Review: The A-Team

Grade: A-

In Mexico, Army Rangers Col. John “Hannibal” Smith and Lt. Templeton “Faceman” Peck are working together on a mission. Along the way they run into former Army Rangers Sgt. Bosco “B.A.” Baracus and Capt. “Howling Mad” Murdock, and the four decide to form an ultimate black-ops team that they named the “A-Team”. Eight years later in Iraq, the team is encouraged to pull off a job to recover US counterfeit printing plates. After they pull off the job they are framed for killing a general and stealing the plates and the team is dishonorably discharged and sent to jail. Six months later, the team is given a window of opportunity to break out of jail. They then decide to hunt down the men who framed them, recover the stolen plates and clear their names of the crimes they were framed for. They have to come up with the perfect plan to pull it off and dodge the US government as they are now hunting them.

This movie is so much fun to watch. It turned out to be a bit better than I was expecting. Liam Neeson (Clash of the Titans, Taken) did a great job playing the cigar chomping Hannibal. He was really enjoyable in the role and it was great watching him come up with their crazy plans. Bradley Cooper (The Hangover, All About Steve) was fantastic as Face and really brought a certain type of charm and humor to the role and movie. Former UFC fighter Quinton Jackson takes over the infamous role once occupied by the one and only Mr. T, “BA” Baracas. Jackson actually did a pretty good job with the role and made it his own. Sharlto Copley (District 9) completely stole the show as “Howling Mad” Murdock. For a man who only acted in D9 as a favor and claims to have no interest in acting, he is really good at it. Copley is absolutely hilarious as Murdock in A-Team and is the best part of the movie. Jessica Biel (Valentine’s Day, Next) plays Charisa Sosa, a government agent assigned with capturing the A-Team and bringing them back to jail. She did a pretty good job and was enjoyable in her scenes.

The movie is loaded with lots of really fun action. It also has just the right amount of humor mixed in to the whole thing. I hear there are complaints coming out that the movie didn’t keep with the feel of the TV show because of the violence, as in people do actually die in the movie. I feel that it works really well for the movie and I think only diehard fans of the show are going to complain. This is the second of the “A-Team-esque” movies coming out this year, the first being Losers. It is almost as good as the Losers, for some reason I just loved that movie. What cracks me up is that both movies have their climax scenes take place at the Port of Los Angeles. I don’t know if this is coincidence or if the filmmakers really want these movies to be alike. I’m going to laugh if Expendables has its climax at the Port of Los Angeles as well.

This movie is just pure fun to watch. It is well worth the trip to the theater and is a great escape for a couple of hours. I really think that most people will enjoy this movie.

Great quote: “This escape is so much cooler in 3D. It’s like we are actually being shot at.”