- The A-Team starring Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson, Sharlto Copley & Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. 2010. Directed & co-written by Joe Carnahan.
The Cast
The moment I heard about the cast, I knew I’d see the A-team. Sure, nostalgia is a part of it but I was a kid when the show aired (1983 – 1987) and all I really remember were the concept and characters. But I am huge fan of Liam Neeson. Bradley Cooper makes entertaining movies and Patrick Wilson reminds me of Patrick Swayze and Michael Keaton (yes, both of them, at the same time). Weird, I know. Oh, and I also thought Luke Wilson would be in the movie. I can’t believe how much Sharlto Copley resembles him!
So a modern adaptation with a great cast, a nostalgic trip with lots of action and comedic moments, The A- Team was an inevitable choice. And I wasn’t disappointed.
The Plot
The story starts with how the team is formed: Colonel Hannibal Smith (Liam Neeson) makes his escape from the Mexicans so that he can save his friend/fellow soldier Lt. “Faceman” Peck (Bradley Cooper) from even a worse situation. On his way he runs into B.A. Baracus (Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson), a big man and ex-soldier. After a pretty loud and fun rescue operation, they realize they need to fly in order to survive so they team up with the first pilot they run into, the nutty Captain H.M. Murdock (Sharlto Copley), who was staying in the psych ward.
Many years and successful operations later:
The movie s only gets faster from this point. The strong female part is filled in by Jessica Biel, who had also co-starred with Bradley Cooper in Valentine’s Day. Biel plays Captain Sosa, ex-girlfriend of Face who he doesn’t seem to be over. Hannibal and his team retrieve some valuable metal plates used in money-manufacturing. Unfortunately, they get side-tracked by a hired soldier and his team. The plates are stolen and General Morrison (Gerald McRaney), who has granted them the mission, is killed.
With their only witness dead, The A-Team is put on trial. Captain Sosa is demoted while the men are discharged from the military and sentenced to 10 years jail time in a maximum security prison. Of course Lynch (Patrick Wilson), the CIA agent who wanted the team on the mission in the first place, visits Hannibal and helps him break out of jail so that he gets his team back, retrieves the plates and clears their names. However they just might have more enemies than they anticipated and well, Sosa may also get in their way…
The Verdict:
Pure fun! I had a blast watching this movie. Sure, there were many logically and physically impossible scenes as well as some really bad computer effects but I am willing to ignore those because it is a really great action/comedy. I love the character interactions, the one-liners, the flight-phobic ex- commando, the crazy pilot, kick-ass leader Hannibal and the flirty and funny Face…
Favorite Scenes:
– Well every time Sharlto Copley’s Captain Murdock flies a plane and how he “lands” it.
– The prison rescue scenes
– Face’s prison cell and his equipments
– Face’s retrieval plan in execution
– Germany scenes where they are trying to retrieve the plates….
7.1 on IMDB. Fine with me. Leave logic aside and have fun!
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