The A-Team: Couldn't Come Up With A Better Plan, Huh?
I remember when I was a kid in the eighties, TV was a place for pure escapism and you’d be hard-pressed to find a series that took anything as seriously as programming today. There were shows about a teenager with a PhD, a group of senior citizens that were feistier than a cheerleading squad, and a scientist that could level a private army with just a rope, gum, and a radio. Then there was The A-Team, an action-adventure series about four distinct personalities working together to help others while running from The Man. It was iconic. Mr. T alone became one of the biggest icons of the decade with his tough attitude and heart as gold as the heap of chains around his neck.
Ever since the success of the Mission: Impossible movies an A-Team movie has circulated the stacks of brand-name remakes on studio executives’ desks. At times, it looked like it would never get made. Once filming finally began last year, it became clear that this film was either going to be really awesome fun or a mediocre studio film.
It comes as no surprise to me that I have to say the latter is more the case. The movie is fun in places and I did laugh at times, but I walked away underwhelmed. After thinking for a while why this was, I realized there was nothing exceptional about this action movie to make it stand out. Think about the best non-sci-fi action films you’ve seen: Indiana Jones, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, True Lies… The A-Team doesn’t compare. Part of the problem is when a movie is under development for as long as The A-Team a lot of scripts get written from many different people – and many of those scripts cannibalize elements of the previous drafts (can you imagine a movie about soldiers getting screwed by the government seven years ago?). Once there gets to be so many hands on a project that is studio-pushed the result becomes something less special and more vanilla. The A-Team screams of machine-pressed mediocrity.
Even attempts to call back the original series for fans, most of which is at the end, feel forced or tacked-on (a post-credit cameo sequence literally is tacked-on). For example, B.A. has the words ‘pity’ and ‘fool’ tattooed on each hand near the knuckles. Outside of a reference to the show, it doesn’t make any sense. One hand is ‘pity’; the other is ‘fool’?
What is interesting about this movie is it feels less like The A-Team and more like a less sophisticated cousin to Mission: Impossible with less brains and more brawn. It even follows a similar villain story to the first Mission: Impossible movie and stars Henry Czerny, who played Kittridge in the 1996 movie. Furthermore, director Joe Carnahan, who previously directed the excellent Narc, was originally tapped to direct Mission: Impossible III in 2006, but was let go for creative reasons. And if one were to look at many elements of The A-Team they would notice it is very similar to that spy franchise in that a group of individuals with specific skills create elaborate plans to get something from somebody or get one up on somebody.
As an action film, The A-Team also suffers. Yes, it occasionally hits the feel-good, cool-looking beats to keep enough people happy and most people to stick around for the end. But there are scenes where CGI is clearly used instead of practical effects, which takes away from some of the sense of danger. If something falling toward a character clearly looks fake then how are we to worry over the character’s safety?
Most importantly: why, oh why do action movies have to shoot fight scenes so tightly and quickly these days? What is wrong with action directors? Don’t they want their audience to enjoy the fight someone went through the trouble to choreograph? Did they go through hours of trouble to meticulously arrange an action sequence just so the audience couldn’t have fun with it? Take lessons from Spielberg, McTiernan, Campbell, Donner, and Cameron: pull back the camera so we can see and enjoy what is going on! I don’t want to guess that B.A. kicked someone’s ass or that the Prince of Persia beat a villain with some cool move, I want to see it!
However, there are things about The A-Team to enjoy.
It’s interesting that the CIA was more impressed with its own code-name mystique and gawk at its high-tech gadgetry like a fried teenager than effective at accomplishing anything. They can’t even load a gun well! This made for some fun and amusing moments led by Patrick Wilson, who proves once again to be worth watching out for. This guy can do sympathetic creep (Hard Candy), ass-kicking schlub (Watchmen), and desirable guy next door (Little Children). In The A-Team, he proves he can also have fun.
The best thing about The A-Team is how perfectly it was cast. I can’t imagine anyone to better play Hannibal Smith (Liam Neeson), Mad Murdock (Sharlto Copely), Faceman Peck (Bradley Cooper), or B.A. Baracus (Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson). ‘Rampage’ may not be as iconic as Mr. T, but he was more than capable in the role of an aviatophobic, mohawked brute. Sharlto Copely of last year’s hit District 9 is on the way to stardom here while Bradley Cooper solidifies his stardom as the charismatic and good-natured Faceman. Liam Neeson suitably accomplishes all he needs to by chewing his cigar and rambling about “having a plan.” This team was excellent and the only thing keeping me interested in this movie.
