was one of those shows that everybody seemed to love. It had nothing to do with the storylines, which were all variations on the same idea. Blow this up, rescue this person, find this device. What made us stick around was the comraderie of the tight knit group of former soldiers, each with their own quirks that often made them fight and make up like brothers. Carnahan gets their relationship exactly right, keeping the light hearted tone while never pulling his feet of the gas pedal for a second. Jumpstarting the origin of the A-Team with a few quick introductory scenes, we're introduced to calm, confident Hannibal Smith; the massive, mohawked B.A. Baracus(Quinton "Rampage" Jackson); smooth talkin' ladies man, "Faceman" Peck(Bradley Cooper); and insane helicopter pilot, Murdock(Sharlto Copley). Using the common villain of the moment, evil government contractors, the A-Team must recover stolen plates being used to print counterfeit American loot. It's a lightweight premise, free of complication and leaving the door open to tons of hot lead filling the screen. There's no shortage of gunfire, but not a ton of bloodshed, keeping with the PG-13 rating. The action is intense but mostly played up for laughs. It's tanks shooting down fighter drones....while drifting through the air on parachutes. Even for the TV show that's absurd, but damn if it isn't fun. The A-Team doesn't take itself seriously, not for one single second.
Framed for the theft of the counterfeiting plates, the A-Team finds itself on the outs with the government. Pursued by both the CIA(in the form of Watchmen's Patrick Wilson), and Jessica Biel as Faceman's former love interest turned high ranking military officer, the plan is to find the guy who set them up and reclaim their good names. It's a story that would make for a good single episode of the TV series, only with bigger explosions and a longer running time.
Taking a cue from Smokin' Aces, Carnahan films every shot like a crackhead on roller skates. So much is going on, and the cuts are so fast that it's nearly impossible to tell what's going on sometimes. I'm not a big fan of his frenetic style of shooting, but when Baracus body slams a guy onto the cement you're hardly going to care. In fact, if you're like me you might let out a hoot of excitement.
The action was the easy part. The toughest thing to emulate would be the relationships. Even though there's very little time where there isn't warfare splashed across the screen, the actors all play their parts well. The biggest question mark was UFC brawler, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who had the daunting task of filling the shoes of the legendary Mr. T. Jackson, a newbie to the acting world, does the smart thing by not trying to copy Mr. T's style. He plays Baracus his own thuggish way. Liam Neeson has the confidence and tenacity of Hannibal dead on, while Bradley Cooper slips comfortably into the charmer's role like a glove. District 9's Sharlto Copley gets all the fun, though, having a delightfully wacky time as the insane Murdock. He's the one who I think definitively improves on the performance from the TV show.
The A-Team is the second leg of what I've termed "The Action Trilogy", which also includes The Losers and the star studden The Expendables. Out of those three, The A-Team was the one I had the least confidence in. I couldn't have been more wrong. The A-Team and The Losers are essentially the same film, but ask me which one I had a better time with and the answer is clear. The A-Team blows The Losers to smithereens. I pity the fool who doesn't go check it out for themselves.
