"The A-Team" - REVIEW

When Col. Hannibal Smith (Liam Neeson) tells BA Baracus (Quinton "Rampage" Jackson) "Overkill is underrated," he's basically summing up the entirety of Joe Carnahan's The A-Team. While this update of the 80s TV-show certainly isn't on the same level as summer fare like Iron Man or Pirates of the Caribbean, it's an engaging and surprisingly funny summer actioner that certainly didn't deserve to flop like it did. Though the setting has been updated to the Iraq War, the premise is still the same: four differently skilled man are wrongly accused and must work to clear their names to the US military. After a slightly protracted prologue when the four men become acquainted, the film gradually becomes more and more fun. It remains fully committed to the fact that it is ridiculous, save for one or two moments when it tries to be something more (using to Gandhi to justify killing?). When a character (Jessica Biel's Lt. Sosa) acknowledges that the A-Team is "going to try and fly a tank" with a perfect sense irony, you know that nothing is meant to be too serious. The cast for the most part, seem game too. Though he occasionally lends the role too much gravitas, Liam Neeson makes for a suitable Col. Smith, while Jackson has some funny moments of outrage as the tough-guy brawler with a phobia of flying. Bradley Cooper also does a decent job with his character, and his status as a womanizer isn't overplayed. There's also Patrick Wilson, usually relegated to rather bland characters, having a blast as Lynch, a CIA agent with mysterious motives. But the real MVP of the whole picture, and by quite some margin, is Sharlto Copely (who made his acting debut in the excellent District 9) as Howlin' Mad Murdock. Not only does he get the best lines (a scene involving a Braveheart parody is hysterical), but he delivers them so perfectly, never letting on if the character is truly mad or just an eccentric having fun with people. It's a shame that the plot couldn't have been slightly better constructed (the first half feels too much like the first episode of a new TV-series). There's also the arc of Jackson's Baracus, who undergoes a phoned in philosophical experience that makes him not want to kill anyone, that's beyond unnecessary. Still, in an otherwise underwhelming summer (don't let us down, Toy Story 3. Same goes for you, Inception) it's refreshing to find a movie that, while mindless and loud, fully embraces its mindlessness to such a level of self-consciousness that it can be wholly enjoyable rather than irritating; it's a movie that the likes of Michael Bay and the Transformers 3 crew could stand to learn a lesson from.

Grade: B-/C+