The A-Team

I absolutely enjoyed every moment of this movie. The A-Team is a summer blockbuster that knows precisely what it is and does not try to be anything that it is not. With this being an adaptation of the 80's show it follows suit of the original and is a very over the top and cheesy action flick. Yet from ninety seconds in this movie does not let up.

The reincarnation by the hands of Carnahan however, avoids many of the pitfalls that the outdated format has to offer. For one, the director has brought the well known premise of the series to the present. Vietnam has been replaced by Iraq and the bad attitude of Bosco Baracus is not the only thing that makes the foursome dangerous: the happy-go-lucky stance of a team that rarely asked for enemy casualties has been replaced by an attitude that better suits a group of elite soldiers. What is especially striking is how well the cast handle their roles, and how much fun they have doing so.

While Neeson and Cooper are great in their roles, Copley as Murdock stole the show with his antics. He occupies the crazy pilot with both a zest for life and an absolute fearlessness of death – cue the suicidal midair antics. His inimitable flying skills, Murdockian features (sock puppets and his interaction with BA for example) and especially his imitation of Mel Gibson in 'Braveheart' - including stick horse - make him the movies' main asset. Cooper continues to show his great abilities to act and for me I am really interested to see him in a movie where he is the main star alone and it is not a group of stars, that will be the real test in my book to know how much of a star he can be. The A-Team was his first step toward that as the focus on the movie was him and his character. He shines and really gives a great performance in that with his character there is a part of you that hates him and a part that loves him.

Of course one of the biggest surprises for me about the acting was the fact that Quentin "Rampage" Jackson was serviceable in his acting and that Jessica Biel's character actually brought nothing to the screen. The addition of her character seemed almost an afterthought as if they decided hey we should put in a pretty face for the guys to look at. If you do anything other then just look at her then you are doing more then was intended with her character. Other then her the supporting cast does a great job, you can truly despise the villain characters and just like in the real world you have a general hatred for bureaucracy and politicians.

The only disappointment for me with this film at times was that of the CGI. With the advancements in CGI I expect that if it is used in a film then it should be seamless and should not make you go wow that is totally CGI because it sticks out like a sore thumb. For me the climax action sequence fell short with the CGI and looked like they ran out of time on the CGI to meet the premiere of the movie. I am sure there are those out there that will say that the CGI is not the only problem in that there are many sequences that are so out there and unrealistic that they may scoff at the movie because of it. To those types I say ummm it is a movie.... the sole purpose of a movie is to take a person out of the real world for two hours and give them great entertainment.

Alan Silvestri delivers a great action movie score. The score for the film really works and helps to keep the film moving. He does a great job though of taking the TV theme song and updating it and giving it a movie feel without taking away the nostalgia that many feel toward this great 80's show.

This was a great action flick that will not leave you disappointed. I am giving this movie three and a half buckets of popcorn out of five. This is definitely a movie that will be added to the collection when it comes out and it is one that I highly recommend you go and see in the theater.

-The Movie Man-