Directed by: Joe Carnahan
\nStarring: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson,
\nSharlto Copley, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson
\nRated: PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence throughout,
\nlanguage and smoking.<\/p>\n
\nThere are several elements necessary for a film to be a top-notch
\nsummer blockbuster: attractive actors who can have a good time doing
\nridiculous things on film; lots of over-the-top chases, preferably in
\nmultiple types of vehicles; gunfights and explosions; and amusing
\nbanter. “The A-Team” has them all in spades. This movie is so far over
\nthe top that the line between realism and ridiculousness is pretty
\nmuch invisible.
\nIn case you somehow missed being exposed to the original television
\nseries, the team of the title consists of four men: Hannibal (Liam
\nNeeson) is the cigar-chomping commander, who loves it when a plan
\ncomes together; Face (Bradley Cooper) is the smooth con artist; B. A.
\nBarakus (Quinton “Rampage” Jackson) is a genius mechanic who’s also
\ngood with his tattooed fists; and Murdock (Sharlto Copley) is their
\nsavant of a pilot, who may or may not be clinically out of his mind.
\nThe series had the four written as Vietnam veterans; the film has
\nupdated things a bit so that it can take place in the present day.
\nThe film starts in the middle of an operation in Mexico where Hannibal
\nand Face wind up running into and recruiting Barakus and Murdock. Once
\nunited, they’re an unbeatable team, so when a nigh-impossible job
\nneeds doing while US troops are pulling out of Iraq, they’re brought
\nin. As anyone who watched the old show can tell you, the job was a
\nsetup and the team is framed. They break out and set about clearing
\ntheir names, with many, many, many ridiculous and awesome hijinks
\nalong the way.
\nThe actors are spot-on. Neeson is mostly known for serious roles, but
\nhe is perfectly capable of not taking himself seriously, and he
\ndemonstrates that here with ease. Copley was last seen as desperate,
\nmutating Wikus in “District 9,” and it’s astonishing to see him as
\nMurdock. He steals almost every scene he’s in — which is an
\nachievement when he’s sharing screen time with Cooper, who is both a
\npretty face and a solid actor. Jackson is excellent as Barakus, and
\nhandles the small bits of character development he’s handed well. As
\nnasty CIA agent Lynch, Patrick Wilson is smooth, slimy, and very
\nfunny; he makes a good foil for the team. Most importantly, all the
\nactors seem to be having a great time.
\nThis wouldn’t be an A-Team story without lots of crazy chases,
\nescapes, and battles, and the film doesn’t disappoint. Anyone who’s
\nseen the trailers knows that at one point the team is in a tank which
\ngets dropped out of an airplane; what’s left out of the trailers is
\nthe way the team manages to steer it so that it can land safely in
\nspite of losing two of its parachutes. The action keeps the same fun,
\ncartoonish feel as the original show, just with a much, much bigger
\nbudget.
\nThe script is solid, and the dialogue both entertains and helps us get
\nto know and like the characters. Like a lot of the best blockbusters,
\nif you’re sharp and paying attention, there are lots of little moments
\nof hilarity strewn through the film. But if you’re distracted by
\nsomething and mostly watching for the action, it’s still a great flick
\n— there aren’t long waits between action scenes.
\n“The A-Team” is a perfect summer movie. It’s funny, lighthearted,
\nentertaining, and a great way to spend a couple hours out of the heat.
\nIt’s not intellectual, educational, or even realistic, but it is one
\nheck of a lot of fun. If that’s the kind of movie you like, do not
\nmiss it — and be sure to stay after the credits, especially if
\nyou’re a fan of the original show. If you’re looking for a serious,
\nsmart film, though, go somewhere else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Directed by: Joe Carnahan Starring: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Sharlto Copley, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence throughout, language and smoking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[41,57,31],"class_list":["post-382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-actionfestorama-2","tag-rated-pg-13","tag-wonderful"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2oSX4-6a","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ealasaid.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ealasaid.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ealasaid.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ealasaid.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ealasaid.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ealasaid.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1577,"href":"https:\/\/www.ealasaid.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions\/1577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ealasaid.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ealasaid.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ealasaid.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}