What price nostalgia? I have seldom been as determined to enjoy a movie as I was this one. As a boy in the eighties, I grew up eagerly anticipating each new episode of the A-Team. I loved the crafty Hannibal, admired the suave Face, chuckled at the antics of Murdoch and envied the power of B.A. Even the generally poor reception by critics overseas wasn’t enough to dampen my spirits about the movie version. These critics complained of the non-stop and frankly unbelievable action scenes as well as poor character development. Well, for goodness sakes this is the A-Team we are talking about. It’s not meant to be a cultural experience akin to a night at the opera. In fact, the whole point of the A-Team TV series was that it was never meant to be taken too seriously. It was just a whole lot of fun!
If this was your experience of the A-Team, then the movie definitely won’t disappoint you, because it is a whole lot of fun. No, there is not much serious character development asides from B.A.’s flirtation with pacifism (you know that’s not going to last!), and yes, it is pretty much non-stop action, most of it completely unrealistic, but, boy is it fun to watch!
Although this movie version was shot almost a quarter of a century after the TV series ended, it really sets itself up as a prequel. In other words, we find out how the A-Team, a crack squad of elite Army Rangers becomes “convicted for a crime they did not commit”. In an effort to keep pace with the last 25 years, the landscape of their war experience is changed from Vietnam to Iraq, but other than that all the original themes and characters were kept in place. Hannibal (Liam Neeson) is still leading the team; Face (Bradley Cooper) is the hunky con-man; B.A. (ex UFC light-heavyweight champ Quinton Jackson) is the muscle; and Murdock (our own Sharlto Copley) is the kooky pilot. Details which always made the TV series such fun such as the big, bad B.A.’s fear of flying are kept intact, and we even find out how this fear originated.
All the actors put in strong performances and obviously have a whole lot of fun making this movie. Without exception they are all better actors than the originals, although that probably isn’t saying much. I was pleasantly surprised with the two unknowns in Quinton Jackson and Sharlto Copley. I expected Jackson to be awful, much like many sports stars turned actors are, but he wasn’t bad at all. Sharlto Copley you will remember as Wikus vd Merwe from District 9, and he was probably the movies highlight. He does a number of accents throughout, and the brief scene where he ‘does’ a South African accent is a classic.
As I have mentioned, the action is a roller-coaster ride of non-stop adrenaline rushes and at the same time is utterly, utterly unbelievable. Still, they do kill people in this A-Team which wasn’t allowed in the 80’s prime-time TV show were bullets would erupt out of flame-spewing guns and not a soul would be harmed. If you go in expecting a decent plot, you will be sorely disappointed. This is nothing more than formulaic action movie stuff, built around concepts like injustice and revenge. I won’t even bother explaining the plot since you probably have seen something similar a million times before. It’s not like anyone going to see the A-Team is anticipating an original storyline anyway.
There is no doubt about it but The A-Team is pure candyfloss. But what enjoyable candyfloss it is! So what price nostalgia? Well, at least half a star. The A-Team really is worth no more than a good, solid three stars but just because it is The A-Team, I award it three and a half! (Yes, I can do that).
Be warned that there is violence and very strong language throughout.