by Tim Gordon
After a 25-year hiatus, the story of four fugitives on the run from military justice has morphed from a campy TV show to an enjoyable summer spectacle. Despite some holes in the script, The A-Team largely succeeds by staying true to the original formula and not taking itself too seriously.
The film begins with an accelerated, yet entertaining backstory that brings our principals, four U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers-turned-mercenaries, together in Mexico to help bring down a drug lord. Hannibal Smith (Liam Neeson) is taking a savage beating, B.A. Baracus (Quinton “Rampage” Jackson) is in search of his “special lady” and Face (Bradley Cooper) is caught on the wrong end of a confrontation with a jealous husband. After springing the unstable Murdock (Sharlito Copley) from the mental institution, our fearsome foursome makes their great escape.
Several years later, the team finds themselves in Iraq and once again at the center of some questionable mercenary activity. Saddam’s army had stolen some plates used to make money from the U.S. Mint and was printing millions of dollars used to procure weapons. While warned not to participate in the mission by Commanding General Morrison (Gerald McRainey), Hannibal ignores his advice and teams up with the mysterious C.I.A. agent Col. Lynch (Patrick Wilson) to retrieve the missing plates.
Things are also complicated when Face’s ex, the tenacious Capt. Carissa Sosa (Jessica Biel) shows up and also questions the motives of the Alpha team. After a thrilling retrieval mission, the team is double-crossed by fellow mercenary, Pike (Brian Bloom) and soon the Alpha team is disbanded and locked away in military jails in various locations around the world. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that not only will they find a way out of jail but will avenge the people who put them there.
With so much potential for things to go wrong, surprisingly the film works quite well. All of the updated characters capture the essence of their original counterparts, with notably Copley excelling as the loony Murdock. Neeson is also golden, channeling his inner George Peppard as the “man with the plan” Hannibal. Fresh off of his success in The Hangover, Cooper scores again as the team’s smooth-talking ladies’ man.
Through no fault of his own, Jackson doesn’t distinguish himself filling the larger-than-life shoes of Mr. T. While managing to copy T’s look and bodacious mannerisms, Jackson never comfortably inhabits the role of the boisterous brute. Even T’s classic line, “I Pity the Fool,” is never uttered, merely tattooed across Jackson’s fingers as well as across the face of anybody who dares to cross his intimidating path.
The film succeeds most of the credit goes to screenwriter/ director Joe Carnahan (Smokin’ Aces), as well as Skip Woods and Bloom, who keep the action moving and fun. Even the film’s ridiculously outrageous WTF moment (flying a tank through the air) seems somewhat plausible.
While admittedly not a big fan of the show, Carnahan has managed an impressive feat – transforming a popular cult hit TV show into an entertaining summer popcorn movie and in the process also successfully updating it maintaining the soul and heart of the original. As Hannibal is fond of saying, “I love it when a plan comes together!”
Grade: B-