Hannibal, who I have always been a fan of, Bradley Cooper as Face who I enjoyed recently in The Hangover, Rampage Jackson as B.A. who makes a great sports to acting turn-in from what could have been a disaster, and finally, the standout, Sharlto Copley as Howlin Mad Murdock. Admittedly, I have never been a HUGE A-Team fan although I watched it in it’s prime. The show was never too much about story, just great action and comedy, but it was the characterizations that made the series a hit, and they have sucessfully carried the essence of those characters into the new film.

Why a B+ and not an A Quad? Well, I thought there were a few weaknesses in a plot that can be hard to follow. I thought they could have focused more on the comedy and characters VS the action, but all told the movie was a blast of summer fun. The film doesn’t take itself too seriously, as expected, and this works well with some of the completely over-the-top action sequences. The characters themselves seem to be tweaked just a little to suit thier new inhabitants. Each actor gives his own special touches to the classics which thankfully don’t evolve into parody.

Neeson’s Hannibal seems darker, hardened and less cheery than George Peppard’s version, but he throws out the famous cigar-chomping line “I love it when a plan comes together” with conviction and the right touch of brass-balls. Bradley Cooper nails Face perfectly with his rich-bred swagger and gleaming white smile. Rampage Jackson tones down the Mr.T cliche’s with his version of B.A. and it really works. Mr T. reportedly didn’t like the violence in the film, and I found it interesting that the film’s B.A. is against violence, which made me wonder if Mr. T made it past the first scene and actually watched the whole movie.

Sharlto Copely in A-Team

Now on to Sharlto Copely as Murdock. Wow, what a great performance by the out-of-nowhere actor that appeared last year in the amazing District 9. He does Murdock to a tee as we first see him in the film, and then he takes the character a step further. He even lapses into his South African Accent at one point as a wink to Wikus Van De Merwe, his District 9 persona.  The only complaint I have is that he wasn’t featured MORE in the film. Shamelessly, it was his performance that I was most interested in seeing and he didn’t let me down. Go Sharlto, we will be looking forward to more work from you in the future.

Well that’s it for this review. Go check it out and have a blast! Please comment and let us know your feeleings about the film.