A-Team: Director’s Cut
Growing up in the 80s and watching all the action and cop shows of the era was like having a chance to hang out with some old friends once a week, with witty repartee and believability that kept you coming back time and again, unlike today. This 2010 release, an updated version of one of the greatest of that era, can only work if it retains the chemistry among the new cast that the originals had back then, even if it’s the origin story that was never done on the old show, where the “Team” traveled around as fugitive soldiers for hire fighting bad guys. Regardless, the new casting is good: Liam Neeson as Hannibal is just about pitch perfect, bringing the grizzled sense of authority to the table much as George Peppard did; Bradley Cooper as Face is eminently unlikable, yet is still right in recreating Dirk Benedict’s ultimate confidence artist; Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is the biggest risk in taking on Mr. T’s signature role as B.A. Baracus, but the MMA star has both the acting chops and presence to fill the shoes nicely; only Sharlto Copley as Howling Mad Murdock seems to be doing a frantic impersonation of Dwight Schultz’s maniac chopper pilot, constantly gabbing and going over the top but still lacking the charm of the original interpretation. The plot concerns the team working as a covert unit in Iraq before being set up over the recovery of over a billion dollars in counterfeit U.S. money meant to throw the American economy into chaos. There is some wrangling over the villains: Patrick Wilson as the rogue CIA agent who set them up plays the part against type, as a wisecracking, hipper than thou, smartass who wouldn’t seem out of place in a Hangover sequel, and (co-screenwriter) Brian Bloom as a rival mercenary never really gets out of the gate. We also get Jessica Biel as the DOD investigator (and former Face flame) out to catch the team, and fittingly enough, a genuine 80s TV icon in Gerald McRaney as an old general friend of Hannibal’s also caught up in the shenanigans. While many will say that the quality of the film can be questionable since it is adapted from a “cheesy” 80s show, the story still stretches credibility many times over, particularly with the action sequences, such as Murdock shutting down a chopper engine while IN AIR to avoid enemy missiles or the bizarre way the team breaks Murdoch out of the nuthouse or the team being in a tank dropping from the sky firing out its payload in order to get the momentum just right to land in a nearby lake, along with the ludicrous finale set at the L.A. shipping docks in which all plausibility goes out the window and we just rest assured that the heroes will survive because, well, they’re the heroes. As far as the interaction among the stars that was so vital to the show, the script does manage to get THAT right, from B.A.’s fear of flying to Hannibal chastising Face for putting his feelings for women ahead of that of the team. Overall, just mindless, stupid fun for the most part, with the only real resonance being the very end, with the reading of the old show’s unforgettable opening narration as maybe a sequel will show them in their element that we once knew them…if you can find them…
7/10