Don't be immediately dismissive. I was at first. I passively started watching this movie but aggressively enjoyed it.
I’m on my second time through The A-Team right now. It’s so much more entertaining than I expected. Forget that the loosely tied together back story of how this group of Rangers came to be a fierce fighting force makes little or no sense. It’s really not the point. And honestly you should know better than to approach a film version of the classic 80’s pulp action serial with anything like a true critic’s mind frame. The A-Team should only be held accountable for how often I exclaim “OOOOOHOO-HOO-HOOO!!” Quick perusal of the opening credits reveals that both Tony and Ridley Scott have producer credits. Director Joe Carnahan (who’s only other real notable directing credit, Smokin’ Aces, is also tied to Scott Free productions) lays out his strategy early on. The cut-back narrative style with single-scene dialogue layered over time lapse is very reminiscent of Tony Scott, more creatively used by Steven Soderbergh and perfected from Memento to the Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan.
Not that I’m comparing the achievements of The A-Team to any of those high-end specialists.
But nevertheless, the dialogue is smooth and the chemistry between Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper makes everything buttery. Neeson has really come to master the weathered Captain role. I used to have a hard time taking him seriously as an action star but he is seriously kick-ass. I can see why they stuck Rampage in the B.A. Baracus role but the writers didn’t give him too much space. Two other lower billed actors have an unexpected gleam to them though: Sharlto Copley, the South African actor who played the lead role in District 9 absolutely kills it as Murdoch. His complete crazed hilarity shines. His role in District 9 gives no justice to his range, and if he wasn’t able to play off Rampage Jackson the Baracus role would have been completely forgotten. The second surprise is Patrick Wilson (spotlighted as Night Owl in WATCHMEN). His quips and speed would have been a good fit for the role Timothy Olyphant botched in Live Free or Die Hard.Anyways for an action blockbuster The A-Team manages to kill in a special way that has largely been lost from the summer popcorn flicks. It’s stylized but not annoyingly-so. Its violent and over-the-top at times but the CGI doesn’t bash you over the head and you can believe that they actually had to blow some stuff up to get a lot of the shots. The core group of actors look like they’re having as much fun as it should have been to make this flick. Its not so dumbed down that the plot is a complete afterthought or the dialogue throw-away. Basically it looks good but not too smooth, its funny but not too corny and flashy but rugged. If I knew it was going to be as fun as this I probably would have sprung for the stadium seats. In any event its worth $4.50 to rent or netflix it or however you get your ya-yas these days.
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