Plot, Action, Believable FX..A-Team at least a B+

Secured by Neeson, Cooper and Action Crew Shine a Lot Brighter Than Expected

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.

Not New, But Shining a Light on Danny Boyle's "SUNSHINE"

Sunshine is an awesome concept spin. It’s worth watching alone. The overall sense that’s meant to be conveyed is of bleak loneliness anyway. In a not-too-distant future the sun’s energy reserves are nearly expired. In order to jumpstart what remains, Earth sends a science team in a specially sun-shielded craft to detonate a weapon which will create a chain reaction of biblical proportions allowing the earth to remain habital for another few decades. The main catch is that this mission is the earth’s second attempt. The first mission left for the sun and was never heard from again.

Observation Deck

Cillian Murphy is the science officer designated to weaponize the payload. Chris Evans (Sudbury, MA represent!) comes off quite well as the technology officer. That guy that played Dogen in the final season of LOST is the ship’s captain and the chick from Damages is also on board. What Danny Boyle conveys so masterfully is the way that the crew members interact with each other and what life would be life on a mission that, quite possibly, no one will be returning from. When life and/or mission threatening event begin to take place, what manner of morality takes precedence? If you are trying to complete a mission in order to save the entire human race, at what point does the survival of individuals on the mission stop outweighing the success of the mission? And, perhaps most importantly, how does years of space travel with a small group of individuals and the knowledge and weight of your task impact the psychic of those on board? When this small group of Earth’s best and brightest problem solvers comes face to face with their own destiny, what is the outcome? Watching the characters battle each other and their own fragile minds in the face of mortal struggle is definitely the beauty. Danny Boyle’s vision of the environment as the mission draws closer and closer to its ultimate goal is also astonishingly beautiful, and the focus of more than one of the characters personal psychosis. An obsession with the sun and its beauty, the source of both their life force and mortal struggle, permeates the minds of each character and manifests in different ways. Is there a payoff to SUNSHINE? There is a payload… That’s for sure. Boyle really seems to lose sight of the crux towards the end. Or perhaps in his head the only way for the movie’s ethereal destructive elements to manifest was as the monster he devises, that somehow the crew seems to manifest in the absense of a real enemy. Any way you slice it the third act flies off course further than the mission. But at that point it almost doesn’t matter. I’m fond of telling people that the best science fiction uses hypothetical fantastic situations to examine the best and worst of the human condition. If that is my measure for SciFi greatness then SUNSHINE is great. I hope Danny Boyle keeps exploring the “How would this really play out” scenario he has been so successful with in movies like 28 Days and Sunshine. He seems to bring Cillian Murphy as far out of his shell as he is capable of coming, which is a nice bonus.