“I hate doing write-ups so long after the movie. Im usually preoccupied with other things (I’ve been obsessing, so I wont mention that certain video game Im desperate to get back to), and I tend to forget what I wanted to say. Luckily, I jotted down a few notes on Sun afternoon before running to the Tony’s viewing, so hopefully that will help this go quickly while still providing content.
First off, the typical disclaimer for these sorts of things. Never seen the original A-Team and except for a few Mr T jokes (which I find inferior to Chuck Norris jokes) I really have no prior knowledge of it at all.
In short, I \m/ loved this one. Very much my bag, baby. Lots of action, lots of smartly done comedy, fantastic cast. Cannot ask for more in your summer blockbuster. Prince of Persia, I think you just got your ass handed to you for fave of the summer so far. Iron Man 2 is still crying in a corner somewhere.
Aaah its getting dark and I dont wanna get up to turn on the light!! Faster!!
Where I really gotta give The A-Team the most props is in the casting department. They took two stars who were relateively unknown until two of last summer’s biggest hits and quickly cast ’em together in a big movie for this summer. Yeah for you in the back not paying attention, that would be The Hangover’s Bradley Cooper and District 9’s Sharlto Copley. Sheer brilliance. Not only a smart logistical move, but they both \m/ killed. Copley’s Murdoch ended up being my favorite character in the whole thing. And apparently he also loved the show as a kid
Continuing on the cast, nice to see a film more worthy of Liam Neeson than his other most recent venture, Clash of the Titans. That one hurt my soul a bit. But it was good to see him having fun. Rounding out the bunch, no previous familiarity with Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, and I worried that he couldnt live up to the epic that is Mr T, but he did quite well and (as far as I can tell, again not having seen the original) made the character his own. Points for Patrick Wilson. Dont wanna get into possibly spoilerific detail, but it was cool seeing a different side of him. And Jessica Biel didnt annoy me as much as usual.
In the middle of all that, there were some surprisingly dramatic scenes. Im thinking of the one where they were put in jail and stripped of their rank (not a spoiler, its in the trailer and an essential plot point). I’ve been really getting into military movies lately, not sure why. Maybe it was my father’s recent military style funeral or I dont know what, but I’ve definitely felt a strong empathy for our servicemen (on screen at least) and that image almost made me cry. Just the shame in what happened, and the outrage knowing it wasn’t justified. Intense. But that was just a small emotional dip, in an otherwise electric film
Definitely a must for my fellow action junkies out there. I had a huge smile on my face before the opening credits were even over. Then on top of that, each action scene was bigger, better, and more inventive than the last. Can’t tell you how much that last point there is worth.
Yup, guess I got my point across. I love it when a movie comes together
The A-Team – \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/