Overall, aside from a couple action sequences and a terrific ensemble cast, The A-Team is just another in a year of hum-drum studio assembly-line mediocrity. Its attempts to appeal directly to fans of the show are forced and the action often fails to be comprehensible. The result falls way short of the best action movies and continues what is so far a disappointing summer movie season.
5/10
Should you see it? Rent
The A-Team is now in theaters.
Ever since the success of the Mission: Impossible movies an A-Team movie has circulated the stacks of brand-name remakes on studio executives’ desks. At times, it looked like it would never get made. Once filming finally began last year, it became clear that this film was either going to be really awesome fun or a mediocre studio film.
It comes as no surprise to me that I have to say the latter is more the case. The movie is fun in places and I did laugh at times, but I walked away underwhelmed. After thinking for a while why this was, I realized there was nothing exceptional about this action movie to make it stand out. Think about the best non-sci-fi action films you’ve seen: Indiana Jones, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, True Lies… The A-Team doesn’t compare. Part of the problem is when a movie is under development for as long as The A-Team a lot of scripts get written from many different people – and many of those scripts cannibalize elements of the previous drafts (can you imagine a movie about soldiers getting screwed by the government seven years ago?). Once there gets to be so many hands on a project that is studio-pushed the result becomes something less special and more vanilla. The A-Team screams of machine-pressed mediocrity.
Even attempts to call back the original series for fans, most of which is at the end, feel forced or tacked-on (a post-credit cameo sequence literally is tacked-on). For example, B.A. has the words ‘pity’ and ‘fool’ tattooed on each hand near the knuckles. Outside of a reference to the show, it doesn’t make any sense. One hand is ‘pity’; the other is ‘fool’?
What is interesting about this movie is it feels less like The A-Team and more like a less sophisticated cousin to Mission: Impossible with less brains and more brawn. It even follows a similar villain story to the first Mission: Impossible movie and stars Henry Czerny, who played Kittridge in the 1996 movie. Furthermore, director Joe Carnahan, who previously directed the excellent Narc, was originally tapped to direct Mission: Impossible III in 2006, but was let go for creative reasons. And if one were to look at many elements of The A-Team they would notice it is very similar to that spy franchise in that a group of individuals with specific skills create elaborate plans to get something from somebody or get one up on somebody.
As an action film, The A-Team also suffers. Yes, it occasionally hits the feel-good, cool-looking beats to keep enough people happy and most people to stick around for the end. But there are scenes where CGI is clearly used instead of practical effects, which takes away from some of the sense of danger. If something falling toward a character clearly looks fake then how are we to worry over the character’s safety?
Most importantly: why, oh why do action movies have to shoot fight scenes so tightly and quickly these days? What is wrong with action directors? Don’t they want their audience to enjoy the fight someone went through the trouble to choreograph? Did they go through hours of trouble to meticulously arrange an action sequence just so the audience couldn’t have fun with it? Take lessons from Spielberg, McTiernan, Campbell, Donner, and Cameron: pull back the camera so we can see and enjoy what is going on! I don’t want to guess that B.A. kicked someone’s ass or that the Prince of Persia beat a villain with some cool move, I want to see it!
However, there are things about The A-Team to enjoy.
It’s interesting that the CIA was more impressed with its own code-name mystique and gawk at its high-tech gadgetry like a fried teenager than effective at accomplishing anything. They can’t even load a gun well! This made for some fun and amusing moments led by Patrick Wilson, who proves once again to be worth watching out for. This guy can do sympathetic creep (Hard Candy), ass-kicking schlub (Watchmen), and desirable guy next door (Little Children). In The A-Team, he proves he can also have fun.
The best thing about The A-Team is how perfectly it was cast. I can’t imagine anyone to better play Hannibal Smith (Liam Neeson), Mad Murdock (Sharlto Copely), Faceman Peck (Bradley Cooper), or B.A. Baracus (Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson). ‘Rampage’ may not be as iconic as Mr. T, but he was more than capable in the role of an aviatophobic, mohawked brute. Sharlto Copely of last year’s hit District 9 is on the way to stardom here while Bradley Cooper solidifies his stardom as the charismatic and good-natured Faceman. Liam Neeson suitably accomplishes all he needs to by chewing his cigar and rambling about “having a plan.” This team was excellent and the only thing keeping me interested in this movie.
Overall, aside from a couple action sequences and a terrific ensemble cast, The A-Team is just another in a year of hum-drum studio assembly-line mediocrity. Its attempts to appeal directly to fans of the show are forced and the action often fails to be comprehensible. The result falls way short of the best action movies and continues what is so far a disappointing summer movie season.
5/10
Should you see it? Rent
The A-Team is now in theaters.