The A-Team

Do you crave action, action, and more action? Do you enjoy having the specifics of the unfolding plot constantly repeated to you? Do you revel in 80s nostalgia? If you've answered yes to any of these questions, then filmmaker Joe Carnahan has just the movie for you! No stranger to loud noises and lots of ammo (he previously directed the decent cop drama Narc and the juvenile, hyperactive action flick Smokin' Aces), Carnahan has taken The A-Team (that cult classic television series about four ex-Rangers blowing stuff up week after week) and entertainingly launched it into the new millennium with vigour.

Taking over the big screen in a summer filled with a lot of drowsy drivel are the ridiculous foursome of Hannibal (Liam Neeson), Face (Bradley Cooper), Murdock (Sharlto Copley), and B.A. (Quinton "Rampage" Jackson), who collectively make up The A-Team. Out of that group, Neeson is clearly the one with the most acting experience, followed by Cooper, who's been in the business for a while, but only rose to genuine stardom with last summer's sleeper hit The Hangover. Copley made his feature acting debut in last summer's sizzling sci-fi thriller District 9 and Jackson is a mixed martial arts fighter with just a few acting gigs under his belt.

But despite the lack of acting experience, these four members of the cast are not only quite enjoyable to watch in their roles, but they all share a very striking chemistry between them. In fact, Neeson probably has the least to do in the movie, instead spending most of his time chomping on a cigar and mumbling variations on the line "I love it when a plan comes together" over and over again. Cooper flashes that boyish smile of his and plays cocky cool in a manner that remains quite likable. Copley employs a mad scientist shtick and brings real personality to his role. And then there's Jackson, who has the unenviable task of filling Mr. T's shoes. He certainly doesn't match his predecessor's presence, but he's fun to watch and knows how to prevent his muscular physique from completely swallowing up his performance.

Carnahan is fully aware that his A-Team adaptation relies on two things: the casting of the four heroes and big, explosive ACTION (it has to be big enough to justify all caps). By that logic, he succeeds quite admirably. That isn't to say that nearly everything outside of those elements isn't lacking. The movie is overflowing with clichés and the adherence to the obvious occasionally lends the movie a generic flavour. Do we really need a muted kiss between two characters whose romantic subplot is entirely dull? And as an extension of that, does the screen really need to be awash in sun-soaked lens flares to further create the visual effect of a recycled image?

Furthermore, does the plot, which includes the origin of the team, followed by them being framed for theft and murder and then going on the lam to clear their names, have to be filled with such paint-by-numbers twists and turns? Actually, if you want to answer that, the sensible response is probably "yes." At the very least, a standard plot structure was certainly inevitable. In addition to these few complaints, the movie does try a little too hard to display some dramatic gusto when the themes of honour and loyalty start getting tossed around. For the most part, the movie knows when to play it silly (pretty much always), but every now and then, it tries to get a little serious and comes off feeling hokey.

Wait a second... what the hell am I whining for, anyways?! This is an A-Team movie! The selling point is the action and that's exactly what Carnahan delivers. Who cares about some shoehorned romantic subplots and awkward attempts at seriousness when you have a sequence involving the team flying a tank attached to parachutes from 20,000 feet up in the air, arguing with each other as they blow away military aircraft drones? Or how about retrieving someone from a skyscraper by tossing them out a window, allowing a parachute to deploy, and then snagging said parachute on the landing gear of a helicopter?

There's enough chaotic mayhem here to please even the most cantankerous adrenaline junkie and there's plenty to chew on for action fans of nearly all ages. By merely flirting with foul language and lending the violence an unmistakably cartoonish quality, The A-Team squeaks by, rather easily, with a friendly image that is intended to appeal to kids, teens, and adults alike. And that ties into the core intentions behind this movie. The A-Team is designed and built to be entirely accessible. Carnahan approaches the entire movie with his mind on the action. He never wastes time jumping to the next set piece and he keeps the narrative clipping along at a sharply precise pace.

Thanks to the engaging heroes at its core, it's easy to remain entertained during the lags between explosions and skydiving tanks. But it is the action sequences that really shine in this movie. Intoxicated by the ridiculous possibilities afforded when logic is tossed out the window (and without a helicopter ready to save it), Carnahan and his crew stage some incredibly imaginative sequences that routinely put a silly smile on my face. Every time the team prepares for another shootout or escape or high-speed chase, they manage to find the most complicated way to complete the task at hand. It's preposterously over-the-top, but the actors sell it well and Carnahan knows how to translate the carnage into fun.

Like so many modern action flicks that are light on brains and heavy on cliché, this A-Team comes equipped with its fair share of flaws. It's nice to see that Jessica Biel, cast as the only female character in the movie, is allowed to play a woman with power (she's a tough, confident FBI agent), but it's disappointing that she's given nothing to do beyond looking angry and being outsmarted the entire time. But as I said before, this movie delivers the goods where it promises them and that's what matters most. After all, it's tough to beat up on a movie too much when it so excitingly and entertainingly achieves its main objective.

Despite its handful of problems, The A-Team operates as an action-packed celebration of blockbuster brawn. Big-budget action movies are far from a rarity nowadays, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to find ones that are truly fun, hugely entertaining, impressively imaginative, and crazily over-the-top without becoming overkill. That The A-Team is all of these things for the duration of its nearly two-hour running time is a testament to the movie's simplistic success. Carnahan isn't trying to break new ground (which is fitting because he's now made a movie about heroes who barely break a sweat), but rather provide an exciting adventure flick that embraces light-hearted silliness and combines it with a bear hug of explosions and preposterous stunts. If you like watching stuff blow up and have a hankering for 80s cheese, then this is the movie for you. So sit back, relax, and sign up for The A-Team. It's the closet you'll ever come to actually flying a tank, which for an action movie lover like myself, is probably close enough.