The A-Team

I've never seen the tv series that this is based on, but pop culture has filled me in on all I need to know. We're living in the Age of the Remakes, and the big-screen adaptation of the A-Team sees when the four heroes put their team together, with an absurd, fun escape that just doesn't seem possible. Of course, over the next two hours, these four characters weave themselves in and out of impossible situations, but always manage to escape, no worse for the wear, and able to quip about their close calls. And of course, they work in their well-known lines with Hannibal saying, "I love it when a plan comes together," while Baracus steadfastly refuses to get on an airplane. As expected, they also are framed for crimes they didn't commit, making them fugitives on the run. Make no mistake, this is a campy film. It is not award-winning stuff. The plot is more than a bit convoluted, and villains repeatedly pass up chances to kill our heroes until... sometime later.

This is a pretty by the numbers action movie so there isn't much to talk about. With Liam Neeson leading the team as Hannibal, they definitely cast the right actor to lead the ragtag team of ‘soldiers of fortune. Bradley Cooper also is perfectly cast here as "Faceman," the smooth-talking, womanizing member of the squad. Sharlto Copley is the goofy Murdock character here. And of course, Quinton Jackson plays the character B.A. Baracus, who was famously played by Mr. T in the TV version and sadly doesn't cameo here in the film.My only real gripe with this movie is the same I have with lots of action movies these days: It's way too rapidly edited, to the point that I found it hard to register what the hell's going on during some of the action sequences. I also find a few of the characters a tad annoying, but it wasn't enough to distract from what was a pretty solid action movie.